Military Medical Ethics – Scenario Collection

Maintaining Medical Neutrality in Conflict Zones

Page ID: 46
Last updated: 17 Jul, 2017
Page ID: 46
Last updated: 17 Jul, 2017
Revision: 1
Comments: 0

"Asher is a fourth-year medical student doing an international elective in northern Uganda. The clinic he's stationed in serves primarily the local community, and he's seen everything from routine ear infections to advanced AIDS, encephalitis, parasitic infections, and disseminated tuberculosis.

As one of the few Westerners the villagers have ever seen, Asher has created quite a stir. Although he's starting to feel more at home in the village, he knows that his actions are watched closely by the townspeople, and he's scrupulous about his interactions with them, always respectful and deferential to local customs and values.

The organization he's working with can only staff the clinic for eight months out of the year, so when an American medical team is there, news travels fast to neighboring communities, and occasionally people come from quite a distance to seek care. One evening, Asher heard a commotion outside the clinic. Several men and women had gathered, and there was shouting. Asher asked a nurse what was causing the upset, and she explained that men thought to be affiliated with a group of rebel fighters from the north were approaching town, and some had been wounded. Asher moved to send for the local physicians and ready the procedure suites, but the nurse stopped him. 'We've worked for years to establish trust among the local people here-trust that's enabled us to dramatically improve the health in these communities. It would be a grave insult if we offered care to their violent enemies, and that would surely result in a huge setback for all our hard work. We should shut down the clinic before the rebels arrive because they're not welcome here.' "

Source: AMA Journal of Ethics. Virtual Mentor. October 2007, Volume 9, Number 10: 681-687.

Questions for the discussion of this scenario

1. Is the refusal to provide medical care to the villagers' "enemies" ethically justifiable?

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Page ID: 46
Last updated: 17 Jul, 2017
Revision: 1
Comments: 0
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