Question

Ethics Issue 3:

A physician assistant (PA) has been helping treat a patient a patients awaiting a heart transplant. The patient is depressed, and says he no longer wants to live. The PA is doubtful that the patient will cooperate in the demanding regimen required for post transplantation patients.
1. Is it ethical for the PA to say nothing to the patients attending physician, or should he cart the patients remarks and discuss the matter with the patient’s physician?

Answer 1

The matter should be discussed with the patient's physician, because when a person receives a transplant and loses their will to live, the patients body reacts to this and the transplanted organ will typically fail and be "wasted" for lack of a better word. The physician needs to know this to try and improve the patients will to live, or to refuse the surgery so the heart is not "wasted"

Answer 2

The PA must communicate the patient's psychological situation to the attending physician.

Step-by-step explanation:

The PA is the professional who works in conjunction with a doctor to assist you, so a PA should not hide any patient information from the attending physician because all the information is important for efficient treatment to be developed. In the case shown in the question above, the PA learned that the patient undergoing a heart transplant is depressed and no longer wants to live. This is very serious information and needs to be taken to the doctor in charge of the case so that the patient receives the necessary assistance for his/her problem.