Medication Error Disclosure Ethics and Legalities Essay

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There is a common saying that nobody is perfect. No human being is immune to errors and mistakes from time to time. Not even trained professionals in the course of discharging their duties and roles. In a medical setting, the cost of even the simplest of errors could be immense. For this reason, it would be prudent to assess/examine the legal and ethical implications of disclosure and non-disclosure of a personal error and the course of action that would be most appropriate when medication errors are detected. Further, it would also be prudent to evaluate strategies and approaches to minimize education errors.

One of the most important considerations, from an ethical perspective, that health practitioners ought to make with reference to the disclosure of medication errors is whether or not they (or their loved ones) would like to be notified if they were to find themselves in a similar scenario. For one to have a fair expectation of protection from harm, he or she should apply the same standard to others with respect to protecting them from harm. The ethical principle that would be most applicable in this case is that of nonmaleficence – which is essentially “an ethical principle that requires caregivers to avoid causing patients harm” (Pozgar, 2019, p. 16). Failure to disclose would be akin to deliberately inflicting harm on another human being – which is hypocritical if one would expect to be shielded from harm in a similar situation.

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While the ethical aspect of medication error disclosure has got to do with doing the correct/right thing, the legal aspect of the same involves observation of, and adherence to, regulations. Full disclosure does have legal consequences as well as a number of benefits from a legal perspective. It is important to note that a number of states have in the past enacted what are referred to as ‘apology laws’ whereby the courts cannot make use of statements of apology as liability evidence (Cohen, 2007). It should also be noted that there are states that do not protect admission of fault, despite protecting expression of regret (Cohen, 2007). In reference to the laws specific to my state, it is important to note that Kansas happens to be one of the states that “require health care providers to report medical errors” (Rozovsky and Woods, 2005, p. 184). In this case, the records as well as reports gathered under the statute of the state “are not subject to discovery, subpoena, or other means of legal compulsion and are not admissible in any legal action other than a disciplinary proceeding by the appropriate state licensing agency” (Rozovsky and Woods, 2005, p. 184).

In the final analysis, it is important to note that the full disclosure of medication errors could be quite challenging from both a professional and personal perspective. However, on the strength….....

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References

Cohen, M.R. (Ed.). (2007). Medication Errors (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Pharmacist Association.

Pozgar, G.D. (2019). Legal and Ethical Issues for Health Professionals (5th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Pollock, M., Bazaldua, O.V. & Dobbie, A. (2007). Appropriate Prescribing of Medications: An Eight-Step Approach. Am Fam Physician, 75(2), 231-236.

Rozovsky, F.A. & Woods, J.R. (Ed.). (2005). The Handbook of Patient Safety Compliance: A Practical Guide for Health Care
Organizations. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Teichman, P.G. & Caffee, A.E. (2002). Prescription Writing to Maximize Patient Safety. Fam Pract Manag, 9(7), 27-30.

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