MCCQE Ethics and Legal Duties 5

Question 1

A pharmaceutical company offers a physician an all-expenses-paid trip to a resort in exchange for prescribing their medication. This arrangement is best described as:

Accepted Answer

An inappropriate conflict of interest and potential bribery

Answer

Accepting inducements from industry in exchange for prescribing constitutes a serious conflict of interest and violates professional and legal standards.

Question 2

A physician inadvertently makes a medication error that causes patient harm. What is the ethical obligation regarding disclosure?

Accepted Answer

Proactively disclose the error, apologize, and explain the steps taken to prevent recurrence

Answer

The duty of candour requires physicians to proactively disclose adverse events, including errors, to affected patients.

Question 3

What distinguishes therapeutic privilege from withholding information inappropriately?

Accepted Answer

Therapeutic privilege is rarely justified and applies only when disclosure itself would directly cause serious harm

Answer

Therapeutic privilege is a narrow exception permitting non-disclosure only when the disclosure itself (not the diagnosis) would directly harm the patient.

Question 4

A patient's substitute decision-maker demands aggressive life-sustaining treatment that the medical team believes is non-beneficial and causing suffering. The most appropriate next step is:

Accepted Answer

Engage in conflict resolution, involve ethics consultation, and consider legal review if needed

Answer

Disputes over futile treatment require structured conflict resolution, ethics consultation, and, if unresolved, legal processes — not unilateral action.

Question 5

Under Canadian privacy law (PIPEDA and provincial equivalents), a patient's health information can be disclosed without consent in which situation?

Accepted Answer

When required by law, such as mandatory public health reporting

Answer

Mandatory reporting obligations under public health legislation create lawful exceptions to the general rule of patient consent for disclosure.

(MCCQE) Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination Practice Test

(MCCQE) Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination Practice Test

MCCQE Ethics and Legal Duties 5