Practical considerations, ethical questions and emotional conflicts due to personal relationships with the impaired person make these confrontations difficult, but we must make the right choice to protect our patients’ well-being first and foremost and to help impaired colleagues receive the care they need.6
Jill Johnson, MD, is in private practice in Philadelphia and Bucks County, Pa.
What Would You Do?
Have you been in a similar situation? Tell us about it. What were the circumstances? How did you handle the situation? Do you know what the ultimate outcome was? What would you do differently (if anything) now? Send an email to [email protected].
References
- Johnson BA. Dealing with the impaired physician. Am Fam Physician. 2009 Nov 1;80(9):1007–1008.
- Competency and retirement: Evaluating the senior physician. AMA Wire. 2015 Jun 23.
- AMA code of medical ethics.
- O’Neil MG. You suspect that your coworker is impaired—What should you do? Medscape. 2012 Aug 23.
- Adler EL. How should your medical practice handle an impaired physician? Physicians Practice. 2012 Jan 18.
- Mossman D. Current Psychiatry. 2011 Sep;10(9):67–71.
Editor’s note: Do you have an ethical dilemma you’d like to see discussed in this forum? Contact us via email at [email protected].
