Ethical Concerns and Decision-Making

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Refusal of Care: Ethical Concerns and Decision-Making
At present, health care is a vital component in any society. People, individuals, and families, are more concerned with the quality of their health yet have relied less from health care providers. Decision-making has become more complicated in the entry of technology together with its modern advances in therapeutics, predominantly at the closing stages of life, where medicines and machines such as life support systems sustain life (Vincent, Berre´, & Creteur, 2004). It is factual that these modern advancements of technology in health do lengthen life. However, they are not always beneficial anyone who is involved, the patient, his or her family, and other people. With the current mixture of cultures through globalization, decision-making is currently more multifaceted. It is evident with life-threatening conditions at the most vital instances of a patient`s life (Cleemput & Kesteloot, 2002). During the 1970s, doctors made decisions for their patients and the latter chiefly comply (Barber, 2002). Medical errors were in the hands of the doctor. Compared to current times, decision-making have become two-sided and have caused some of the main reasons of the refusal of care by patients from their doctors and the non-compliance of treatments. In a world where decision-making has become more intricate, looking at the different ethical principles of biomedical ethics can give light on how to deal with non-compliance and refusal of care. When faced with the dilemma of the refusal of care and the non-compliance with treatment by patients, discussing and delving into ethical decision-making in relation to the different ethical principles will help better understand this issue. Ethical decision-making in the medical field cannot be restricted into simply following the standards. A health care provider must put into consideration their patient`s background, beliefs, and personal opinion rather than imposing their medical opinion more than ever.
Autonomy or the capacity of a capable patient to have the right to make decisions has played a fundamental role in decision-making regarding his or her own health care (Aacharya, Gastmans, & De, 2011). In the context of democracy, the idea of respect for patient autonomy gives much more importance than before (Aacharya, Gastmans, & De, 2011). Relationships between doctors and patients resulted into a lesser caring environment. Patients, whether or not it is beneficial to their health based on their own personal values, were freer to decide on their own. In relation to the issue of refusal of care and non-compliance with treatment does not mean that if patients are freer to decide on their own, physicians should stop taking care of their patients. What autonomy entails is to recognize a person and his or her right to hold their own beliefs, and decisions, while the physician remains by the patient...