Medical Knowledge Medical Ethics & Law 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When may a healthcare provider legally breach patient confidentiality?
- When a family member requests the information
- When the provider personally believes disclosure is helpful
- When required by law, such as reporting communicable diseases or credible threats to others (Correct answer)
- Whenever the patient is unconscious or unable to respond
Correct answer: When required by law, such as reporting communicable diseases or credible threats to others
Exceptions to confidentiality include mandatory reporting laws covering conditions such as certain communicable diseases, child abuse, and credible threats to identifiable persons.
Question 2: What is the purpose of an advance directive?
- Authorize emergency surgery in advance
- Document a patient's healthcare wishes before they lose decision-making capacity (Correct answer)
- Grant a physician financial power of attorney
- Create a legal will for personal assets
Correct answer: Document a patient's healthcare wishes before they lose decision-making capacity
An advance directive documents a patient's preferences about future medical care, including life-sustaining treatment, before they become unable to decide.
Question 3: What are the four required elements to prove medical malpractice?
- Intent, negligence, outcome, liability
- Duty, breach of standard of care, causation, and damages (Correct answer)
- Injury, complaint, investigation, and settlement
- License, treatment, outcome, and documentation
Correct answer: Duty, breach of standard of care, causation, and damages
Medical malpractice requires proving four elements: duty owed to the patient, breach of the standard of care, direct causation of harm, and resulting damages.
Question 4: What does the principle of non-maleficence mean?
- Always tell the patient the full truth
- Act in the patient's best interest at all times
- Avoid causing unnecessary harm or minimize harm of interventions (Correct answer)
- Respect patient's right to self-determination
Correct answer: Avoid causing unnecessary harm or minimize harm of interventions
Non-maleficence obligates healthcare providers to avoid unnecessary harm and to weigh the risks of treatment against expected benefits.
Question 5: Who can legally consent to medical treatment for a minor in the US?
- The minor themselves in all cases
- Parent, legal guardian, or the treating provider in an emergency when neither is reachable (Correct answer)
- Any adult family member who is present
- The minor's school or educational institution
Correct answer: Parent, legal guardian, or the treating provider in an emergency when neither is reachable
Parents or legal guardians provide consent for minors; in life-threatening emergencies, implied consent allows treatment when a guardian cannot be reached.
Question 6: What is mandatory reporting as applied to US healthcare workers?
- Reporting billing irregularities to insurance companies
- Legal requirement to report specific conditions such as child abuse, communicable diseases, or gunshot wounds to authorities (Correct answer)
- Reporting patient complaints to hospital administration
- Documenting every medication given during a shift
Correct answer: Legal requirement to report specific conditions such as child abuse, communicable diseases, or gunshot wounds to authorities
Mandatory reporting laws require healthcare providers to notify appropriate authorities of specific conditions, overriding normal confidentiality protections.
Medical Knowledge Medical Ethics & Law 2
When may a healthcare provider legally breach patient confidentiality?