4. The
Ethical
Case
A
car
accident
victim
was
brought
to
the
ER
at
3:00
am
within
15
mins
of
the
accident
in
an
unconscious
state.
He
was
found
to
be
hemodynamically
unstable
with
clear
evidence
of
a
splenic
rupture
needing
immediate
surgical
intervention.
The
patient
was
suspected
to
have
HIV.
The
physician
on
call
refused
to
treat
the
patient
on
basis
of
fear
of
the
risk
of
HIV
transmission
in
addition
to
his
belief
that
the
patient
did
not
deserve
treatment
due
to
his
lack
of
care
which
lead
to
his
HIV
infection.
The
physician
was
the
only
surgeon
available
and
capable
of
performing
the
surgery
at
the
time.
What
are
the
ethical
issues?
And
as
a
physician,
what
would
you
do
and
what
would
the
ideal
approach
be?