Philosophers say that the only absolutes in the world are science and mathematics with all other subjects being relative. Whereas the practice of medicine is mainly limited to the absolutes of science and mathematics, scenarios arise where non-absolutes, such as the philosophical subject of ethics arise. Absolute confidence is one of the fundamental aspects of any medical records and is also protected by law. Any information provided by a patient to a medical facility is absolutely confidential and cannot be divulged without the express permission of the patient or within the few legal exceptions most of which involve a court order (Niimi & Ota, 2017). The instant scenario however involves a possible exception to the confidence rule that does not include a court order and relates to a decision that can only be made by an individual. Not acting in conformation with the law and rules of confidentiality risks the life and welfare of the little children that the teacher handles. Any action however will involve a breach of the cardinal rule of confidentiality, breaking the law and possible adverse legal consequences. This therefore results in an ethical dilemma. The instant term paper entails an investigation of the best way forward under the circumstances through the evaluation of the three approaches to ethical theory.
Amount of Additional Information That Would Clarify the Situation
As a mental disorder, schizophrenia is characterized by abnormal social behavior and disillusionment. It can be controlled with the right medication but failure to take medication can be catastrophic. Further, most schizophrenics either abuse drugs or have secondary mental conditions such as acute anxiety or clinical depression which increase propensity for violence (An, 2016). The first important clarification is if the doctor who prescribed the Risperdal was aware of the patient’s professional affiliation. If the patient hid that he is a teacher, definitely there is room for worry but if not there is need for further investigation. This includes finding out the extent of the illness, how responsible the patient generally is, the duration of treatment and how the patient has been responding to the treatment and finally if the patient has any of the secondary mental problems indicated above. Whether or not the patient has ever declined or forgotten to take medication is also pertinent.
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Approach from Each of the Three Approaches to Ethical Theory
The first ethical approach is based on virtue ethics. Virtue ethics are premised on the personal understanding of right and wrong based both on nature and nurture (Cahn & Forcehimes, 2017). The character of an individual, religious affiliation, environment under which someone grew up and even professional affiliation can define right and wrong. For example, doctors’ primary focus is healing while a police officer’s will be security. Their definition of right and wrong may differ but none will necessarily be wrong. When applying virtue ethics to the case study, the decision will be determined on which wrong an individual’s abhors more, breaking professional ethics or risking the wellness of children. The main advantage virtue ethics is that it provides an opportunity to favor both the decision maker and the subject of the decision. There are no fixed rules which increase the propensity for benefit. The inverse is also true since a person with more vices than virtues can use virtue ethics to justify evil (Cahn & Forcehimes, 2017).
The second approach is the consequentialist approach and determines right and wrong on whether the outcome of the decision is good or bad for the world (Cahn & Forcehimes, 2017). Under the circumstances, the outcomes are breaching the security of a grown up or letting several little children be injured, maybe fatally by a schizophrenic teacher. It would be easy under this theory to favor the children’s safety over the privacy of the teacher. The main advantage of consequentialism is that it looks at the bigger picture and favors the majority (Cahn & Forcehimes, 2017). Saving one person today in favor of causing the death of thousand tomorrow is a wrong choice no matter how bad letting someone die is. The main disadvantage of consequentialism is that it seeks to put numerical value to life which is against human dignity. For example, saving the general at the expense of a few soldiers can seem to be the right thing under consequentialism.
Finally the Deontological Ethics approach relates to doing what is right according to the obligations placed on someone by the applicable laws or rules (Grant et al., 2016). There is no heroism in deontology as doing the right thing is the same as doing what one is supposed to do. Under the circumstances, the law and rules provide for absolute confidence. However, there is a legal provision of duty to protect which falls on the practitioner handling the patient. Beyond enquiring from this practitioner as aforesaid, under deontology the right decision is to do nothing. The main advantage of deontology is that it is predictable as it follows laid down rules and procedures. However, it has the disadvantage of rigidity in that even when someone knows that the lawful decision will cause more bad than good, the individual is bound to protect it (Grant et al., 2016).
Conclusion and the Right thing to do
The health and welfare of hapless children is supreme and must be prioritized over all else. Schizophrenics can lead a normal productive life but only with proper supervision and superintendence more so with regard to religiously taking medications (An, 2016). When medication is not taken, the propensity of deterioration is rapid and dangerous. If this deterioration goes unnoticed, there is a very high likelihood that the health of hapless children would be in danger and may even die if the teacher becomes violent in class. Further, in most states, mental health problems qualify even a permanently employed teacher to be dismissed due to the sensitivity of children’s health. The right decision, under all the three theories would be to expeditiously seek further information and report the matter to the authorities as soon as practically possible.
References
An, S. K. (2016). Violent behavior in individuals with schizophrenia. Journal of the Korean Medical Association , 59 (12), 947-952.
Cahn, S. M., & Forcehimes, A. (Eds.). (2017). Principles of Moral Philosophy: Classic and Contemporary Readings in Normative Ethics . New York: Oxford University Press
Grant, P., Arjoon, S., & McGhee, P. (2016). Reconciling ethical theory and practice: toward developing a business ethics pedagogical model. Business and Professional Ethics Journal , doi: 10.5840/bpej2016113046
Niimi, Y., & Ota, K. (2017). Examination of an electronic patient record display method to protect patient information privacy. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing , 35 (2), 100-108
