Ethical dilemmas in psychiatry: When teams disagree

Abstract

Many ethical dilemmas in medicine are associated with highly unusual clinical situations and are an almost daily challenge for mental health teams. We describe the ethical issues that arose in relation to a significant difference of opinion between team members about using nasogastric clozapine in the treatment of a severely ill patient. We discuss how conflicting emotions and perspectives within teams acquire ethical significance and how negotiation and reflection are essential for good-quality ethical reasoning to take place.