Wendy G. Lane, MD, MPH and Rebecca R. Seltzer, MD, MHS
If it is ethically justifiable for clinicians to err by overreporting suspected abuse and neglect, we must fairly distribute benefits and harms among all children and families.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(2):E133-140. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.133.
Size-based health and beauty ideals emanated from eugenic pseudoscientific postulates, and BMI continues to advance white supremacist embodiment norms.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(7):E535-539. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.535.
Diagnostic utility of weight and body mass index is widely overestimated, and their use as health and wellness measures can be sources of iatrogenic harm.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(7):E540-544. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.540.
Pamela B. Teaster, PhD, MA, MS and Al O. Giwa, LLB, MD, MBA, MBE
Since ageism contributes to global mental health inequity among older people, responding to their needs should be a clinical, ethical, and policy priority.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(10):E765-770. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.765.
John Timothy Kayiwa, MSc, Benard Matovu, MS, Michael Mutebi, Charity Angella Nassuna, MSc, Leonara Nabatanzi, Kevin T. Castle, DVM, MS, Robert M. Kityo, PhD, MS, and Rebekah C. Kading, PhD, MS
Bats are diverse mammals, globally distributed and ecologically critical, yet some carry disease agents that have severe consequences for human health.
AMA J Ethics. 2024;26(2):E153-161. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.153.
This comic invites readers to consider aesthetic and ethical intersections of how odds might be presented—even exaggerated—to cultivate fear in public health messaging.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(8):E643-645. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.643.
This multipaneled comic follows a woman robot preparing for a breast examination. Oil “leakage” recurs in the comic, suggesting its ethical importance in metaphorically representing a patient’s stress responses.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(8):E646-650. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.646.