Jofm5:
"Going back to your doctors analogy - if the medical board accept the doctors rehabilitation should his expertise be wasted or used again ? I think the person on the operating table that requires a doctor will probably not care whether they are rehabillitated or not."
Speaking only for myself of course, the only time I wouldn't is if I were heavily anesthetised.
Other than that, I'd be off that table and running as fast as I could push the i.v. bag stand thingy in front of me.
Will: eloquently argued, I agree 100%. It's about taking responsibility as a professional in a matter recognized by all (and codified) to have critical importance. To flout this and get caught in the act (hypothetically - no undue inferences made about the present subject) is to deserve what you get, in spades. From where exactly comes any "diminished responsibility" kind of an argument in a case like this? Fuggedabaudit. This isn't capital punishment btw guys, but it IS time to find another line of work.