Clinical Ethics Consultation

May 2016

Clinical Ethics Consultation

Ethics committees and consultations are essential features of health care. This issue reviews the historical development and current roles of these structures in health care organizations. Authors offer insights about ethical conflict and methods of consensus-building that can help clinicians, patients, and patients’ loved ones reveal and respond to sources of ethical complexity in practice.

Volume 18, Number 5: 473-563 Full Issue PDF

From the Editor
May 2016

Health Care Ethics Consultation in the United States
Karel-Bart Celie and Kenneth Prager, MD
Introduction to the May 2016 issue on health care ethics consultation in the US.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(5):475-478. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2017.18.5.fred1-1605.
Case and Commentary
May 2016

What is an Emergency Ethics Consultation?
Jeremy R. Simon, MD, PhD
Emergency medical consultations share with other emergencies the need for prompt action, potentially without information or tools ordinarily available.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(5):479-484. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.5.ecas1-1605.
Case and Commentary
May 2016

Process Matters: Notes on Bioethics Consultation
Hannah I. Lipman, MD, MS and Tia Powell, MD
In order to successfully resolve ethical conflicts, bioethics consultants must pay attention to process and heed stakeholders’ perspectives and values.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(5):485-492. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.5.ecas2-1605.
Case and Commentary
May 2016

Consequences for Patients and Their Loved Ones When Physicians Refuse to Participate in Ethics Consultation Processes
David S. Seres, MD, ScM
While some physicians try to avoid ethics consultations, their participation can be essential for good patient care.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(5):493-498. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.5.ecas3-1605.
AMA Code Says
May 2016

AMA Code of Medical Ethics’ Opinions on Ethics Committees and Consultations
Danielle Chaet, MSB
The AMA Code of Medical Ethics opinions related to ethics consultations and ethics committees in health care institutions.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(5):499-500. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2017.18.5.coet1-1605.
Medical Education
May 2016

Roles of Student Ethics Committees in Preparing Future Physicians
Carolyn Johnston, LLM, MA, PhD
In the UK, a pilot program at King’s College London offers a valuable forum for ethics discussions among medical students.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(5):501-505. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.5.medu1-1605.
In the Literature
May 2016

Ethics for Ethicists? The Professionalization of Clinical Ethics Consultation
Rachel Yarmolinsky, MS
The challenge in professionalizing bioethics is to retain interdisciplinary membership and exchange as an integral part of the profession.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(5):506-513. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.5.nlit1-1605.
State of the Art and Science
May 2016

Health Care Ethics Consultation via Telemedicine: Linking Expert Clinical Ethicists and Local Consultants
Alexander A. Kon, MD and Maj. Robert J. Walter, MD, DHCE
Successful telemedicine ethics consultation requires knowledge of relevant laws and, for videoconferences, the physical presence of a meeting leader.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(5):514-520. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.5.stas1-1605.
State of the Art and Science
May 2016

International Access to Clinical Ethics Consultation via Telemedicine
Katrina A. Bramstedt, PhD, MA
Telemedicine is fast becoming a reliable medium for convening ethics deliberations and bringing expert assistance to remote locations.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(5):521-527. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.5.stas2-1605.
Policy Forum
May 2016

Strategies to Improve Health Care Ethics Consultation: Bridging the Knowledge Gap
Ellen Fox, MD
Strategies for improving health care ethics consultation should appeal to key stakeholders in hospitals and not just the academic bioethics community.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(5):528-533. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.5.pfor1-1605.
Medicine and Society
May 2016

Health Care Ethics Committees as Mediators of Social Values and the Culture of Medicine
Cynthia M.A. Geppert, MD, MA, MPH, MSB, DPS and Wayne Shelton, PhD
Health care ethics committees may fail in their role as mediators if their members lack impartiality, independence, or expertise in policy formation.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(5):534-539. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.5.msoc1-1605.
Medicine and Society
May 2016

Understanding and Utilizing the Convening Power of Ethics Consultation
Joseph J. Fins, MD
The convening power of clinical ethics committees stems from their reputation for fairness and procedural legitimacy in addressing and resolving ethically complex cases.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(5):540-545. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.5.msoc2-1605.
History of Medicine
May 2016

Why Did Hospital Ethics Committees Emerge in the US?
Mark P. Aulisio, PhD
As high-tech care decisions led to value clashes in hospital corridors, ethics committees developed to respond to diverse viewpoints, families’ concerns, and clinicians’ moral distress. They now exist in almost all US health care organizations.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(5):546-553. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.5.mhst1-1605.
Viewpoint
May 2016

Hospital Ethics Committees, Consultants, and Courts
George Annas, JD, MPH and Michael Grodin, MD
Hospital ethics committees originated with concerns about legal liability, but today they educate, develop and implement policies, and review cases.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(5):554-559. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.5.sect1-1605.
Podcast
May 2016

Ethics Talk: How Health Care Ethics Committees Engage Clinical Practice and Professionalization - An Interview with Joseph J. Fins

AMA Journal of Ethics theme editor Karel-Bart Celie, a second-year medical student at Columbia University School of Medicine, interviewed Joseph J. Fins, MD, about the work of ethics committees and consultants as they pursue professionalization and respond to changes in health care organization and practice.

AMA Journal of Ethics^®

Illuminating the Art of Medicine

Clinical Ethics Consultation

Health Care Ethics Consultation in the United States

What is an Emergency Ethics Consultation?

Process Matters: Notes on Bioethics Consultation

Consequences for Patients and Their Loved Ones When Physicians Refuse to Participate in Ethics Consultation Processes

AMA Code of Medical Ethics’ Opinions on Ethics Committees and Consultations

Roles of Student Ethics Committees in Preparing Future Physicians

Ethics for Ethicists? The Professionalization of Clinical Ethics Consultation

Health Care Ethics Consultation via Telemedicine: Linking Expert Clinical Ethicists and Local Consultants

International Access to Clinical Ethics Consultation via Telemedicine

Strategies to Improve Health Care Ethics Consultation: Bridging the Knowledge Gap

Health Care Ethics Committees as Mediators of Social Values and the Culture of Medicine

Understanding and Utilizing the Convening Power of Ethics Consultation

Why Did Hospital Ethics Committees Emerge in the US?

Hospital Ethics Committees, Consultants, and Courts

Ethics Talk: How Health Care Ethics Committees Engage Clinical Practice and Professionalization - An Interview with Joseph J. Fins

Other Issues

Liver Transplant Ethics: From Donation to Allocation

Bed to Bench: Medicine and the Law

Disability, Ethics, and Medicine