Background:

Jean, a former pharmacist, is now the network administrator for the LM Pharmacy in the town of Paris, Virginia. His duties include enabling the electronic transfer of information between health care providers (i.e., doctors and hospitals), patients, and the pharmacy itself. One of Jean’s most important responsibilities is to protect health information in accordance with federal law and the pharmacy’s privacy policy.

On July 14, during a family vacation on Martinique, a small Caribbean island, Jean’s nephew Pierre is bitten by an exotic tropical insect and suffers a severe allergic reaction. From his knowledge as a former pharmacist Jean is aware that Pierre is at serious risk, and may even die, if he doesn’t obtain a particular medication. There is a pharmacy on the island, but the pharmacist is unwilling and legally unable to provide the medication without a prescription from a licensed doctor.

After trying to reach a doctor, Jean learns that July 14 is an important French holiday known as Bastille Day and that no doctor is reachable within the required time. Jean, frantic with worry, decides to take matters into his own hands. He goes to a local internet café and uses his network ID and knowledge of the LM Pharmacy’s security system to "impersonate" a health care provider and prescribe the necessary medication. The island pharmacist accepts the prescription and provides the medication. Pierre survives.

Assignment:

Use each of the three primary ethical theories we have studied (Act Utilitarianism, Deontology, and Social Contract Theory) to analyze Jean’s actions in this situation, and to determine whether, under each theory, Jean acted ethically or not. You should begin by providing a brief explanation of how each theory works -- in other words, discuss the basic principles of each theory, and how it is used to reach an ethical decision. Next, apply each theory to the above situation, explaining the analysis that you would go through for each theory in reaching a decision. Finally, provide your "final answer," including why each theory would condemn or justify Jean’s actions.


[By the way, can you identify the 19th century novel on which this scenario is loosely based?]