Medical Ethics & Patient Rights Flashcards
7 cards from real ADM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Medical Ethics & Patient Rights flashcards as text
A physician who personally believes addiction is a moral failing rather than a disease treats patients with SUD with less diligence than other patients. This behavior most reflects:
Answer: Stigma-driven discrimination that violates principles of justice and beneficence
Allowing personal moral views to reduce quality of care for SUD patients constitutes stigma-driven discrimination and violates core ethical principles.
A patient with stimulant use disorder lacks decision-making capacity due to acute psychosis. A surrogate decision-maker is available. What standard should the surrogate use?
Answer: Substituted judgment — deciding as the patient would if competent, based on known values and preferences
The substituted judgment standard directs surrogates to replicate the patient's own decision based on previously expressed wishes and values.
An addiction medicine physician is contacted by a patient's parole officer requesting information about the patient's treatment compliance. What is the most appropriate response?
Answer: Obtain written patient consent specifying what information can be shared with the parole officer before releasing any information
Disclosures to parole or probation officers from federally assisted SUD programs require specific written patient consent under 42 CFR Part 2.
Which of the following statements about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and SUD is correct?
Answer: Active drug users engaged in illegal use are not protected under the ADA
The ADA protects individuals with SUD in recovery but excludes those currently engaged in illegal use of drugs.
A physician in a rural area is the only addiction medicine specialist within 100 miles. A patient with religious objections to MAT requests treatment without medications. What is the ethical approach?
Answer: Respect the patient's values, offer evidence-based non-pharmacological options, and ensure informed consent about treatment efficacy differences
Respecting patient values while ensuring informed consent about efficacy differences fulfills both autonomy and beneficence.
A patient with OUD is in a buprenorphine program and becomes pregnant. She asks if her records can be shared with her OB without her having to sign another form since she already signed a general HIPAA release at the OB's office. What should the addiction physician explain?
Answer: 42 CFR Part 2 requires a separate, program-specific written consent for SUD record disclosures beyond what HIPAA requires
42 CFR Part 2 requires consent forms that name the specific program, recipient, and information type — a general HIPAA authorization does not suffice.
A patient tells their addiction medicine physician that they plan to harm a specific person if they are not given a controlled substance prescription. The physician refuses. What is the physician's obligation?
Answer: Assess the seriousness of the threat and take steps to protect the identified third party, which may include warning and/or notifying law enforcement per state law
A credible, specific threat against an identified third party triggers a duty-to-warn/protect obligation that overrides confidentiality in most jurisdictions.