MDC 103, 3rd Assignment

"Due to the nature of this class there ought to be at least one boring assignment, but if you pursue this it'll be much more fun later to know how you can break the rules."
"This assignment is simple. We've already gone over non-maleficence and respect for autonomy with your first two assignments, but I want to make sure you know what the other rules are so that you can disregard them to their fullest extent. If you have any additional rules to add to the traditional ones, or multiple ways to disregard a single rule, then feel free to increase the length of your essay!"

Cain nodded as Professor Katja mentioned that this assignment would be boring. The other assignments had indeed been interesting. This one however, could be solved with his father's old school book. As soon as class ended, Cain found himself carrying Mr. Quinn to his dorm room where he propped him up in a chair and allowed himself to shudder. "Are you... alright, sir?" he asked it carefully, as Eddy hovered around, chewing on a piece of meat. To his shock and horror, the mannequin nodded an affirmative. "Alright just... please never do that again. Ever. I'm deeply afraid of puppets," he explained as an aside to Eddy, who cocked his head.

"Then why aren't you afraid of me?" the zombie asked, tilting his head. "Technically, I'm a-"

"Please don't finish that sentence, or I'll have panic attack." Cain shuddered as Eddy nodded and sat on the bed, reading a book. Cain dug around in his bag for the worn textbook and leafed through it. "Here we go, ethics of medicine. The main four are autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice..." The vampire pulled out some paper and began to write.

"The ethic of autonomy refers to respecting a patient's free will to make their own decisions concerning their care. Should they choose not to receive care, the physician must respect that choice, but still advise doing so." He said aloud as he continued to write, using as an example how Master Edgar had eventually accepted Cain's treatment of his cold. Cain included that a doctor could easily bend or break this rule by forcing the treatment and ignoring the patient's choice. The young vampire could have simply knocked the elder out, dragged them home and forced care upon them, but instead chose not to. Cain could've also simply jumped onto Edgar and pulled out his mis-matched wings ruthlessly

Cain moved on to beneficence. "This ethic deals with suggesting what is best for the patient. This can provoke a conflict between caregiver and the person being treated, in which case, the first ethic must be referred to." He explained  that the patient generally knows better what's wrong with their body more than the doctor treating them, barring special circumstances. "This rule can be broken by accidentally or purposefully giving the patient the wrong treatment." Cain growled at the thought as he wrote. He couldn't stand the thought of someone doing that on purpose. "They could kill the patient by giving the wrong surgery or offering a lethal dosage..."

Continuing his thought, he started on non-maleficence. "This ethic, often explained as the Hippocratic Oath of "do no harm," is quite possibly the first rule of medicinal practices, and also the easiest to break." Using his memory of easing the pain of a puppy in his first class, Cain wrote that sometimes, a treatment must cause some degree of pain to the patient, such as a surgery or euthanasia. "Breaking this ethic can essentially become murder, and can be done by breaking the second ethic. Even in the early days of medicine, when surgery was dangerous, this rule was so very easily broken by mere malpractice and sheer accident," he added.

"Speaking of, the fourth of the main ethics involves justice. A physician cannot save everyone, despite every wish to do so." Cain explained about the concept of triage, where to doctor had to choose to save only one patient. "If two people need the same treatment, this rule requests that they both receive said treatment. But is it fair that expending more resources on one of them will lead to an increased burden on the other? It is often said that "life isn't fair" and this holds true in medicine almost more than anywhere else." He continued writing that justice could be broken by completely ignoring a patient in need of a treatment because another needs it instead of at least trying to help in some way. For example, it would be best for two cold patients to receive the same bowl of broth rather than allowing one to hog it all.

"Other ethics of medicine include confidentiality, it's counterpart of disclosure, and consent." Cain added as he read the book further. "Confidentiality is essentially the patient's right to privacy, and the physician typically is not allowed to explain the patient's medical history without their direct consent." Breaking this rule, he wrote, can simply happen by the doctor gossiping or blabbing about their patient's condition. "As for disclosure, the patient must be informed of whatever is wrong with them if they ask so they can consent to the treatment. This rule can be broken by not telling said patient of a problem, which can be dangerous for them, as they may cause themselves further harm."

Lastly, Cain covered informed consent. "By using both confidentiality and disclosure, the doctor can supply information both to patient and their caregivers about what is wrong and what needs to be done to fix it. This way, all can come to an informed decision and consent to the treatment suggested." Cain dropped his pencil from his fairly cramped hand and set he essay aside. "Done, finally." He glanced at the mannequin and shuddered before getting ready for bed, hoping he wouldn't get nightmares. On the floor, Eddy got into his own sleeping bag, the zombie's dreams being far less troubled than Cain's were.