I'd like to use your forum to ...
Question: I'd like to use your forum to express my dissatisfaction regarding the recent
Grey's Anatomy episode (Feb. 5) in which an anesthesiologist exited the operating room, leaving his anesthetized patient in the care of an EMT because he "has a family." Being a board-certified anesthesiologist in practice at a major university in the United States, I find this poorly written scene to be an appalling antithesis of our current ethics and guidelines. An anesthesiologist values patient safety above all else, and would
never abandon a patient, even at one's own personal risk. Please feel free to contact the American Society of Anesthesiologists in the future regarding other ethical quandaries that may surface on this lousy television series.
Answer: Sorry, Doctor, but while I empathize with your dismay (imagine how many unethical journalists I've seen dramatized on TV), I would argue that
Grey's Anatomy is a drama in which characters often make terrible mistakes. That's what makes it dramatic. If this doctor, who abandoned poor
Christina Ricci after making his speech (pretty well written, by the way) about "pink mist," had been portrayed as heroic in any way, I would agree with you. But for the rest of the two-parter, everyone in the loop expressed disgust and horror over how this doctor acted so unprofessionally and cowardly. Because he's not a major character, I don't know if they'll follow through and note that this doctor was fired, as he deserves to be (although the circumstances were awfully dire, to be sure). But I can't imagine that the millions of fans, new and old, watching these episodes actually believed this jerk was in any way representative of his profession.
