Cross-Cultural Ethics

Biomedical ethics is not absolute. Almost every conceivable medical act in the surgeon’s armamentarium is subject to ethical relativism. It would be morally (and medically) wrong to withhold a blood transfusion from a patient undergoing a difficult operation for giant aneurysm, but it would be equally wrong for the same surgeon to give a transfusion to the same patient if he/she were a Jehovah’s Witness and had stated his/her explicit wishes up front. What might be considered immoral in one culture/situation may be morally acceptable or even desirable in another.