AMA Journal of Ethics

Dr Sean C. McConnell provides an introduction to gene editing, and Scott J. Schweikart discusses what prudent governance requires.

Drs Katrina Bramstedt and Ana Iltis discuss the development of QoL assessment tools to help patient-subjects considering reconstructive transplantation.

Decision making in health care demands that we balance multiple considerations, like quality of life, statistics, and how different options could affect others. Dr Brian Zikmund-Fisher shares his own experience as a patient and explains how decision science can help us navigate ethically complex health decisions.  

Global health outreach programs can risk benefitting students from resource-rich areas of the world more than the patients in resource-poor areas of the world. This month’s episode of Ethics Talk explores an alternative to academic health center-based health outreach programs.

How do we determine what a fair price for a life-saving prescription medication should be? This month, we discuss what is means for a price to be “fair” and explore the current legal and economic landscape of prescription drug pricing in the US.

When patients are unable to express their wishes and do not have surrogates or advance directives, which and whose values should inform decision making for them? We discuss ethical complexities of caring for unrepresented patients.

When a patient’s preference expresses injustice, how should clinicians respond? We discuss individual and organizational responses.

When should ECMO be started and stopped? This month’s Ethics Talk explores ethical challenges of ECMO use in end-of-life care.

What are key factors for successful partnerships between health care organizations and communities? We discuss strategies for building trust and engaging effectively.

How should AI be incorporated into medical education? We discuss how educators can adapt to rapid change in an ethically complex field.