Police published a "wanted" poster for a criminal fugitive in a medical journal, because the fugitive was known to ha...

Naz September 29, 2015

Remember, we are looking for the answer choice that is compatible with the requirements cited in the passage, but would still violate medical ethics. Answer choice (D) and (E) are not compatible because (D) and (E) do not allow for any exceptions in which physicians can disclose information, while the passage states physicians reporting gunshot wounds and certain infectious diseases would not violate medical ethics.

Answer choice (C) explains that with the exception of gunshot wounds, because the main concern of medicine is individual and public health, it would not be ethical for a physician to lower a patients' willingness to come for treatment due to a policy of disclosing their identities to law enforcement agencies.

Thus, though this answer choice is compatible with the requirements cited in the passage, it supports the view that the physician responding to the request would violate medical ethics, since an ill patient may not come in for help, harming their individual health and possibly the public health, if they are afraid that a doctor will reveal their identity to the police.

Hope that helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions.

15TJH January 23, 2018

I'm confused on why the answer is C. Only because it only addresses gunshot wounds and not "certain infectious diseases."

Mehran January 24, 2018

Hey @15TJH, thanks for your question. The principle stated in answer choice (C) only talked about gunshot wounds. The question stem asks you to select the principle that would *support* a doctor who *is refusing* to respond to the police request to report on a fugitive with a noninfectious skin problem. Because a noninfectious skin problem is not a gunshot wound, the principle in (C) would support the doctor in NOT complying with the police request.

Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any additional questions.