Ethics and the Care of Persons With Bell's Palsy

Abstract

Much of the bioethics literature focuses on dilemmas physicians face involving life and death issues. We articulate and apply a method of bioethics that can help both in resolving such dilemmas and in the appreciation of many situations and conditions. We apply the method to a case of a person with Bell's palsy because such a condition does not involve life and death, has a low cure rate, involves poorly recognized value conflicts, involves several specialties with rival approaches to care and much uncertainty. We show the strengths of the method in the application, and recommend it as generally useful to organize the way one perceives cases and attempts to resolve dilemmas.