July, Chapter 5: The Committee Summary and Analysis

Chapter 5 opens in the office of Lin Weeks where Weeks and Weeks's secretary Ellen Nuñez are viewing a note. The author of the note is a twenty-seven year old engineer named Teresa Knepper, who had never worked in medicine but wanted to be on the ethics committee. The committee has twenty-three members and includes doctors from different areas of expertise. It includes Sharon Crandell, Patrick's doctor Javier Aceves, a full-time ethicist, the head of Patient relations, the head of Patient relations and the hospital lawyer. The members of the committee are rarely present at the same time and so never become comfortable with one another. The committee meets sporadically, typically when an end-of-life issue arises; they address either patients or patient's relatives. They only officially consult and give advice which the parties can reject...