After an interview with Aristotle, Kant, Mills and John Rawls at Angeles City Hospital, a doctor approached and consulted: I have a patient who complained of a strange stomach ache after a month of being operated on by my doctor friend. I examined him and discovered there was a sponge left after the operation performed by my friend. I immediately performed another operation on the patient and successfully removed the sponge from his abdomen. Should I tell the patient what really happened? To the best of my knowledge of the law, my doctor friend could be sued and if that happened, his future would be ruined. If I do not tell the truth, I will violate the patient's right to his own body. According to the administrator I consulted, it would be better for me to tell the patient because many nurses were seen when I performed the operation, especially when I pulled out the sponge. In our culture, gossip will spread and maybe what other version will reach the sick. The brother advised me to talk to my doctor friend in depth and to encourage him to admit what had happened. It will help greatly if the reckless doctor pays for the second operation as a consolation to the patient. He will lose a greater amount if the patient sues. Source: Ph 269 S: Fundamental Ethics, Summer 2007, Ateneo de Manila University.
