US immigration policy contravenes the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which all United Nations member nations have ratified except the United States. The convention recognizes that children need special assistance and legal protection and prohibits deprivation of liberty.
AMA J Ethics. 2019;21(1):E58-66. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2019.58.
Although poor communication is the root cause of medical malpractice claims, in cases of medical error, apologies reduce litigation and benefit patients.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(3):289-295. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.3.hlaw1-1703.
Force feeding, unnecessary x-rays, misusing health information, and discharging unstable patients are classic dual-loyalty dilemmas reminiscent of the Holocaust.
AMA J Ethics. 2021;23(1):E38-45. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2021.38.
Some refugees’ illness experiences preclude them from testifying and accurately representing their own interests during asylum adjudication proceedings.
AMA J Ethics. 2021;23(2):E132-139. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2021.132.
Jennifer Aldrich, MD, Jessica Kant, MSW, LICSW, MPH, and Eric Gramszlo
Estelle v Gamble (1976) reiterates that the 8th Amendment to the US Constitution requires adequate care to be offered to all people who are incarcerated.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(6):E407-413. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.407.
I’m sorry laws, enacted in the majority of states, encourage physicians to apologize for unexpected outcomes and errors by making such apologies inadmissible in civil court to prove liability.
Physicians should be diligent in taking a medical history, adhering to the standard of care and documenting their actions during every patient encounter, particularly when there is no established patient-physician relationship.
An undercurrent in all debates about allocation of health care resources to the poor is the matter of access to and coverage of health care for immigrants, particularly low-income and undocumented ones.