Surgery Ethics

A “practical dilemma” is one of those ordinary situations in which it is

not immediately clear what a conscientious health professional should
do. “OMG, what should I say?” “Should I report that?” Can we proceed
to treatment on her say-so?” A practical dilemma is immediate and
clinical; it is not a public policy issue.

“Ethical analysis” is careful reflection on “should” questions. It grounds

our answers to ethical dilemmas in some deeper and more substantive
basis than “It feels right” or “My attending does it that way” or “First do
no wrong.” Ethical analysis seeks to provide a persuasive answer to the
question “Why should we behave that way?”