Introduction to the August 2016 issue on ethics in pathology.

The communication training program at University of Washington Medical Center aims to develop best practices for effective pathology communication.

The authors address the medical ethics question of whether autopsy is necessary from Cartesian and sociocultural perspectives and how to obtain consent.

A neglected topic in medical ethics is the unique barriers to error disclosure faced by anatomic and clinical pathologists.

Cytopathologists frequently interact directly with patients at their bedsides to perform fine needle aspiration procedures. When, if ever, should cytopathologists share preliminary diagnostic impressions directly with patients?

Pathologists’ adoption of practical social media use guidelines can help mitigate risk to patients.

The allocation of scarce resources, such as HLA platelets, involves a conflict between the medical ethics principles of beneficence and social justice.

Because physicians view autopsies differently than families of the deceased, informed consent rather than permission should be obtained for autopsies.

The AMA Code of Medical Ethics’ opinions related to pathology.

An emerging medical ethics issue is whether to delay posting pathology reports to electronic health records (EHR) to allow clinicians time to follow up.