LAW Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

LAW - Case Study Example One of the iconic pioneers of law in health issues was Dr. John Snow (Goodman, et al 3). This came after an outbreak of cholera and thus states had to enact proper rules to regulate the spread of this contagious disease. The practice of Medicine is entwined to the practice of Law (Corfield, et al 1). Thus, medical practitioners at one point or another are required to give either written or oral evidence in courts of law. This study relates to the application of law in medical situations over a period of time. There are four sources of law. These are: the Constitution, Statutes, Decisions and Rules of administrative agencies and Court decisions (Stelner 5).In most states, there is a department concerned with law relating to healthcare issues. Another external source of law is the International law (Stelner 9). Under the International law, state agencies are allowed to surrender the privacy of medical information of their citizens travelling to foreign countries. This study will look i nto six different scenarios. Workforce scenario 1 In the first scenario, Cayce Pollard, the new African-American nurse has to undergo several health tests before being hired at Big City Hospital, BCH despite the fact that she is a licensed nurse. Licensing of health practitioners is done to ensure that only the qualified individuals undertake the delicate duty of health provision. This is to protect the interest of the public (Stelner 84). This is an example of Common Law only applying to the terms of employment in BCH. She is also not allowed to smoke, both at work and off duty and should her BMI exceed 26, she has to pay higher premiums for her insurance cover. Agreeing to these terms by both parties makes it an Implied Contract. In the first instance where a mother does not want her baby to be attended to by an African-American, she feels offended. However, this falls under Charting by Exception. Since there was a chart indicating that she could not attend to the baby, it would b e a criminal offence for her to do the contrary. In the second instance, her male colleagues have been sexually harassing her which is against the code of ethics at BCH.Her senior, whom she is supposed to report to also, enjoys the sexually explicit content that the other two use to harass her sexually. Though she knows that this amounts to punishable crime, she resorts to remain silent. However, according to state laws, this does not amount to crime since Quid Pro Quo applies in instances where a senior or fellow staff solicits sexual favor in order to grant a promotion or other work related favors. Also she has noticed that Bernard, her colleague might be a drug user and might cause problems while in duty. Upon reporting the matter to the supervisor, all their lockers are searched but against their consent. This is an instance of invasion of privacy. On another instance, Cayce and her friend Ivy discriminate their colleague Robert. They both discriminate him on gender arguing that male nurses are not competent. Ivy also discriminate him racially saying she does not like the Chinese. Negligence scenario 2 In the first instance, Dr. Yang diagnoses Ms. Campbell with PCS and Compound P which are new drugs being tested on patients. This he does with the aim of prolonging her life despite her being not eligible for the drugs but only after she accepts to take it. Though the drugs did tremendously help other patients, Mrs. Campbell’s condition worsened and she developed fever and rashes. Upon realizing this, the doctor prescribes Gallacticol, a drug that is approved for treating asthma. Her conditions became worse and she died. The doctor expected her to live for three or more months even after injecting her with Compound P but due to his negligence in not prescribing