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57 - Anesthesiology ethics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

By
Gail A. Van Norman
Edited by
Peter A. Singer  and
A. M. Viens
Gail A. Van Norman
Affiliation:
Clinical Associate Professor of Anesthesiology University of Washington
Peter A. Singer
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
A. M. Viens
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
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Summary

Mrs. C is an 86-year-old woman with metastatic colon cancer, scheduled for surgery for bowel obstruction. She is hypotensive and tachycardic. She agrees to invasive monitoring but does not want to be resuscitated if her heart stops in the operating room. Her surgeon argues not to place invasive monitors because she is a “no code.”

Mr. D is scheduled to be executed for the rape and murder of a child in the state of Missouri. He appeals his sentence on the grounds that lethal injection subjects the prisoner to potential prolonged suffering during the execution process. A court rules that an anesthesiologist must be present to assure unconsciousness before administration of the paralytic agent and potassium. The ruling states that the anesthesiologist must personally mix the drugs and administer them, or directly supervise their administration.

What is anesthesiology ethics?

Conflicts concerning patient choices and autonomy are particularly challenging in anesthesiology, in part because anesthesia care routinely alters patient consciousness, interferes with patient competence, and restricts or abolishes physical autonomy. Anesthesiologists are at times expected to use their knowledge and skills for the very purpose of abolishing patient resistance. Such expectations present conflicts with core values in the ethical practice of anesthesiology, and of medicine itself. Navigating the complicated course among ethical principles governing patient choice, fulfillment of beneficent intentions, and preservation of professional integrity requires understanding of ethical values and principles such as respect for patient autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, preservation of human dignity, promotion of patient safety, and safeguarding of professional integrity.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Textbook of Bioethics , pp. 454 - 461
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

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  • Anesthesiology ethics
    • By Gail A. Van Norman, Clinical Associate Professor of Anesthesiology University of Washington
  • Edited by Peter A. Singer, University of Toronto, A. M. Viens, University of Oxford
  • Book: The Cambridge Textbook of Bioethics
  • Online publication: 30 October 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511545566.067
Available formats
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  • Anesthesiology ethics
    • By Gail A. Van Norman, Clinical Associate Professor of Anesthesiology University of Washington
  • Edited by Peter A. Singer, University of Toronto, A. M. Viens, University of Oxford
  • Book: The Cambridge Textbook of Bioethics
  • Online publication: 30 October 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511545566.067
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Anesthesiology ethics
    • By Gail A. Van Norman, Clinical Associate Professor of Anesthesiology University of Washington
  • Edited by Peter A. Singer, University of Toronto, A. M. Viens, University of Oxford
  • Book: The Cambridge Textbook of Bioethics
  • Online publication: 30 October 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511545566.067
Available formats
×