Physical Diagnosis and Clinical Medicine Quiz, Quizzes of Medicine

Download Physical Diagnosis and Clinical Medicine Quiz and more Quizzes Medicine in PDF only on Docsity! PHYSICAL DIAGNOSIS AND CLINICAL MEDICINE 1. A 56-year-old male lawyer and current cigarette smoker of 30-pack-years is found to have a solitary right upper lobe pulmonary mass 5 cm in size on a chest radiograph. He has no symptoms, and his physical examination is normal. As lung cancer is the most probable and significant diagnosis to consider, and early surgical resection provides the best prospects for cure, the physician, in consultation with the thoracic surgeon, recommends bronchoscopic biopsy and subsequent resection. The patient understands the treatment plan, and the significance of not delaying the treatment. However, he doesn’t like to subject himself to the procedure and states that he does not think he has cancer; and is fearful that the surgery would kill him. Further explanations on the low mortality of surgery and the importance of removing the mass before it spreads was done but still, he continues to refuse treatment. Is it ethically right to treat this patient against his will? Why or why not? No. As mentioned above, the patient clearly understands the procedure and its benefits, but still declined of treatment plan. It seemed that the patient is clearly competent, so it is only unethical to treat the patient against its will. 2. Patient autonomy demands that a health care professional shall not treat a patient without the INFORMED CONSENT of the patient or his or her lawful surrogate, except in narrowly defined emergencies. 3. Competence: a. Is the ability of the patient to understand the consequences of his or her decision to accept or reject a treatment