CASE STUDY ON BIOMEDICAL ETHICS IN THE CHRISTIAN NARRATIVE
October 27, 2019

Applying the Four Principles: Case Study
Part 1: Chart (60 points)
Based on the “Healing and Autonomy” case study, fill out all the relevant boxes below. Provide the information by means of bullet points or a well-structured paragraph in the box. Gather as much data as possible.

Medical Indications

Beneficence and Nonmaleficence

Patient Preferences

Autonomy

Medical indications are very important in the process of diagnosis. Beneficence along with nonmaleficence assists in providing the clinical data in realizing the magnitude of a specific health condition (Mappes & Zembaty, 2018). James guardians had the best of interest for him however the medical indication showed that the situation might worsen if not taken care of.

Autonomy means that every person has the mandate to make their own choices. James is not of age and so patient preference is applied and that is when the decision is made by the parent or a substitute decision make hence James is not qualified for autonomy however the parent should have considered his opinion.

Quality of Life

Beneficence, Nonmaleficence, Autonomy

Contextual Features

Justice and Fairness

Before James received treatment the quality of life was worse. His quality of life can be advanced if he gets a kidney transplant. In this case, the identical twin was a perfect match for the transplant however, the parents needed to act with the lip of faith and pray for success.

Contextual features are the legal, social and familial factors that identify the medical choice of a person. The prayer that James family indulges with was to seek healing since they had seen a family friend survive after suffering a stroke which was through prayers. The transplant is seen as a definitive test from God.

Running Head: CASE STUDY ON BIOMEDICAL ETHICS IN THE CHRISTIAN NARRATIVE 1

CASE STUDY ON BIOMEDICAL ETHICS IN THE CHRISTIAN NARRATIVE 2

Part 2: Evaluation
Answer each of the following questions about how principlism would be applied:

1. In 200-250 words answer the following: According to the Christian worldview, which of the four principles is most pressing in this case? Explain why. (45 points)

According to the Christian worldview amid the four principles the most pressing on is the beneficence one. All of them are pressing but the beneficence is founded strongly in this case. James in a bad condition and his condition is worsening; there is need for a kidney transplant and medical treatment. It is also true that James parents that is Mike the dad along with the mom Joanne’s only want the best for their sick child and that is why they finally seek for medical attention. First they have strong faith that their son will get well through prayers since they have seen prayers work for one of their relatives. There was relative that experienced a stroke and then after they prayed and the person was healed. So in this case James parents had a strong faith that healing will come to their son through intense prayers (Childress & Beauchamp, 2016). As much as they also came to hospital to seek for treatment they preferred that they prayed for their son and seek healing through prayers since they have seen that work to someone close to them. However, James condition was deteriorating and they were told that the condition will get worse if they did not decide on treatment. However, after sometimes they decided to bring James to the hospital to seek for further treatment and there is no way one can blame them since they wanted to exercise their faith which they did and it was okay since they all wanted the best for their ailing son.

2. In 200-250 words answer the following: According to the Christian worldview, how might a Christian rank the priority of the four principles? Explain why. (45 points)

These four principles can be ranked in regard to the Christian perspective in this way: beneficence to come first then followed by the Nonmaleficence, next can be justice and then finally one can have autonomy. This ranking is founded on the basis of Christian understanding regarding the most important and efficient one to take into place first or the first one to consider and the final one that one can consider which is autonomy. Parents should realize the quality of life and what is the important of quality life. This kind of ranking is an important element for Christian parents since they decide on the type of life their child will undergo, they also have the best wish for their child and that is where autonomy comes in since the parents had to make decision for their child James to undergo treatment (Beauchamp & Childress, 2015).

It is the responsibility of every Christian parent to ensure that their children do not experience any kid of harm at any given point and hence they should do anything to ensure that they protect their children. The parents making decision of letting the twin brother to donate a kidney to the brother is a very necessary move since they ensured that they did anything on their might to ensure that James life is improved. This is known as the principle of Nonmaleficence. It is the responsibility of any parent to depict justice in all the kind of involvement they have in their daily lives with other but in the same case as Christians one need to encourage autonomy.In addition to the topic study materials, use the chart you completed and questions you answered in the Topic 3 about “Case Study: Healing and Autonomy” as the basis for your responses in this assignment.
Answer the following questions about a patient’s spiritual needs in light of the Christian worldview.

In 200-250 words, respond to the following: Should the physician allow Mike to continue making decisions that seem to him to be irrational and harmful to James, or would that mean a disrespect of a patient’s autonomy? Explain your rationale.
In 400-500 words, respond to the following: How ought the Christian think about sickness and health? How should a Christian think about medical intervention? What should Mike as a Christian do? How should he reason about trusting God and treating James in relation to what is truly honoring the principles of beneficence and nonmaleficence in James’s care?
In 200-250 words, respond to the following: How would a spiritual needs assessment help the physician assist Mike determine appropriate interventions for James and for his family or others involved in his care?

Remember to support your responses with the topic study materials.
While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

5.2: Assess for the spiritual needs and provide appropriate interventions for individuals, families, and groups