Ethical Health Care Issues

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Ethical Health Care Issues Ciera Butts HCS/545 November 18, 2013 Michael Taylor Ethical Health Care Issues According to Women’s Health Resource (2011) “breast cancer is a serious issue that will affect almost every women worldwide, either directly as someone diagnosed with cancer, or indirectly through the illness of a loved one”(Home, para. 1). Breast Cancer is found in women in their early twenties and thirties, in the United States. These individuals are more prone to breast cancer because she has a family history of breast cancer. In 2006, approximately 212, 920 new cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed in the United States (Women’s Health Resource, 2011). The case scenario below will discuss ethical and legal issues regarding a female patient with breast cancer, which refuses treatment for breast cancer. Additionally, the scenario will cover the following four ethical principles: respect for persons/autonomy, justice, beneficence, and non-maleficence that relates to the case scenario (Bishop, 2003). A 25-year-old female patient made an appointment with her primary care physician because she discovered a lump on her breast. She went to her appointment with her primary care physician the following day. The physician examined her breast and discovered a lump on her breast, so he made a referral for her to see an oncologist in which can diagnose her if she has breast cancer. An oncologist is a medical doctor who specializes in the diagnoses and treatment cancer (The Denise Roberts Breast Cancer Foundation, 2009). The following are the three main types of oncologist: medical oncologist, radiation oncologist, and surgical oncologist, which can practice in hospitals and research centers. The female patient can make an appointment with the oncologist in which he will inform about her condition and different types of treatments available
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