Parental Bias About a Doctor Can't Trump a Patient's Health

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Hi. I'm Art Caplan. I'm at the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

I'd like to present you today with a case that raised a large amount of discussion and debate. I got involved as an ethics consultant on the case. I think you'll find it very interesting and I also think there are going to be some differences of opinion about how to manage the case. I'll be looking forward to getting comments and feedback on this.

The case involved a 14-year-old boy who had been brought into the hospital by his parents, suffering from severe bouts of anxiety that were just almost overwhelming to him. When he was brought in, he was assigned a healthcare provider who had a West African last name. Prior to meeting the patient, I have to say that the father of this kid told the intake department nurse that he requested someone else. He saw the name — he hadn't even met the provider — and he said he wanted someone who might be Catholic.

The parents are both from the Dominican Republic. They identified as White, but they appeared to be non-White next to the nurse who was doing some of the initial intake.