In Tragedy, When Is Humor Inappropriate?
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Fifteen years ago, a doctor in an emergency room ordered a pizza from a delivery boy. But when he arrived, there was no pizza -- because the delivery man had been mugged and shot. The residents worked to save his life, but he died.
But realizing that they were still hungry after all, the residents went out to find the pizza he'd dropped -- and they ate it. And made a joke about it. To this day, the doctors were uncomfortable about the way they handled the situation.
Commentator Katie Watson teaches medical ethics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. She says that, ethically, what the doctors did was fine. But she's also glad that it still bothers them.
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