DHA Medical Ethics & Professionalism 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A patient's family asks the physician not to disclose a cancer diagnosis to the patient, claiming it will cause psychological harm. The physician should:
- Comply with the family's request to protect the patient
- Disclose the diagnosis to the patient, respecting their right to know (Correct answer)
- Delay disclosure indefinitely to avoid conflict
- Transfer care to another physician who agrees with the family
Correct answer: Disclose the diagnosis to the patient, respecting their right to know
Truth-telling is a core ethical obligation; the patient has the right to know their diagnosis to make informed decisions about their care.
Question 2: Under the principle of justice in healthcare, resource allocation decisions should primarily be based on:
- Patient's ability to pay for services
- Medical need and expected clinical benefit (Correct answer)
- Social status or influence of the patient
- Duration of residency in the UAE
Correct answer: Medical need and expected clinical benefit
Justice requires that healthcare resources be distributed based on medical need and expected benefit, not socioeconomic or social factors.
Question 3: A physician treating a patient with HIV learns that the patient is having unprotected sex with an uninformed partner. After counseling the patient fails to change behavior, the physician should:
- Maintain absolute confidentiality under all circumstances
- Warn the identifiable at-risk partner, balancing confidentiality with harm prevention (Correct answer)
- Publish the patient's information in a public health bulletin
- Immediately discharge the patient from the practice
Correct answer: Warn the identifiable at-risk partner, balancing confidentiality with harm prevention
When a serious and identifiable risk to a third party exists and cannot be mitigated otherwise, breach of confidentiality to warn may be ethically and legally justified.
Question 4: Which of the following best describes 'therapeutic privilege'?
- The right of a physician to charge for all therapeutic services
- Withholding information from a patient when disclosure would cause serious psychological harm (Correct answer)
- Offering experimental treatments to privileged patients first
- A physician's right to refuse treatment of a patient
Correct answer: Withholding information from a patient when disclosure would cause serious psychological harm
Therapeutic privilege refers to the controversial practice of withholding information from a patient when the physician believes disclosure would cause serious harm, though it is rarely justified ethically.
Question 5: A nurse reports to the physician that a patient is showing signs of domestic abuse. The physician's primary ethical and legal obligation is to:
- Ignore the report as it is outside the scope of medical practice
- Document findings, address the patient's safety, and report as required by law (Correct answer)
- Confront the alleged abuser directly
- Discharge the patient and notify law enforcement without informing the patient
Correct answer: Document findings, address the patient's safety, and report as required by law
Physicians must document suspected abuse, prioritize patient safety, provide support, and fulfill mandatory reporting obligations under applicable law.
Question 6: The concept of 'double effect' in medical ethics is most relevant when:
- A physician prescribes two medications simultaneously
- An action intended to benefit the patient may foreseeably cause harm as a side effect (Correct answer)
- A patient receives treatment from two different physicians
- A drug produces both therapeutic and cosmetic effects
Correct answer: An action intended to benefit the patient may foreseeably cause harm as a side effect
The doctrine of double effect permits an action with a harmful side effect if the intent is to achieve a good outcome and the harm is not the means to that outcome.
Question 7: Which scenario BEST illustrates a breach of professional boundaries in the physician-patient relationship?
- A physician discussing a patient's care with the patient's authorized family member
- A physician entering into a romantic relationship with a current patient (Correct answer)
- A physician declining to perform a procedure outside their competence
- A physician providing a second opinion upon patient request
Correct answer: A physician entering into a romantic relationship with a current patient
Romantic or sexual relationships with current patients constitute a serious breach of professional boundaries due to the inherent power imbalance.
DHA Medical Ethics & Professionalism 5
A patient's family asks the physician not to disclose a cancer diagnosis to the patient, claiming it will cause psychological harm.
The physician should: