Clinical ethics consultations: reasons for optimism, but problems exist.

[The author identifies] five problems familiar to clinical ethicists. (1) Physicians often do not recognize important ethical issues. (2) Debate exists over whether such consultations should give specific management recommendations. (3) Principles of medical ethics cannot, by themselves, resolve real ethical issues. (4) The patient's interests sometimes conflict with the interests of the family, the health professionals, and the hospital. (5) Clinical ethics consultations take a toll on the consultant....[He] discuss[es] the implications of each problem for clinical ethics consultations and offer[s] a solution to it.