Judge Not . . .

Private Practice never was one of my favorite shows, but it got my attention as a spin-off of Gray’s Anatomy and I still watch it regularly, albeit only on DVR once I’ve caught up on my other shows. Its gotten very soap opera-y, focusing mostly on the relationships between the characters (seriously, is there anyone who hasn’t slept with everyone else yet?), but every once in a while it has an interesting story line on deeper issues.

This season, we learned that Dr. Bennett has a tendency to pass judgment with his surgical knife. Early in his career, he was about to operate on a man who made a death-bed confession about being a child molester. During the surgery, the patient started “crashing” and Dr. Bennett did not do everything he could to save him. It was his first “solo surgery” and he passed off his conduct as “freezing” under the pressure.

Now, Dr. Bennett is faced with a similar dilemma. The drunk driver who killed his colleague/friend Dell and nearly killed his daughter needs surgery, and for some reason it’s up to Dr. Bennett to convince him to go through with it. (Memo To Hospital From Malpractice Attorney: Please check your doctors for conflicts of interest before letting them operate.)

It’s easy to sit back and pass judgment on Dr. Bennett for passing judgment on these patients. We expect our doctors to cure first and ask questions later–or never. We already worry about doctors having God complexes for their ability to save lives, we don’t want them making their own decisions about whether a given patient is worthy of their best care. But how often do we pass judgment on others in our own daily lives?

I don’t wield life and death power, but I would be ashamed if I kept track of the number of times I condemn people during a typical week: the driver who cuts me off in traffic, the person holding up the line in the store, the clerk who doesn’t know what he is doing. I accuse them being self-centered and inconsiderate or stupid, without realizing that my own rush to judgment convicts myself of the same crimes. I am too focused on their impact on my life to consider extenuating circumstances that might explain their behavior. Maybe they are lost, confused, tired, overwhelmed, or just overburdened with other things that are weighing on their minds.

We want doctors to approach all of their patients as human beings worthy of their best care. Isn’t that how we should approach each other in our daily lives?