Introduction
The case involving Jaymee Bowen, also known as Child B, captured the attention of the media and the healthcare department. The incident is about a father who was looking for the finest care for his daughter, but the doctors and health service managers begged to differ due to the use of available resources. The point on which health services took a stand was the need to efficiently use the resources, which were limited, but the lawyers took the matter to court. The media highlighted the matter, which shows the dilemmas of health services and the challenges in making the right decision. The case in court took a turn that taught health services how to make decisions and choices that are difficult in healthcare (Milligan and Jones, 2016).
Description
The ethical theory known as the ethics of care in healthcare services is a normative theory that teaches that providing care is a moral duty regarding interpersonal relationships and care. This theory was developed in the middle of the twentieth century by feminists, along with other ethical theories. These theories provide a sense of moral duty, which is a universal standard, and response, which emphasizes the ethics of care. There are four main parts that are included in the theory of ethics of care. The first one is attentiveness, which refers to meeting the requirements and needs of others by responding. Ignorance and inattentiveness are not always against ethics, but questions arise when attention is required. The second factor is responsibility, which refers to obligation. A person is obliged to take responsibility when it comes to providing care ethically because of their moral duty. The third factor is competence, which is the most important one because it refers to taking responsibility for all actions and trying to amend mistakes. The fourth factor involves responsiveness, which comes under providing care to the one who is in need and taking responsibility (Perry et al., 2017).
The case that was referred to earlier should be explained in detail in order to understand the complexities and gain an understanding of the situation during that time. Jaymee was a 6-year-old healthy girl who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Her treatment started at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, and later, the doctor figured out that she also had cancer. Jaymee went through chemotherapy and also a bone marrow transplant for her leukemia in London (Spiers and Beresford, 2017). After all the treatment, she spent nine months in stable health, but her health collapsed, and the doctor informed her that she was left with only eight weeks to live. After looking at her condition, the doctor suggested admitting her to palliative care. The suggestion from the doctors in London regarding her treatment was rejected by her father because he had done his personal research from books and articles related to the medical field, and also, his brother from the United States helped him figure out the most suitable treatment for his daughter. Later, he found out that there were two doctors in California who were willing to perform a second bone marrow transplant on his daughter, which would hopefully give her a stable health condition (Raghuram, 2016).
The contradiction started among the doctors, and the one who was in charge of Jaymee’s health and was aware of her medical history suggested to her father that a second bone marrow transplant would not be good for her health because it was an intensive treatment, whereas the suggested treatment of palliative care would only give her stable health. David Brown, who was the father, sought the opinion of a specialist, who gave the green light that a second transplant would be good for her, but the grant he requested to treat his daughter was rejected because only the positive remarks of the doctor who was aware of Jaymee’s health would help him get the grant approved. David Bowen, after facing the rejection, sought the help of the courts for the approval of his appeal and asked the authorities to decide what was best for his daughter. The court reviewed the application, and it was granted because they argued that the right to live is everyone’s right and the hospital should consider giving the grant for Jaymee’s treatment (Parton, 2003).
After the court case, the matter came to the attention of the media, and through the media, the information went public. As a result, a donor offered help to pay the expenses for her treatment. The donor’s offer was accepted by David, and treatment started. The doctors, instead of using the method of the second bone marrow transplant suggested by the doctors from California, used another method, which eventually gave Jaymee good health for a few months. The father was proud and claimed that his action provided her with good health even though it was short-lived because she eventually died after a few months (Sevenhuijsen, 2003). After the case of Jaymee, a series of ethical issues were raised by many concerned parties. The resources and the use of those resources were brought into question regarding how healthcare managers spent those resources in view of ethics. The limited resources should be considered before spending, but the precious lives of patients are also important for the healthcare department, as it is their duty. The decision was taken after David Brown’s application for the review of the decision. Despite the fact that Jaymee lived only a few months after the treatment, the father was concerned for his daughter. The rules for consuming the resources should be looked after because the whole community intervenes when it comes to the life of an innocent daughter. The question here is what ethical considerations should be taken when making the decision and what the perspective is on rescuing the health of patients facing similar conditions. The ethical dilemmas related to health care are crucial, and priorities should be set in the decision (Preshaw et al., 2016).
Many researchers have conducted research and provided several ethical factors that should be implemented in order to meet the ethical standards when it comes to making a decision. The following important factors are highlighted:
- New technologies and the adoption of new practices should be made public, which can help in understanding why the technologies are being adopted and how many resources are being spent on them.
- All decisions should be taken with their reasons, evidence, and principles, which come from fair-minded people. The agreement of all the stakeholders involved in healthcare should be included when setting priorities and making a decision. The limited resources are public property, and they should be spent using fair approaches.
- A decision, when it is being taken, should have room in which it can be challenged, and a review could be done on all the decisions so that they can be argued and taken into further consideration.
- The public should be involved with the set regulations so all the conditions and factors can be fulfilled. The process should be followed when making a decision (Bromley, 2015).
The Child B case has taught many lessons to the healthcare department and provided guidance to follow ethical practices with clear steps. The choices that are being taken in healthcare are mostly tragic because they involve the lives of patients. The court and media showed the negative side, but they should be integrated because it involves the public interest. There are four basic and most important principles that come under the ethical theory of health care that should be followed and implemented. The field of healthcare is highly sensitive, and ethics is crucial because it involves the lives of patients who are unaware of the consequences of any action taken by doctors and nurses. Not just the patient but the concerned family members of the patient are also key stakeholders who need to know the progress and process. The principles that are mentioned earlier give authority and protect the rights of the patient (Krizek, 2000). The following are descriptions of those principles:
- The first principle is the autonomy of the patient and deals with the intentions of patients along with their thoughts and actions because that will give the right to the patient regarding his/her health. The patient should be aware of all the procedures that need to be followed, and it is the right of the patient to choose the procedure for providing health care. Every procedure involves risk, and those risks should not be kept from the patient.
- The next principle is justice, which involves the interference of justice and the legislative system. There are rules that are established regarding ethics in health care that should be followed regardless of any condition. The law gives the right to every party involved in the decision that is being taken regarding the health of the patient. The justice principle mainly guides the utilization of resources and how those resources should be spent with regard to ethical procedures.
- The third principle is regarding competence and the updating of relevant skills. Training should be provided so that the best healthcare procedures can be followed, and the health of patients relies on the expertise of doctors and nurses.
- The fourth principle supports the above three principles by giving moral support and ethical practices. The patient and the people with the patient are emotionally vulnerable, so dealing with them should be under the guiding principle.
Conclusion
The conclusive remarks should consider all aspects, even the single incident that it is about the father who was looking for the finest care for his daughter, but the doctors and health service managers begged to differ due to the use of available resources. The ethical theory known as the ethics of care in healthcare services is a normative theory that teaches that providing care is a moral duty regarding interpersonal relationships and care. The contradiction started among the doctors, and the one who was in charge of Jaymee’s health and was aware of her medical history suggested to her father that a second bone marrow transplant would not be good for her health because it was an intensive treatment, whereas the suggested treatment of palliative care would only give her stable health. The father was proud and claimed that his action provided her with good health even though it was short-lived because she eventually died after a few months. The resources and the use of those resources were brought into question regarding how healthcare managers spent those resources in view of ethics. The limited resources should be considered before spending, but the precious lives of patients are also important for the healthcare department, as it is their duty. The decision was taken after David Brown’s application for the review of the decision. Despite the fact that Jaymee lived only a few months after the treatment, the father was concerned for his daughter. The choices that are being taken in healthcare are mostly tragic because they involve the lives of patients. The court and media showed the negative side, but they should be integrated because it involves the public interest. There are four basic and most important principles that come under the ethical theory of health care that should be followed and implemented. The field of healthcare is highly sensitive, and ethics is crucial because it involves the lives of patients who are unaware of the consequences of any action taken by doctors and nurses. Not just the patient but the concerned family members of the patient are also key stakeholders who need to know the progress and process. The patient should be aware of all the procedures that need to be followed, and it is the right of the patient to choose the procedure for providing health care. The law gives the right to every party involved in the decision that is being taken regarding the health of the patient. The justice principle mainly guides the utilization of resources and how those resources should be spent with regard to ethical procedures. Training should be provided so that the best healthcare procedures can be followed, and the health of patients relies on the expertise of doctors and nurses. The patient and the people with the patient are emotionally vulnerable, so dealing with them should be under the guiding principle. Many researchers have conducted research and provided several ethical factors that should be implemented in order to meet ethical standards when it comes to making a decision. With the new technologies, all decisions should be taken with their reasons, evidence, and principles, which come from fair-minded people, all decisions should be open to further argument and consideration, and the public should be involved in policy development. All the lessons learned in light of theories and case studies should be implemented.
References
Bromley, E., Mikesell, L., Jones, F. and Khodyakov, D., 2015. From subject to participant: Ethics and the evolving role of community in health research. American Journal of Public Health, 105(5), pp. 900-908.
Krizek, T.J., 2000. Surgical error: ethical issues of adverse events. Archives of Surgery, 135(11), pp. 1359-1366.
Milligan, E. and Jones, J., 2016. Rethinking Autonomy and Consent in Healthcare Ethics. In Bioethics-Medical, Ethical and Legal Perspectives. InTech.
Parton, N., 2003. Rethinking professional practice: The contributions of social constructionism and the feminist ‘ethics of care.’ British Journal of Social Work, 33(1), pp. 1-16.
Perry, H.B., Sacks, E., Schleiff, M., Kumapley, R., Gupta, S., Rassekh, B.M. and Freeman, P.A., 2017. Comprehensive review of the evidence regarding the effectiveness of community–based primary health care in improving maternal, neonatal and child health: 6. strategies used by effective projects. Journal of Global Health, 7(1).
Preshaw, D.H., Brazil, K., McLaughlin, D. and Frolic, A., 2016. Ethical issues experienced by healthcare workers in nursing homes: Literature review. Nursing ethics, 23(5), pp. 490-506.
Raghuram, P., 2016. Locating care ethics beyond the global north. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 15(3), pp. 511-533.
Sevenhuijsen, S., 2003. The place of care: The relevance of the feminist ethic of care for social policy. Feminist theory, 4(2), pp. 179-197.
Spiers, G. and Beresford, B., 2017. “It goes against the grain”: A qualitative study of the experiences of parents’ administering distressing health‐care procedures for their child at home. Health Expectations, 20(5), pp. 920-928.
Academic Master Education Team is a group of academic editors and subject specialists responsible for producing structured, research-backed essays across multiple disciplines. Each article is developed following Academic Master’s Editorial Policy and supported by credible academic references. The team ensures clarity, citation accuracy, and adherence to ethical academic writing standards
Content reviewed under Academic Master Editorial Policy.
