Consequentialism

Pippa has a 3-year-old son and a 13-month-old daughter. Her son had the triple measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccination just over a year ago after Pippa had been reassured that it was extremely safe and would protect her son against dangerous childhood illnesses. Unfortunately, he had a bad reaction to the injection, with a high temperature, a rash around the injection site and a seizure. Although he seems fine now, Pippa is worried that having a seizure is an indication that he will develop autism or bowel problems. She has read the contradictory evidence about the risks of the triple MMR vaccine in newspapers and recognizes that the evidence suggesting a link between MMR and autism has now been disproved.

However, she is still concerned about having her daughter immunized against MMR in case the same thing happens to her.

• What is consequentialism?
• How can this ethical theory be applied to the case scenario to determine whether or not Pippa should have her daughter immunized?

Apply Theory (Specific Professional Healthcare Competencies + Clinical Medical Ethical Principles) to Practice in order to provide Optimal Patient-Centered Care (OPCC)

Source – Ethics Case Studies from Clinical Ethics and Law (Second Edition), Carolyn Johnston Penelope Bradbury