A Moral Code: Ethical Dilemmas in Medicine

MedPod Today | from MedPage Today

We are back for another episode of our medical podcast, which we hope isn't really a podcast about medicine, but a podcast about life, death, dilemma, the challenges, and sometimes the joys of medicine. But what gets us going at Anamnesis isn’t that black and white discussion of medicine, but the parts of medicine that are gray. It’s what makes medicine an art, a practice, an experience. So we have in this episode not only three physicians, but three physician/authors who have discussed these very sorts of moral codes and ethical dilemmas in their books to share some of the intricacies of these decisions in the life-changing and sometimes life-ending impact of these decisions. And that’s what this episode is about: We’re actually covering both the voices of patient and healthcare worker — and what happens when one voice crosses into the other role — because the theme of this episode is “A Moral Code: Ethical Dilemmas in Medicine.” Chapter 1: His Death Would Not Be a Good Death (2:31) — One patient case has this doctor rethinking what separates a good death from a bad death. Chapter 2: Should I Offer My Patient the Option to End His Life? (12:32) — A doctor's internal debate on whether it's appropriate to provide her patient with legal options. Chapter 3: We Don't Always Know What's 'Best' for Our Patients (21:09) — When doing the right thing for our patient sometimes feels wrong. Episode produced by Genevieve Friedman Sound engineering by Greg Laub Theme music by Palomar