Grey's Anatomy: An Ethical Dilemma

Doctors are not infallible; they can make mistakes. However, it is the responsibility of the medical authorities to notify the patient of the missteps. In this episode of Grey’s Anatomy, Dr. Derek had performed two surgeries on his patient, who had had seizures. Due to Derek’s mistake in the first surgery, the patient has to undergo a second surgery. The second surgery is successful, but later on, Dr. Addison informs the patient that she was preeclamptic. The patient being unaware of the term asks if she needs to be worried. Derek then stops Addison from disclosing the truth because Derek wanted to enjoy the success of the surgery and did not want the patient who just recovered from one surgery, to worry again. Nevertheless, Addison warns Derek

To discern if the decision were morally right, we have to evaluate it based on the external criteria and internal criteria. “The external criteria… include scripture and church teaching, the community and its values, and moral principles and relevant laws” (Panicola 70). Although the scriptures or the church does not specifically address this problem, we can conclude from the writing and the teachings that it is wrong to conceal truth and pardon the person that commits a crime. This decision is not in harmony with the laws of the community. It would be unacceptable to the community because it would like to promote truthfulness and punishment of the law offenders. This decision also has to be evaluated on the basis of internal criteria. For the internal criteria, a person has to look inside oneself to evaluate the decision. Does the person feel satisfied with the decision and promote these values? The doctor’s decision does not give the inner sense of contentment; we experience “hate, discontent…confusion” (Panicola 71). Nobody wants to become a liar, thus it is not consistent with the kind of a person one would want to become. Moreover, the emotions indicate that something is wrong and these actions do not contribute to the doctor’s moral benefits. The decision of Derek to hide the truth does not promote what is right for right relationships; it definitely does not give a sense of inner content. Consequently, after evaluating the decision based on both the internal and external criteria, it can be concluded that the decision taken in the episode is morally wrong and has to be changed to option