Distributive Justice ( healthcare ethics) - Case Study Example

So, finally, the Krampitz family is absolved, their doctor is absolved. Who, then, is guilty for the lapse There is also the uneasy question doing its round in the mind - what were all the healthcare organizations doing while the Krampitz were busy sending out ads with their request On going through the guiding principles declared by some healthcare organizations one is led to except better vigilance from them. To quote a few, these are the quotes expressed by some of them: "I envision The Center as a guardian for the voiceless and as an educator.

I fervently believe that although we may never evolve into a 'cash rich' organization, we must always remain rich in voice." (http://www.healthcare-ethics.org)1 "Hospitals such as UCLA Medical Center that develop and provide cutting edge medicine need a mechanism to balance complicated medical and ethical issues" said Dr. Neil Wenger, the center's director and a UCLA professor of medicine and health services research. "Academic medical centers often confront complex life and death questions. We must help patients and their families through the process of negotiating difficult ethical decisions.

This center builds on our ethics consultation service by promulgating innovative research, providing opportunities for creative policy development and enhancing the knowledge and activities of doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains and medical students in addressing ethical issues at the patients' bedside." (http://www.healthcare.ucla.edu)2Now, keeping in mind the Todd Krampitz incidence, and the well-meaning claims put up by different healthcare organizations, it is very difficult to be judgmental either way because it involves ethics on the one hand, and the precious life of a patient, on the other.

At the outset, it must be clarified that the issue requires dispassionate deliberations. Todd Krampitz's life is precious to him and his family. Then there is one other patient among 17000, who is equally or more desperate for a liver transplant. Then there are ethics showing Todd Krampitz had circumvented the system for his own selfish purpose. Lack of Communication Ultimately, the whole issue boils down to one disappointing possibility. Lack of communication. Todd Krampitz did not realize the seriousness of the situation, being desperate to solve his own problem.

His doctor was mostly likely unaware of the need to check up on the issues of ethics. After all, how many doctors will busy themselves on questions of ethics in so serious a situation as a failed liver. Will a lawyer go checking up with every accused to see how innocent he is before taking up the most deserving case Who should be blamed If anyone is to blame, then it is the system. The system has not been created which