Psychiatric Consultation Masking Moral Dilemmas in Medicine

Psychiatric consultations are a legitimate and necessary clinical activity in any general medical hospital or clinic. At times, however, psychiatrists are consulted when their fellow physicians face moral dilemmas related to patient care. In this article, we attempt to show that such moral issues may be masked as requests for help for a "depressed patient" or a "management problem."The practice of medicine abounds with value-laden decisions. Although this has generally been recognized, it has recently received increased attention in the press and the medical literature. Discussion has focused on the care of the dying, transplantation, abortion, genetic manipulation, behavior . . .