Problem: Physician Lacks Compassion Mrs. Smith arranged for an appointment to see Dr. Mean, a rheumatologist, who was a specialist in her particular disease process, systemic scleroderma. After scheduling her appointment, Mrs. Smith was asked to have her medical records faxed to Mean's office before her scheduled appointment on March 27. Two days before her scheduled appointment with Mean, Mrs. Smith called Mean's office to confirm that her records had arrived. She was told at that time that she was on Mean's calendar for March 23, not March 27. She had missed her appointment. Mrs. Smith had waited 2 months for this date, and her illness had gotten progressively worse. Mrs. Smith, desperate for help, pleaded with the scheduler to reschedule her as soon as possible. The scheduler explained to Mrs. Smith that Mean was a busy physician and that she could not schedule a new appointment until April 27, a month later.
1. Describe how Dr. Mean violated the professional code of ethics for a physician.
2. What role, if any, should a hospital ethics committee play in addressing Dr. Mean's insensitivity to Mrs. Smith's needs? Explain your answer.