AUG 02, 2021
Question: I have a patient who wants to bring his emotional support animal to his office visits. He is now scheduled for surgery and wants his dog in the OR when he goes to sleep and wakes up. We feel that this puts him and other patients at risk. How should I handle this?
Answer: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 prohibits discrimination based on disability (physical or mental). However, because emotional support animals have not been trained to perform a specific job or task, they do not qualify as service animals under the ADA. Even if they did qualify, the ADA does not require entities, such as ophthalmology practices, to modify or change policies, practices, or procedures if doing so would “fundamentally alter” the nature of the services provided to the public. The ADA does not override legitimate safety requirements such as public health rules that prohibit dogs in swimming pools or the need for sterility in a health care environment. Thus, if admitting service animals would fundamentally alter the nature of a service or program, such as a surgery center, service animals may be prohibited. Moreover, the service animal be under the handler's control at all times, which would be impossible if the handler is undergoing surgery.
Principles 1 and 7 of the AAO Code of Ethics state that when faced with an ethical dilemma, the ophthalmologist is responsible for assuring that the best interests of patient are served. Resolving ethical dilemmas may be require you to make choices limiting one patient’s behavior to protect others.
As some state or local governments have laws that allow people to take emotional support animals into public places, you may wish to check with your local government agencies to find out about these laws. And from a liability perspective, you can visit OMIC’s service animal page (www/omic.com/do-you-have-a-service-animal-policy).
To read the Code of Ethics, visit https://www.aao.org/ethics-detail/code-of-ethics
To submit a question, email ethics@aao.org