Final answer:
Professional moral duties can conflict with maintaining privacy and confidentiality, especially when it involves the duty to inform, protect public safety, and warn of harm. In such cases, ethical frameworks like those of W.D. Ross are used to weigh the importance of prima facie duties like honesty and non-maleficence against each other. Laws such as HIPAA also shape these decisions, balancing privacy with the necessity of protecting others from harm.
Step-by-step explanation:
Professional moral duties can sometimes conflict with the obligation to maintain privacy and confidentiality. For instance, the duty to inform clients about potential risks, the duty to protect public safety, and the duty to warn about potential harm are professional responsibilities that can necessitate sharing confidential information. On the other hand, the duty to foster dual relationships is not typically seen as conflicting with privacy and confidentiality and is generally discouraged in professional ethics. Also, the duty to conduct ethical research mandates respecting individuals' privacy and confidentiality unless there's a compelling reason to breach this, such as to prevent imminent harm.
In situations where telling the truth could lead to harm, ethical frameworks like those proposed by W.D. Ross suggest weighing the relative importance of our prima facie duties. Ross's conceptualization includes a duty of fidelity, which encompasses honesty, but also a duty of non-maleficence, which requires that we avoid causing harm. When these duties conflict, a decision must be made based on the circumstances, considering factors such as the severity of the harm that might be caused and the context of the situation.
The balancing act between upholding privacy rights, such as those outlined in HIPPA, and protecting others from harm, as in the case of notifiable diseases, is complex. Here, ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice must be considered, and the actions taken may vary depending on the situation.