Chasing the Zebras: Choosing Between the One, the Many, and the Pursuit of Knowledge

Abstract

This article discusses the challenges clinicians face between academic exploration, the good of the patient and the good of the many. This ethical debate was recently prompted by a case in which a rare disease was strongly suspected, but for which confirmation would potentially require unnecessary and arguably harmful intervention that would be unlikely to change management or prognosis. We explore some of the ethical dilemmas surrounding situations like these, namely weighing academic interest and potential benefit to the medical community and future patients against the risk of harm to patients, whose health we have vowed to protect.