Medical decision-making within the modern delivery of healthcare is often challenging and complex. When faced with ethical conflict, providers can feel burdened and overwhelmed trying to determine the best course of action that they should take when treating patients. An ethics consultation can support providers and ancillary healthcare professionals assess value-laden treatment decisions in your healthcare facility.
Nichols Weitzner Thomas, LLP is excited to offer a new service line: clinical ethics consultation! Adam Pena, associate attorney, is uniquely situated to respond to your facility’s clinical ethics questions, concerns, and needs. Adam has performed over 1,000 independent clinical ethics consultations in a large tertiary hospital within the Texas Medical Center. In addition to his clinical ethics consultation skills, Adam has also served as a director of medical ethics academic and training courses for medical students and other trainees, where he revamped and developed a medical ethics curriculum at a premier medical school in the Greater Houston area.
What types of ethical issues can an ethics consultation address?
Frequent ethical issues within the scope of our service line include:
- Identification of an appropriate surrogate decision-maker.
- Interpretation and application of advance directive and advanced care planning documents.
- Concerns regarding privacy, confidentiality, and disclosure of certain health information.
- Practical guidance on how to achieve ethically justified resolution to discordance between relevant stakeholders about end-of-life treatment options and medical treatment.
- Issues regarding the determination of death by neurological criteria.
- Draft and revise of institutional policies and guidance statements related to clinical operations like medical decision-making, advance directives, or determination of death.
- Draft and revise institutional compliance policies and programs.
What can I expect when I request a clinical ethics consultation?
A clinical ethics consultation will generally consist of (i) fact and information gathering, (ii) discussions with relevant stakeholders like the providers or family, and (iii) written, practical, and action-oriented recommendations to help achieve resolution of the ethical concern. Recommendations are advisory in nature and do not replace a provider’s independent clinical decision-making.
A clinical ethics consultation offers guidance and support for the healthcare team. As such, a clinical ethics consultation cannot guarantee a proscribed result or “make a final decision.” Final recommendations are not authoritative directives or formal legal opinions that bind providers to only one course of action. Providers retain ultimate responsibility for the treatment of their patients.
How can I request an ethics consultation?
You can request an ethics consultation by email or phone:
Phone: 713.405.7093
Email: apena@nwtlaw.com
