HHH Health Care System ethical dilemma assignment

Case:

You are procurement manager in a large metropolitan city hospital within the HHH Health Care System and there is an ethical dilemma.  The following people are involved from HHH Health:

Procurement Manager from HHH Health Care System

Pharmacist

Chief of Nursing

Chief of Medical Staff

CEO

General Council

Another person from a nearby hospital is also involved.

Procurement Manager from DYY Hospital

The Dilemma:

A while back, the Pharmacist informed the Procurement Manager at HHH Health Care System about a pharmaceutical company discontinuing the manufacturing of the often-prescribed cancer treatment drug Cyclorubicin.  Since you were aware of some patients midway through the course of treatment, you both felt it prudent to order several large purchases to stockpile the drug.  However, another local hospital (and competitor) just ran out of Cyclorubicin and has called the Procurement Manager at HHH to request some of HHH’s supply.  DYY Hospital has a cancer patient in the middle of treatment. As the HHH Procurement Manager, you will need to consider such things as:

whether to provide some of HHH’s supply to DYY or not.

whether you think it is wise to confer with key stakeholders at HHH in order to make an informed decision

the good of the individual vs the community

humanitarian aspects

public relations for the HHH hospital

the future costs of the drug and if any substitutes are available

the future needs of your HHH hospital when making the decision

how to insure fair rationing, if needed

As the HHH Procurement Manager, how will you morally manage this case?  Keeping Five-Step Decision-Making Model in the back of your mind ), gather information, confer with stakeholders, determine and evaluate options considering the 4 ethical lenses/approaches, provide the best option and convey the answer you plan to provide to the DYY Hospital’s Procurement Manager regarding their request for the drug. Be sure to review policy, regulations, literature, ethics position statement, codes, etc. that may inform your decision making.