Though Experiment

  • Father has a genetic blindness issue
  • Mother is dead
  • Daughter and father ask doctor to screen daughter if she has the same genetic problem
  • Doctor finds that daughter and father are not related
  • Two options are:
    1. Tell daughter and father they are not related + has no illness
    2. Tell daughter that she does not have genetic illness

Arguments

Arguments For 1

  • Its the doctor’s responsibility to tell them before things can get worse
  • The daughter would still believe she is genetically related, and could be misinformed of her other cases
  • Not saying feels like lying by omission
  • Could have legal implications with HIPPA
  • It is the duty of the doctor to provide them any information that could cause them further problems
  • The family has a right to know this information

Arguments For 2

  • It would be devastating for their family situation, so we shouldn’t cause that harm to people. The harms outweigh the benefits
  • We have no liability to tell them anything more than the test results
  • As the mom is dead, there is no way for the daughter to find her biological father