Saturday Morning Postmortem (Letters) (Letter to the Editor‪)‬

To the Editor: "Good ethics starts with good facts." I cannot count the number of times I heard that in graduate school and how many times I have repeated it since. Reading Kyle Galbraith and Joshua Perry's "Saturday Morning in the Clinic" (Sept-Oct 2009) reminded me of that maxim again. I hesitate to comment on the case they describe as I am without all of the facts; 2,700 words likely cannot convey the full complexity of any case. Yet because the authors themselves question their success as ethics consultants, the educator in me must at least raise some questions. The authors admit to their discomfort in the clinical setting, acknowledge and even rationalize limiting their discussion with the attending surgeon, and note regret for not having sought more explanation from the attending, other health care team members, and the patient's husband. As self-described "novices" at clinical ethics consultation, I have to wonder why they were responding to the consultation request without support or mentorship. While it's not unusual for well-intentioned but insufficiently trained committee members to take ethics calls, I wonder why two inexperienced consultants were assigned together. Were they ready? Were others with more experience available?