Sick brother at a family holiday dinner
- Kind
- Ethical dilemma
Prompt
You are hosting a holiday dinner for your family this weekend, and your 84-year-old grandmother will be there. She is receiving a treatment that weakens her body's ability to fight infection, and her doctor has told her that even a common cold could put her in the hospital. The day before the dinner, your 26-year-old brother tells you he has had a fever and a cough since his flight. He has flown in from overseas for his only visit home this year. He insists on coming. He says it is just a cold and that he will sit at the far end of the table, and he adds that he did not fly 14 hours to eat alone in a hotel room. What would you do?
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After you practice: what this question tests and how to approach it
What this question tests
- Ethical reasoning
- Communication
- Empathy and compassion
How to approach this question
This MMI station on public health and individual liberty tests how you balance your brother's wish to be with his family against your grandmother's vulnerability, when he's the one insisting the risk is small. Show empathy for him first: he flew 14 hours for his only visit, and being told to stay away will hurt. Name your grandmother's interests clearly, since she's the person who would bear the harm, and ask whether she has been told. Lay out real options, such as postponing, a separate visit once he's well, or having him join by video, and pick one you can defend. When the station brings in the view of the person at risk, take her autonomy seriously, and explain whether her choice can also decide the risk for the other guests.
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