Faculty members Lisa Moses, VMD, and J. Wesley Boyd, MD, PhD, along with MBE student Nathan W. Peterson, VMD, have been studying the ethical conflict and moral distress among veterinarians for several years and have new findings on the causes and suggestions for addressing them. This is the first study of this problem in North America.
One of the most surprising findings was that requests for, and the provision of, “futile” care caused more distress to veterinarians than any other clinical situation, including owners asking to have their pets put to sleep because they can’t – or are unwilling to – pay for treatment.