Consultation-liaison psychiatry

Abstract

Ethics in consultation-liaison (C-L) psychiatry involves the intersection of medical illness and psychiatry. Because it is now clear that psychiatric illnesses and substance use also worsen medical outcomes, the field has broadened to a population level, overlapping with primary care. This brings distributive justice to the fore, as large-scale psychiatric screening requires adequate resources to treat identified populations. Ethical challenges masquerading as psychiatric problems or psychiatric issues masquerading as ethical dilemmas are common. Boundary issues, confidentiality, privacy, multiple loyalties in C-L settings, autonomy, decision-making capacity, and end-of-life conflict are frequent areas of ethical concern for the C-L psychiatrist.