MA 112 - Medical Law and Ethics

Credit Hours: 3

The student will be introduced to human value development, the decision-making process, and the foundation of the U.S. legal system. Issues such as licensure and certification, managed care, and medical records, as well as patient and physician rights and responsibilities will be covered. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (PPACA), and other laws pertaining to the medical workplace are presented. Medical contracts, tort law, professional liability and medical malpractice, as well as defense to liability lawsuits will be integrated into class discussions.

Ethical and bioethical topics in medicine, such as cloning, gene therapy, stem cell research, organ and tissue donation/transplantation, advanced directives, euthanasia, human development, and death and dying will be discussed as they apply to the roles of various healthcare professionals. Case studies and video presentations will be used to enhance classroom dialogs on ethical theories including deontology, utilitarianism, virtue ethics, and others, which will be applied to the analysis of contemporary bioethical issues as per an instructor-defined schedule, and will be included in an end-of-term research paper.

Course Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

explain human value development and examine the common theories and methods used in making value decisions;
understand the historical background of rights and reasoning and the basic principles of health care ethics;
describe the basics of the judicial system, including the sources of law, public and private law, and the court system;
explain licensure and certification as it applies to health care professionals;
define and explain both the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and their importance in health care today;
define the doctor-patient relationship;
explain the medical professional’s role in providing confidentiality in professional relationships;
describe the difference of the expressed and the implied contracts between physician and patient;
define negligence and other medical-legal terms as they relate to the standard of medical care;
recognize the role the medical professional has in maintaining medical records and their importance in defenses to professional liability suits;
describe intentional torts and criminal offenses;
define public duties and responsibilities and categorize the allocation of resources;
explain employment safety and rights as well as those laws protecting consumers;
define ethics;
apply the principles of medical ethics as they relate to the American Medical Association and evaluate the implications for the practicing physician;
discuss the theories of Maslow, Erikson and Kubler-Ross;
discuss attitudes toward death and dying, including hospice and palliative care, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide as well as the use of advanced directives;
discuss healthcare as it relates to patients of other cultures (transcultural health care);
define and apply the code of ethics for the various health professions; and
apply the ethical approaches of deontology, utilitarianism, virtue ethics and others to bioethical issues such as assisted reproduction; genetic engineering; stem cell research; organ donation; transplantation; and other contemporary issues in healthcare.

Prerequisites: Pre-requisite: Completion of all developmental English
Corequisites: EN 110
F/S (N)

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