Abstract

KIE: This is the first contribution to a new JME column, "At the coalface," to which readers are invited to relate ethical problems they have encountered in their work. An adolescent patient requested that the author, a general practitioner, certify that he was medically fit to box. Toon attempted to dissuade him from boxing by explaining its dangers. When the boy persisted, the physician rapidly considered the ethical principles involved in the encounter and decided to "wash his hands" by telling his patient that if "he insisted on damaging his, or someone else's brain, then he must find another medical accomplice."