An ethical case concerns a 16-year-old girl suffering from systemic scleroderma with a poor prognosis and her father's cultural beliefs, which do not allow for discussions about end-of-life care.
Newly arrived immigrants seeking health care in the United States encounter several problems including language, cultural, societal, and logistic barriers.
A physician should protect the best interest of the patient and the patient's family in the event that an end-of-life case gains media attention and the treating physician and nontreating physicians are asked to comment.
Although members of the medical profession are divided on the issue of physician-assisted suicide, they should continue to responsibly advance the discourse on end-of-life care through use of the media and the policies of physician membership organizations.
A physician should protect the best interest of the patient and the patient's family in the event that an end-of-life case gains media attention and the treating physician and nontreating physicians are asked to comment.
Physicians should find a way to balance their responsibility to care for individual patients with their desire to serve as public policy advocates so that they do not become overwhelmed in handling both roles.