Harm occurs when race is used as a proxy for characteristics stereotypically ascribed to members of a group, much as the obligatory mention of age is used to indicate the typical patient’s expected health status and vitality.
AMA Journal of Ethics editor Audiey Kao, MD, PhD, interviewed Richard Pan, MD, MPH, about how, as a physician and legislator, he seeks to protect public health in light of recurrent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases.
Jodi Halpern, MD, PhD and Richard L. Kravitz, MD, MSPH
Just as people frequently support political parties without endorsing their entire platforms, perhaps physicians can support a health care advocacy organization without agreeing with its screening guidelines.
The 2011 duty-hour restrictions and the shift to team-based care challenge the medical profession to reconceptualize the traditional ethic of individual physician responsibility for patients.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(2):124-128. doi:
10.1001/virtualmentor.2015.17.2.conl1-1502.