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.
Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin continues the debate about affirmative action in higher education. What constitutes adequate representation of a given group, and should those groups be based on race or class?
Since the 1950s courts have grappled with resident physicians’ liability for medical error. First, they asked, “Are medical residents true physicians?” Then, “Are they general practitioners or specialists?”
U.S. courts have ruled that device manufacturer representatives’ presence in the operating room does not make them responsible for the supervision of physicians or liable for the practice of unauthorized medicine.
Regulations prohibit discrimination against women and caregivers who are being considered for hiring and promotion. Hospital residency programs also must adapt to comply with those regulations.
The ongoing anthrax vaccination case, Doe v Rumsfeld, tests whether the military can require participation in and punish refusal of a vaccination program while waiving informed consent.