Ethical question (see instructions)

Ethical Question
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Ethical Question
Confidentiality is among the moral principles in medical care which are associated with the disclosure of patient information. It is ethical to respect the rights of patients in making decisions unless they are incompetent. The family gets the right to make a decision when a patient exhibits incompetency (Grady, 2015). The analysis puts into view the considerations that may apply to a medical practitioner on the disclosure of patient information and competency.
It is important to note that confidentiality is a right of all patients and that it serves as a tool that builds trust between a medical practitioner and a patient. Being a right, it is unethical for medical practitioners to disclose information without receiving consent from the patients. Also, the right should be respected by any member of the healthcare team. A consideration that justifies the responsibility of a medical practitioner to disclose information is enabling the patient to express his or her consent before revealing any confidential information concerning them. The consent may be provided either using writing or by word of mouth. Also, the data should only be disclosed to a party that the patient approves.Special considerations also apply to the information that requires disclosure, the need for revealing the information and the predictable substantive implications (Grady, 2015).
On competence, the assumption is that all patients are competent enough to make decisions unless there exists evidence that proves that one is incompetent.

In determining whether a patient is competent enough to make a choice, a medical practitioner should determine whether a patient has a basic understanding of the associated decision regarding what and why the decision needs to be made and the associated consequences when the decision has been made or not. Also, a doctor must ensure that the patient understands and evaluates any information that is relevant to a decision and that the patient can communicate the decision either in writing, orally, sign language or any other method that clarifies the decision (Grady, 2015). In other words, the disclosure of information and competency center on the patient unless the information is associated with a public health crisis or affects the security of the patient.

Reference
Grady, C. (2015). Enduring and emerging challenges of informed consent. New England Journal of Medicine, 372(9), 855-862.