Ethics forum considers duty of physicians in public positions

Delegates also discussed ethical considerations surrounding sedating terminally ill patients.

By Kevin B. O'Reilly, AMNews staff. Dec. 4, 2006.

Las Vegas -- In March 2005, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, MD, viewed an hour-long videotape of Terri Schiavo and questioned whether the Florida woman at the center of a national debate about end-of-life care was in a persistent vegetative state.

"She certainly seems to respond to visual stimuli," the Tennessee Republican and cardiovascular surgeon said on the Senate floor. Was Dr. Frist wrong to make such a statement?

When Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher, MD, signed a death warrant for a convicted murderer, did he violate ethical policies that say physicians should not participate in executions? What duties do physicians have to uphold medical ethics when serving in nonphysician roles?

These were the questions put to physicians who attended the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs open forum at the November Interim Meeting.

"There are some things that pertain strictly to the job description, such as signing a death warrant as governor," said Michael A. Williams, MD, an American Academy of Neurology delegate. "But Sen. Frist basically misused his roles and responsibilities as a physician as a way of making a political statement. He made a diagnosis without examining the patient and without the requisite expertise."