Question

SUBJECT : HEALTHCARE ETHICS

You are a general practitioner and a mother comes into your office with her child who is complaining of flu-like symptoms. Upon entering the room, you ask the boy to remove his shirt and you notice a pattern of very distinct bruises on the boy's torso. You ask the mother where the bruises came from, and she tells you that they are from a procedure she performed on him known as "cao gio," which is also known as "coining." The procedure involves rubbing warm oils or gels on a person's skin with a coin or other flat metal object. The mother explains that cao gio is used to raise out bad blood, and improve circulation and healing. When you touch the boy's back with your stethoscope, he winces in pain from the bruises. You debate whether or not you should call Child Protective Services and report the mother.

Questions:

Should we completely discount this treatment as useless, or could there be something gained from it?

When should a physician step in to stop a cultural practice? (If someone answers "when it harms the child" remind that person that there is some pain in many of our medical procedures, for example, having one's tonsils removed)

Should the physician be concerned about alienating the mother and other people of her ethnicity from modern medicine?

Do you think that the physician should report the mother?

Answer 1

1) The physician can perform his treatment ,he can treat the child because it's the physician duty to treat his patients.

2) Even though it is considered to be a cultural beliefs and practices ,these kind of acts is an abuse to the people because there are no scientific proves regarding the usage of cultural medicine.

3) Physician should educate the health care worker nurse that this kind of beliefs is a hard to a person and every cultural treatment is not good and it should not be used to treat as most of the problems and diseases cannot be cured with the help of these methods.

4)The physician should not report his mother because her intention is to save her child ,she intentionally didn't harm his child .she followed her culi treatment and she needs to make his child fine.

Physician want teach and educate the mother about the correct treatment and avoiding cultural beliefs and activities and such kind of acts.