Colleen E. Bennett, MD, MSHP and Cindy W. Christian, MD
When health care professionals encounter child abuse and neglect, they tend to experience a range of emotions, such as anger, sadness, and frustration.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(2):E109-115. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.109.
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.
Dr. Jones has a duty to determine how the test results were lost and why, disclose this information to his patient, Mrs. Taylor, and see that she is not held responsible for the costs of rerunning the test.
When a child or family begins to stand out because of patterns in history or physical findings, physicians must determine whether to take a closer look at the situation.