Physicians have a responsibility to advocate for each patient’s best care, even when doing so entails opposing hospital policy, seeking legal help, and making the case public.
Increased use of emergency departments for primary care puts undue burden on EDs; however, EMTALA obligates EDs to provide care to patients regardless of their ability to pay.
Neutral, nondirective counseling of women who are about to give birth to extremely premature infants can undermine their autonomous decision making rather than promoting it.
Catherine A. Marco, MD and Raquel M. Schears, MD, MPH
Two physicians offer commentaries about how an ED physician should communicate the decision to withhold CPR to the patient's family, especially in light of often unrealistic beneficial outcomes portrayed by medical dramas and the media.