This Is Me Now – Final Paper Assignment

Cultural, Legal, and Ethical Issues in Health Care

Nancy Thao

o Autonomy, truth-telling, and confidentiality

 Something significant I learned is the relationship between religion and medicine. People

follow certain rules because of their beliefs and religion. Religion can affect their health

if a part of medical practice isn’t a part of what they believe in. While reading some of

the scenarios in our textbook was a bit frustrating because a family member is sick and

because of what they believe in, they wouldn’t take any treatment from physicians to help

Some procedures are not allowed for a patient because of their religion.. Autonomy is the

right to choose for yourself. I felt like while reading these scenarios, the actual sick

person didn’t get to make choices for their own interest. Having consent from a patient is

also important. Letting them know what you will be performing and providing facts and

information for them and having their consent makes your actions more justified.

 How my opinion has been affected: My opinion has changed quite a bit. My opinion

before this class was that everyone has the right to autonomy. I still believe that

individuals have their rights to autonomy to a certain extent. A healthcare worker’s job is

to help save people in any way they can and for them to do that, they may have to violate

the patient’s right to autonomy. Their reasons are justifiable. It is common sense to act

upon autonomy, truth-telling, and confidentiality. I feel like you’ll have to use your own

judgment to do what is best and right for everyone or at least something that will benefit

everyone in the party. It’ll be a hard choice to make from time to time. I believe it is

you’ll have to use common sense to decide what is right and what is wrong. You’ll also

have to consider the patient’s religious beliefs.

  How my ability to discuss/analyze has improved: Issues involve violating an individual’s

autonomy and confidentiality. Violating an individual’s rights may lead to a lawsuit. The

physician may not have the patients’ consent to perform a procedure.

o Genetic control

 Something significant I learned is how human genes can be changed. I learned that you

can change a defected DNA strand to a strand that is healthy. These techniques are used

for fetuses that have been screened and tested for a genetic disorder. Changing DNA can

also affect the features of a fetus. Scientists have developed a tool called CRISPR and it

can help with genetic editing. Testing isn’t just for genetic editing or to determine if a

fetus has a mutation in their DNA. Testing allows people to see if they are prone to a

genetic disease before they have it. Some people decide not to get tested. If they do have

a mutation in their DNA, it can cause them fear and may bring them depression.

 How my opinion has been affected: After learning more about genetic control, I don’t

think my opinion on it has changed. I believe the use of gene editing exists to help

parents have a healthy baby if it happens to carry a genetic mutation. I don’t really know

what to think about editing genes to have a baby with desired traits and features. When

testing, people should consider how the results may affect them. They may learn how to

prepare for it and how their life can change when it comes.

 How my ability to discuss/analyze has improved: The issue with genetic testing that it

can affect a person mentally. Some people think it is best not to know so they are not

overwhelmed with the case if they do have a mutated genome. Genetic editing can be

risky because it can miss its targeted genome. Such mistakes can cause a fetus to develop

cancer later in life. With these potential mistakes, it gives false hopes to those who are

hoping to help their future baby be healthy.

o Reproductive control
  Something significant I learned is all the different types of assistance a woman can get to

be able to become pregnant. The most common ones I knew before this class was

surrogacy and egg and sperm donation. I wasn’t aware of how it is injected. I didn’t think

I would find designer babies in this topic. It sounded more of a genetic control topic to

me. It was interesting to read and discover the different types of methods and techniques.

Another thing that brought me to surprise was that some post-menopause women are still

able to become pregnant by using the IVF method. It is risky in some ways for both the

mother and baby but some do great in the end.

 My opinion hasn’t been affected. I still think donating sperm or eggs is a great thing to

do. It gives parents chances to be a mother if they are single or unable to have a child

without assistance. Being a surrogate is great too but emotional. You must give up the

baby to the parents you agreed to be a surrogate for. I didn’t see the surrogate having an

emotional attachment to the baby, but then again, it makes sense.

 How my ability to discuss/analyze has improved: My ability to discuss and analyze

reproductive control has improved by knowing the risks that it can have upon a woman.

They are still prone to chances of miscarriage still may not be able to become pregnant. 

A potential issue with sperm donations is incest. Donation banks do not release the names

of the donors. These assistance techniques can also risk the baby. With In-vitro-

fertilization, if there are multiple fetuses inside the womb, only so little or none will make

it to full term. People also use this method so they can have a baby with desired traits and

features. Surrogates may be used as well if they have the traits and features that the

parent wants for their baby. 

o Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide

 Something significant I learned is who can use physician-assisted suicide. I honestly

didn’t think it was used for terminally ill patients. The word “suicide” is misleading to
 me, but it makes sense. Euthanasia sounds like a more appropriate word. In some places,

people who are not terminally ill can use this method if they wish. There are 9 states that

legalized euthanasia. I also learned how a physician can decide if the patient is dead or

not. Cardiopulmonary, whole brain, higher brain, and personhood are the diagnosis that

they can state that a patient is no longer alive.

 How my opinion has been affected…Looking back at my “This I Believe” assignment, it

looks like I didn’t have an opinion to begin with since I didn’t know anything about it.

After learning about it, I finally have an opinion. I am mostly for assisted physician

suicide. I feel like if a patient is only going to be living in pain and they no longer can

take it, I believe it is their right to decide if they would want the procedure done. It should

be available for patients with a long term illness. Patients with no terminal illness should

seek psychological help before turning to this euthanasia method.

 How my ability to discuss/analyze has improved: I’d say that my ability to

discuss/analyze this topic has improved. Since I have gained some knowledge of the

topic, I am able to see the risks and benefits of physician-assisted suicide. I feel more

comfortable talking about this subject to anyone who asks about it since my knowledge

of it has expanded. I think a hard subject about physician-assisted suicide is its

availability to people who don’t have a terminal illness. That would still be something I

would struggle discussing because I don’t think it should be easily available to them.

o Organ transplants, scarce medical resources

 Something significant I learned: I have learned how physicians decide which patients

have priority to limited resources. Organ transplants are unfortunately expensive. One of

the ways to get a transplant as soon as possible is if someone can afford it. This doesn’t

mean the rich are favored because they can afford the transplant. Organs are a limited
 resource and there is not a lot of it. Deciding which patients get their transplants first can

be a struggle. Waiting lists are also a way to have patients get their transplants.

 How my opinion has been affected: My opinion about donating organs remains the same.

Donating your organs can help and save others. When getting organs, it should be

checked to make sure it is a healthy organ and not one that can have a defect. Organs are

to help a person and should not be issued if it has defects.

 How my ability to discuss/analyze has improved: There are different ways to get organs.

They can be donated by a person, sold by a person, or bought. When a hospital is in need

of organs, they may buy them from someone. This is seen as taking advantage of the poor

since most donors are people who live in poverty and need the money. There are times

when donors do not benefit from donating their organs.. They are not promised the

amount of money they said they would get if they were to donate their organ. Another

ethical issue I can think of is presumed consent. It would be unethical to retrieve a

passing patient’s organs without their consent while they were still alive nor would it be

ethical to retrieve them without asking a family member.  

I’m not saying that I didn’t respect others before taking this class but, the overall impact this class has had

on me is to respect other people’s decisions and their beliefs. Everyone has an opinion on everything and

we should respect one another, whether we agree with them or not. I enjoyed reading other students’

responses, comments, and feedback they gave me on my posts. It gave me a different perspective to look

at if we disagreed on a topic. I got to understand other perspectives and why they think it should be a

certain way or why they think it is morally good. This class has also helped me grow as a person. I live in

an environment where if someone doesn’t believe or have the same opinion, they are stupid for believing

something different. Taking this class has helped me mature from that and to look at situations with

ethical and moral theories. I’m not one to express my opinion about anything, but I think this class has

helped me reach the point that I am comfortable to state what I think and believe, so thank you! I learned
new things I didn’t know I agreed and disagreed with. I’ve learned more about human rights for myself

and individuals. This has also prepared me for what different types of situations are to come my future

career in the medical field. It helped me what to consider when deciding what is right and what is wrong

not just for my own sake, but for those who are around me as well. It has also helped me understand what

can happen and how I can deal with situations through cultural, legal, and ethical reasoning.

Understanding the cultural, legal, and ethical aspects can help me figure out what right actions to take

during difficult life situations.   

The link to my ePortfolio where I have posted my paper: http://e-portfolio-nancy-

thao.weebly.com/hs-2050.html