Dr. Aleman

Dr. Aleman made an error but should he reveal it to Emilia Hedges? I think if he doesn't reveal his errors it doesn't mean he is lying. He didn't make the errors on purpose, he just forgot completely about the further tests to do when observing the patient. Ms. Hedges is oblivious to the further tests he could have done, although she may think he made some mistakes after being hospitalized. To me, lying to Ms. Hedges would involve giving her incorrect information. It isn't exactly incorrect information by not revealing her his errors. Incorrect information could instead be that he gave her tests and it didn't reveal anything wrong, when the tests did. When in actuality, no tests were performed and nothing was revealed. To begin with, he didn't make the mistakes on purpose and cause her to be hospitalized, so not revealing his errors wouldn't harm Ms. Hedges. Even though he is terribly distressed by it revealing his errors are not in the best interest of the patient, it would just make the situation worse for everyone involved. In class we have discussed Higgs examples, one being how much the patient should know about side effects. Well in this case, if the patient knows every detail about the side effects, the patient wouldn't take the medication. In Dr. Aleman's case, if Emilia knew every exam he should have performed on her, she could possibly sue him for not taking the proper steps to diagnose her. Higgs also provided another example being a child asking will it hurt. Suppose Emilia Hedges asked Dr. Aleman if she will have a stroke during her first appointment. Dr. Aleman didn't know better, he didn't know she would end up with a stroke. Another situation is suppose she asked him why she had a stroke on her follow up appointment. Dr. Aleman found out why she had a stroke, but was it because of him? I don't think so. Everyone makes errors and it isn't lying if you don't reveal them. I wouldn't consider it exactly being truthful either, but I believe not revealing his error doesn't mean he is being deceitful, rather protecting the patient. Protecting the patient meaning from the medical world, from the reality of things happen and death can be real. What has stuck with me and really got me thinking is someone in class (I forget her name) her father in law died and the doctor told the family they gave him 6 months when it happened in weeks. In Dr. Aleman's case not telling her his error is just protecting her from reality, he didn't see the signs of a stroke.

Just because Dr. Aleman isn't lying, doesn't mean he met his moral obligation. His moral obligations as a physician involve helping not harming the patient, also doing what is right even if it questionable. If he felt guilt obviously, his moral obligations weren't upheld. He felt bad about the situation of misdiagnosis so his conscious wasn't clear. Although he isn't