Question

Real-World Case 21.2

A woman was found unresponsive on a desert highway and brought to the emergency room of a local hospital. After five days in a coma, the woman awoke and did not know her name, where she was from, her history, or have any recollection of her past. She was given the name Jane Brown and eventually released from the hospital. After many years working with social service agencies, she built a new life but never regained memories of her past. Eventually, she graduated from college, moved to the Pacific Northwest, married, and had two sets of twins one year apart. One day a man recognized her as a missing woman from Arizona and contacted authorities. The police notified Ms. Brown of her past life and informed her she has family members who want to meet her. With the hope of remembering her past, she met with them. With the case receiving national news coverage and attention, the local hospital noticed a marked increase in the number of people requesting access the health records of Ms. Brown and her children.

Summarize the case in a few words.

1. What are the ethical issues associated with this case?

2. Identify a few things the hospital can do to prevent the unethical behavior.

3, Discuss Ms. Brown's potential ethical cultural shock by learning who she was and meeting family and friends who she does not remember. Think in terms of religion and cultural bias or prejudices.

Answer 1

Ms Brown who lost her memory of her past has come into the limelight due to the uniqueness of the case. This has sparked the interest of the public which has resulted in various ethical issues. These are by invading access to her records they are Breaching her privacy as well as stealing the confidential personal information.

Through following certain measures such as giving permission only for the authorised person to get access to the information also by Protecting the information through a secret password and username is also a way to prevent unethical behaviour. Along with this installing security measures such as antivirus, firewall, intrusion detecting software helps to keep the random invader out from accessing the information.

Ms Brown, who started her life from a new background, which she believes her new home after her memory loss. she maybe now following a different culture or maybe a different religion, which she is maybe feeling very comfortable with. by introducing her to her past life family and friends, she may be feeling uncertainty and confusion for stepping into a completely different environment. She may not be feeling comfortable with the religion or culture with what she has grown up with and may feel agitated and distressed to accept it.