Clarissa G. Barnes, Frederick L. Brancati, MD, MHS, and Tiffany L. Gary, PhD, MHS
To combat the rising incidence of type 2 diabetes, New York City requires laboratories with electronic reporting capacity to upload data on hemoglobin A1c measurements to a city department of health registry.
Research is often conducted without the knowledge or consent of those whose tissues are banked and poses possible harms to social groups if information about a few members is unscientifically applied to all.
Siddhartha Devarakonda, MD, Ramaswamy Govindan, MD, and Peter S. Hammerman, MD, PhD
While next-generation genome-sequencing technology has great potential to aid cancer research, ethical challenges concerning privacy and confidentiality and the ownership of inventions remain.
To prevent patients from avoiding care when they cannot afford it, providers should collaborate with them to eliminate unnecessary testing, reduce the frequency of follow-up visits where possible, and make manageable payment plans.
Doctors and hospitals must stop being bystanders to food-related illness and begin to become role models and educators in the transition to healthful eating habits, just as they did in tobacco cessation.