A medical ethics issue wrapped around hate speech.

The latest e.g. is an intensive care nurse, Sam (Samar) Suleiman, at Norway's Aalesund Hospital. He shared online a photo of his 'Hamas' tattoo on his left bicep. The translation of his post: "Fantastic day. May my brothers in Hamas cleanse all of Palestine from these Zionist bastards and their hypocritical supporters.”

This is the first time I have seen this issue presented with a health care provider having the hate tattoo. What happens if a Jewish patient is rolled into that Norwegian hospital and sees it?

Usually this issue presents itself when doctors are confronted with patients who sport hate markings.

In 2010, for instance, a Jewish surgeon in Germany refused to operate on a man who was already anesthetized after he noticed a swastika tattoo on the patient's upper arm. The German medical association decided not to reprimand the surgeon. (bmj.com/content/341/bmj…)

A few years later, doctors debated and shared experiences of treating patients with swastikas and Aryan tattoos and asked the question "should physicians have a choice?" Most opted for "do your job, don't judge the patients." (medicaljustice.com/pati…)

There was considerable coverage in 2020 when a man critically ill with Covid arrived at a California hospital, and he was covered in Nazi tattoos. His primary treating physician was Jewish, and his team included a Black nurse and an Asian respiratory therapist. The doctor later recalled that the tattoos "challenged me a bit," but he treated the patient nevertheless. (cnn.com/2020/12/04/us/d…)

Now, what to do if you are the patient? You can leave easily enough if it is just a routine visit. It's in the ER that there is no choice. It is the last place you want extra stress and anxiety.

Where is the line???