However, those who have serious ethical and moral integrity will generally do what it takes to get a problem corrected, even if they have to lose out personally or professionally to protect the health and welfare of other people under their care. It does not appear that Dr. DoRight did any of that. He determined that following procedure was enough to fulfill his duties, whether or not that procedure resulted in any resolution for the patients.
It would appear that Dr. DoRight followed the deontological argument that one only has to follow the rules to be ethical. For many people, that is an acceptable choice. For others, the rules would not be important and would not have anything to do with whether something was considered to be ethical. With Dr. DoRight, it is not just the possibility that he feels he has done what is ethical, but also possible that he feels as though there is little else he can do. There are more than 5,000 employees and 20,000 patients for which he is responsible, and his influence extends to many different departments. He has to remain accountable to a large number of people both inside and outside of the hospital. Did he forget there was an issue? Did he assume that nothing could be done? Did he assume his supervisors would simply handle it? There is no way to know which of these scenarios is the correct one, or whether there is a different reason entirely.
Perhaps Dr. DoRight has "too much on his plate," so to speak. The large number of people and departments for which he is ultimately responsible can put a severe strain on anyone, and could cause that person to overlook issues or pass them off to others. While that is understandable to a certain degree, illegal procedures go beyond just the deaths of a few patients. While those deaths are tragic, proof that illegal procedures are...
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