Worksheet - Ethical Theories and Models

Ethical Theories Worksheet Part One Propose a solution to the following scenario using each of the five ethical theories presented in this module. Explain how your solution aligns with the major ideas within each theory. Scenario: There is a pandemic of a contagious disease. In the United States, there is only enough of the vaccine to cover 70% of the population. How do you determine who gets the vaccine? Theory Solution a. Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is an ethical theory based on the guiding principle of the greatest good for the greatest number of people (Fremgen, 2020). When vaccines became available for Covid there was a tier system that was put in place. First, people that are at the greatest risk due to serious illnesses and death from the disease, essential personnel like doctor’s, nurses, first responders, military personnel, the U.S. President and Vice President, and others that are essential to keep society running smoothly. Then people like teachers, hospital workers, and ones that work in the public that are at higher risk of catching and spreading the disease. b. Rights-based ethics Rights based ethics, or a natural rights ethical theory, places the primary emphasis on a person’s individual rights (Fremgen, 2020). According to this type of thinking everyone has a right to a vaccine no matter what their age, gender, or nationality is. In this case people would be assigned a number and when their numbers are drawn then they will receive the vaccine. c. Duty-based ethics This type of ethics focuses on performing one’s duty to various people and institutions such as parents, employers, employees, and customers (patients) (Fremgen, 2020). With this way of thinking the people that has the greatest need comes first, hence the elderly, children, and the sick. d. Justice-based ethics This type of ethics means everyone should be treated the same no matter what their standing in community is. In this scenario everyone would receive a vaccine, but no one would know if it was actually a vaccine or not. This is known as “the veil of ignorance” (Fremgen, 2020). e. Virtue-based ethics This type of ethics is based on a person’s ethics and not necessarily on the decisions or principles that are involved (Fremgen, 2020). This means that the person that makes the decision on who gets the vaccine has to make a decision that is fair to everyone. With there being a short supply, to begin with, then they have to make the decision on who gets the vaccine. The easiest way to do this is by distributing it evenly to all states and any leftovers would be trusted to be redistributed. Part Two Consider the same scenario but explain what process you would need to add to your solution to protect the bioethics principles. Principle Solution a. Autonomy In order for this to be prevalent you need to make sure that everyone that gets a vaccine is “informed” to all side effects that be caused by the vaccine. You also have to make sure they understand all risks that are involved with receiving the vaccine. b. Beneficence This is the principle of doing good, which means that patients must not be harmed while helping them (Fremgen, 2020). In this case if giving a patient the vaccine will harm them then autonomy is put into to place and decisions are made together with the patient’s wishes. c. Nonmalfeasance This is the principle of “first do no harm”. Which means that if receiving the vaccine will harm the patient then the risks needs to be outweighed to the benefit of receiving the vaccine (Fremgen, 2020). d. Justice This principle warns us that equals must be treated equally. Which means that everyone has the same opportunities to receive the treatment. This does not group people into categories based on their status, whether or not if they are rich, middle class, or poor.