Deck 3: Principle-Oriented and Case-Oriented Bioethics

Question 1

The principle of nonmaleficence captures the health professional's obligation …

A) To prevent harm to the patient
B) To avoid inflicting harm on the patient
C) To give patients what they deserve
D) None of the above

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The principle of beneficence captures the health professional's obligation …

A) To prevent harm to the patient
B) To avoid inflicting harm on the patient
C) To give patients what they deserve
D) None of the above

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The principle of respect for autonomy captures the health professional's obligation …

A) To prevent harm to the patient
B) To avoid inflicting harm on the patient
C) To give patients what they deserve
D) None of the above

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The principle of justice captures the health professional's obligation …

A) To prevent harm to the patient
B) To avoid inflicting harm on the patient
C) To give patients what they deserve
D) None of the above

Question 5

Given respect for patient autonomy, which of the following are health care providers obligated to do?

A) They must honor a competent patient's request of treatment even if they reasonably deem it harmful or medically inappropriate
B) They must honor a competent patient's refusal of treatment even if the patient's life is at risk
C) They must honor either the request or refusal of treatment, as stated by a competent patient
D) None of the above

Question 6

In the Dax Cowart case, the health care providers' decision to treat amounted to …

A) A violation of the principle of justice
B) A violation of the principle of beneficence
C) A violation of the principle of nonmaleficence
D) None of the above

Question 7

Which, if any, of the following factors determines whether a paternalistic decision in medicine illustrates soft, as opposed to hard, paternalism?

A) That the benefits of a treatment compensate its burden for the patient
B) That the patient has or lacks mental competency
C) That the patient receives what she deserves
D) None of the above

Question 8

In medicine, the expression "due care" refers to …

A) The care a reasonable health professional would provide in the circumstances
B) The right of patients to receive similar care under relevantly similar circumstances
C) The right of health professionals to abstain from honoring a patient's request for treatment
D) All of the above

Question 9

Radical and moderate casuists agree in the importance of …

A) Appealing to moral principles to infer verdicts about cases
B) Rejecting any exclusively top-down approach to evaluating cases
C) Appealing to moral theories to decide cases
D) All of the above

Question 10

Casuists propose to evaluate bioethical issues by primarily using …

A) Analogical reasoning from already-decided cases
B) Deductive reasoning from moral theory
C) Inference from the principles of bioethics
D) All of the above

Question 11

Which of the following best captures the principle of autonomy?

A) "Avoid inflicting uncompensated harm on patients"
B) "Promote the patients' best interests"
C) "Facilitate the patients' self-regarding medical decisionmaking"
D) "Do not impose undue burdens on a group of patients"

Question 12

Given the principle of nonmaleficence, health care professionals should be aware of which of the following?

A) That they have considerable power to harm patients
B) That their healing arts are to be applied judiciously and with the utmost skill
C) That they should pursue only courses of treatment whose workings they understand
D) All of the above

Question 13

Which of the following best captures a principle of beneficence?

A) "Avoid inflicting uncompensated harm on patients"
B) "Promote the patient's best interests"
C) "Facilitate the patient's self-regarding medical decisionmaking"
D) "Do not impose undue burdens on a group of patients"

Question 14

Which of the following best captures a Kantian perspective on patient autonomy? Patient autonomy …

A) Is valuable as a means for maximizing liberty
B) Follows from respect for persons
C) Is valuable as a means for maximizing happiness
D) All of the above

Question 15

Given the principle of nonmaleficence, what should health care providers be mindful of?

A) Preventing harm to the patient
B) Avoiding harm to the patient
C) Respecting patient autonomy
D) All of the above

Question 16

Distinguish the concepts of moral 'harm' and 'wrong,' and describe the types of harm most often to be met with in medicine.

Question 17

Some think that a principle of beneficence can capture the health care providers' obligations of beneficence and nonmaleficance. What would such overarching principle say? And how might it deal with the problem that inflicting harm may come into conflict with preventing harm? Illustrate your answer with examples.

Question 18

Provide some reasons for the claim that a principle-oriented bioethics is compatible with casuistry. Consider the guidance that each could give in deciding what's the right thing to do in a real or imaginary case.

Question 19

Which principles of bioethics may be invoked to support, and which to undermine, the anti-vaccinators' refusals of vaccines for themselves or their children?

Question 20

How do beneficence and patient autonomy relate to the view on truth-telling prevalent in the history of Western medicine, as discussed in Chapter 1?