SAN PEDRO COLLEGE

PHARMACY DEPARTMENT
12C Guzman St. Davao City Philippines

Legal Pharmacy

GCAb / Critique Article for Introduction to Jurisprudence and Ethics

Submitted to:
Professor Ian Ace A. Pacquiao, RPh, MSPharm

Submitted by:
Arandilla, Aila Marie C.

DEADLINE OF SUBMISSION: September 7, 2020

Legal Pharmacy GCAb / Critique Article for Introduction to Jurisprudence and Ethics

Patients who refuse treatments and medical interventions are usually a common dilemma for
medical professionals. In the article, the patient is a young mother with a tumour at the back of
her nose and throat. She has become to refuse medicines and treatments that was given to her
in her final stage and the pain and distress that she has been experiencing got worse.

According to Dr. Prager from Columbia University Irving Medical Center, in cases wherein
patients have become uncooperative, some hospitals have ethics consultants that are available
to guide physicians and medical staff to assist patients. However, if an ethics consultant is not
available, physicians often end up with a unilateral decision with no guidance. Their decisions
only depend on the physicians’ clinical judgment, awareness of the ethical issues, and
knowledge of the law. Thus, their decisions may or may not be ethically appropriate. Part of the
problem is the lack of medical literatures to help physicians deal with this kind of situation. There
are few clear policies and laws concerning the ethics and legality of offering the right care to
patients who refuse it. But there is nothing out there to help health care professionals approach
the problem of delivering medical treatment against the wishes of the patients.

Given this statement, I have thought that if I were to assist the patient described in the article as
a healthcare professional, I will try my best to follow ethical guidelines to help the patient go
through her death with less pain. I will make sure to not only depend on my own clinical
judgments but to also consider the patient’s rights. But I also think that the best help I can give
her to lessen the pain is not only the knowledge and skill I have as a healthcare professional but
also as a friend and family. I have no right to persuade her or to go by my own will of treating
her when she had already refused it. What I can give her in her last moments is to respect her
wishes and make her feel that she is not alone with the pain she is suffering from. It may be
agonizing to watch a patient suffering from too much pain, but it is also the responsibility of a
healthcare professional to respect moral and patient rights.

Reference:

Rubin, J. (2018). When a Patient Refuses Treatment, What Should Doctors Do?. Columbia
University Irving Medical Center. Retrieved September 7, 2020 from
https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/when-patient-refuses-treatment-what-should-
doctors-do

Arandilla September 7, 2020