A lack of consensus guidelines or a belief that current evidence does not support such guidelines might be justified if a clinician expresses a commitment to patient-centered care and shared decision making.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(11):E1007-1016. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1007.
Violence reduction efforts should be modeled on noncontagious diseases, which have as their root cause environmental determinants, not contagious diseases.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(5):513-515. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.5.corr1-1805.
Gary Slutkin, MD, Charles Ransford, MPP, and Daria Zvetina
Violence reduction efforts should focus on interrupting transmission of violence and changing behaviors rather than mitigating environmental risk factors.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(5):516-519. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.5.corr2-1805.
Carrie A. Bohnert, MPA, Aaron W. Calhoun, MD, and Olivia F. Mittel, MD, MS
Research and training are needed so that physicians are able to identify human trafficking victims and refer them to appropriate trauma-informed treatment.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(1):35-42. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.1.ecas4-1701.
Physicians should provide women considering abortion after Down syndrome screening with unbiased information and not attempt to influence their decision.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(4):359-364. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.4.ecas1-1604.
Before the late 20th century, overweight and obesity were not considered population-wide health risks, but the advent of weight loss drugs in the 1990s accelerated hypermedicalization via BMI use.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(7):E550-558. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.550.
Benjamin W. Frush, MD, MA, John Brewer Eberly Jr, MD, MA, and Farr A. Curlin, MD
Physicians should accommodate patients’ religious or spiritual understanding of suffering, even when they disagree, as long as they uphold their commitment to health. Both physicians and chaplains, who promote patients’ spiritual well-being, should respectfully challenge patients when necessary.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(7):E613-620. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.613.
Violence is typically seen as a problem to be addressed by criminal justice enforcement – but are we seeing the issue the wrong way? This month on Ethics Talk, we discuss what it means to think about violence as an epidemic, and how this frame might transform the way our society responds to violence.