The Jewish Surgeon and the Patient with a Nazi Tatoo

Sunset in Aberdeen with Girdleness Lighthouse in the background

This was an interesting case which was reported recently in the Telegraph newspaper. A Jewish surgeon at a German hospital reportedly walked out of an operating theatre and refused to operate on a patient requiring thyroid surgery because he spotted the patient had a swastika tatooed onto his arm.

The family of the patient want this doctor struck off because he didn't uphold the Hippocratic oath and didn't carry out his duty to care for the patient. Others however have praised the doctor for his moral courage. The doctor found another surgeon to carry out the operation but the question remains - was this doctor guilty of misconduct?

On one hand a doctor's duty is to provide care for a patient, regardless of their age, sex, beliefs etc in an unbiased way. However there are exceptions to this rule for example doctors are allowed to opt out of termination of life practice in the field of gynaecology. What if this patient was a convicted murderer. Would I walk out of the operating theatre on the basis of my moral views and beliefs?

The fact that this was probably not a life-saving operation should not affect the case. The only situation I can imagine which would have justified the surgeon leaving and asking another person to carry out the case, would be if the patient was at risk of harm / the surgeon felt that he could not carry out the task asked of him safely after finding out about the patient's past. If the surgeon felt he was not able to carry out the case, perhaps he was right in finding another surgeon to carry out the operation. Of course in private, everyone is rightful to have their own views and moral beliefs. However as doctors and in our service to the public, we must not allow these beliefs to cloud our judgement or to affect our decisions.

In my opinion I believe that this surgeon should not have walked out of the operating theatre. He should have withheld his duty of care to the patient, irrespective of his past history and carried out the operation.