Drs Arya Shah, Carmen Black Parker, and Ambrose H. Wong join us on this episode of Ethics Talk to discuss force, the role of authority, and how clinicians should not just minimize harm but demonstrate compassion.

Dr Ziad Obermeyer talks about the potential impact on mortality of cost-sharing practices of health insurers.

Leaders from a coalition of environmental, human rights, and religious organizations talk about the need to enact a nationwide moratorium on utilities shutoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

LaShyra Nolen, the first Black woman to serve as Harvard Medical School’s student council president, joins us to discuss health equity, community engagement, and the future of health professional school curricular design.

Christopher Ogolla talks about applying equal protection under the US Constitution to advance health equity.

Dr Hannah Janeway of the Refugee Health Alliance explains why good health care for refugees and asylum seekers at the US southern border might require border abolition.

Alisson Sesso talks about the devastating impacts of medical debt and how the nonprofit organization, RIP Medical Debt, helps to abolish this financial burden.

Dr Paris Adkins-Jackson proposes how to measure racism in academic health centers, as one responsibility of medicine is to rebuild trust with marginalized communities.

Dr Steven Goodman talks about the ethical and scientific implications of breaking the blind of placebo-controlled COVID-19 vaccine trials.

Dr Arthur Caplan talks about hesitancy among US health care workers to take COVID-19 vaccines authorized by the FDA for emergency use.