Patient threats present an ethical dilemma for the anesthesiologist.
Patients who receive sedation occasionally divulge thoughts that they would not usually express. This report describes a sedated patient who threatened to murder two family members. Immediate consultation with an attorney and psychiatrist is recommended when the anesthesiologist may be required to breach patient confidentiality to warn potential victims.
Pollard
J B
JB
Department of Anesthesiology, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System and Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California 94304, USA. John.Pollard@med.va.gov
Brook
M W
MW
Shafer
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000776:Anesthesiology; D003219:Confidentiality; D017007:Duty to Warn; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014754:Violence