Jorge has gonorrhea. He doesn't want to tell her wife, but he does want to protect her
Question:
Jorge has gonorrhea. He doesn't want to tell her wife, but he does want to protect her from her illness. While he undergoes treatment, he asks the family doctor to perform a test on his wife without her knowing. When the wife comes in with a bad case of bronchitis, the doctor examines her and says, "I just want to run another test on you to rule out a possibility, a mere possibility, you understand?" He discovers that she has been infected and treats her without her knowing the diagnosis, he simply tells her: "I want you to take these antibiotics as a precaution": in this way he protects her husband.
Is the family doctor deceiving the wife by suppressing information? Is his medical treatment of the wife ethical? Suppose the disease was AIDS. Does this change ethics?
Modern Database Management
ISBN: 978-0133544619
12th edition
Authors: Jeff Hoffer, Ramesh Venkataraman, Heikki Topi