title: Is Consent to Autopsy Necessary? Cartesian Dualism in Medicine and Its Limitations.
abstract: When a hospitalization ends in death, a request for an autopsy can lead to an emotionally charged encounter between a physician and the deceased patient's family. A case is presented in which a cardiac surgeon, believing he might have made a mistake, requests an autopsy, but members of the deceased patient's family believe that she would not have wanted an autopsy performed. A central question discussed in this commentary is whether and when consent for autopsy is necessary. We discuss two theoretical frameworks that support differing views on this question. Beyond engaging this philosophical discussion, we also highlight a practical approach to discussing an autopsy with a grieving family by using the case presented.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lane
authors.affiliation: Assistant professor of surgery and co-director of the Clinical Ethics Program at the Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he also co-chairs the adult and pediatric ethics committees and teaches medical ethics at the undergraduate, medical student, and post-graduate levels, and a practicing craniofacial surgeon and has master's degrees in both theology and bioethics.
authors.forename: Christian J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Vercler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001293:Attitude to Death; D001344:Autopsy / Q000941:ethics*; D003643:Death; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000941:ethics*