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.
Nicholas Rubashkin, MD, MA and Nicole Minckas, MSc
Because witnessing obstetric violence can cause moral distress, medical schools should prepare students to provide responsible care during abroad rotations.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(3):283-246. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.3.ecas2-1803.
Marcia C. Inhorn, PhD, MPH and Pasquale Patrizio, MD, MBE
Low-cost in vitro fertilization (LCIVF) is better than no infertility treatment in countries that prohibit adoption and third-party reproductive assistance.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(3):228-237. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.3.ecas1-1803.
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.
The gross negligence of the physicians who cared for Steve Biko, an apartheid-era South African political activist who died of injuries inflicted while in police custody, illustrates how dual loyalty—toward patients and, in this case, the state—makes performance of professional duties difficult.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(10):966-972. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.10.mhst1-1510.
Although the Affordable Care Act represents a step toward realizing the right to health in reducing the number of uninsured, a right to health encompasses the social factors that determine health on a population scale.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(10):958-965. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.10.msoc1-1510.
A substantial proportion of patients seen by physicians have had an abortion or will have one in the future, yet acquiring the necessary skills to care for 30 percent of the female patient population has been made challenging for future physicians by a number of laws and amendments.