Otolaryngologists Discuss Difficult Ethical Issues

PHOENIX-When faced with sticky ethical issues-such as a colleague who periodically shows up to work smelling of alcohol, or getting complaints from staff about inappropriate behavior from another doctor-what should be done?

At a Triological Society session at the recent Combined Otolarygnology Spring Meeting (COSM), panelists discussed how they would handle a series of uncomfortable scenarios. The panel did not include bioethicists or advocates for a reason, Harold Pillsbury, MD, Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and the session’s moderator, told ENT Today. The session was designed to see how otolaryngologists would respond to difficult situations in real-life practice.

Panelists included Gerald Healy, MD, Professor of Otology and Laryngology at Harvard Medical School; Derald Brackmann, MD, Professor of Otolaryngology and Neurosurgery at the University of Southern California; Paul Levine, MD, Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Virginia; and Robert Maisel, MD, Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Minnesota.