Biomedical Ethics in the Christian Narrative Case Study Analysis

Biomedical Ethics in the Christian Narrative Case Study Analysis

Part 1
Medical Indications
Beneficence and Non-maleficence
Beneficence-entails the ideal way of
encouraging goodness, kindness, and seeking
to improve the patient situation. As a result,
the health care provider is charged with the
moral duty of offering the most profound and
utmost care to solve the James problem.
In particular, James' condition of
streptococcus, which eventually led to kidney
failure, must be accurately diagnosed.
Apart from the moral duty of providing care,
the physician should permit James's parents to
make their mind concerning James's
condition, which requires immediate attention
for treatment. Mile and Joanne are also
presented with a moral choice of seeking their
faith in God to heal James or choosing to
follow the medical advice from physicians
that their son needed urgent dialysis. The
decision to select the healing option was
primarily based on following their faith in
God to heal James compared to the friend
who regained mobility who placed their trust
in God.
James needed urgent attention of dialysis,
adhering to health standards, regulations and
putting the safety of James as a crucial issue.
Thus, the option for medical dialysis serves
the purpose of ensuring all is done to
protocol, despite the mixed feelings from
Joanne and Mike that the dialysis will bring
harm to James.

Patient Preferences
Autonomy- having respect for all decisions
made concerning a medical condition
assuming that parties are of sound age and
mind. Despite informing both Mike and
Joanne of the need and urgency for dialysis,
the physician must acknowledge that the final
decision to follow up with is dependent on the
personal choice or unilateral decision of both
parents. The decision that they make is
binding and hence should be made with a
clear mindset.
Nonetheless, since James is eight years old,
he cannot make his own decision in a
consent-oriented position. Therefore, both
Mike and Joanne have to make decisions on
his behalf. Also, according to the case study,
the parents made an autonomous decision to
follow up with the pastor to pray for James to
get healing despite the physician's warning
that James's state needed urgent medical
attention. The parents reached an autonomous
choice not to follow up with temporary
dialysis. Nevertheless, the situation
deteriorated to the point that he needed
permanent dialysis and a kidney transplant.

Quality of Life
Beneficence, Non-maleficence, Autonomy
The reluctance by Mike and Joanne to reach
an ultimate and definite decision concerning
which direction to follow between spiritual
faith and modern forms of treatment such as
dialysis ended up leading to reduced quality

Contextual Features
Justice and Fairness
In addition, it is unfathomable to ascertain
that the spiritual healing touted by parents did
not heal James but instead served to
exacerbate his condition to critical status
according to the physician's advice. Justice

of life for James as his situation moves from
temporary needs to permanent needs.
Moreover, Mike and Joanne did not make
wise choices and judgments for seeking two
treatment methods simultaneously for their
son James. In the first instance, they decided
to forgo the dialysis and choose spiritual
healing, which backfired.
Equally, dialysis served as the best option for
treatment and intervention, which would, in
the end, improve James's life. Similarly, the
physician option of dialysis is dimmed as
parents firstly preferred the healing faith
intervention, which failed to lower the quality
of life of James.

principle is tied to the belief in equality for all
regardless of their religion, race,
Similarly, it was fair and considerate for both
Mike and Joanne to seek dialysis treatment
methods and intervention as it is proven and
tested to manage the condition.
According to the physician, James needed
permanent and urgent medical attention due
to the level of deterioration of James's
condition. Again, if the parents were able to
heed the suggestion of the physician to
undertake temporary dialysis, then James's
situation would possibly not deteriorated to
the level it reached due to divided attention in
medicine and religion to heal Jame