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.
Prevention efforts can marginalize patients by stigmatizing certain behaviors, so distinguishing individual professionals’ preferences about those behaviors is critical.
AMA J Ethics. 2019;21(6):E536-539. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2019.536.
Legacy patients are so-called because their opioid use behaviors express past, aggressive opioid prescribing by a clinician. Managing their pain and dependence justly is ethically complex.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(8):E651-657. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.651.
Tia Powell, MD, Sophia Shapiro, MD, and Ed Stein, JD, PhD
“Born that way” arguments have been used to establish transgender rights, but lack scientific evidence. Stronger support for promoting transgender rights comes instead from human rights-based language.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(11):1126-1131. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.11.pfor3-1611.
Feminism plays critical roles in innovating health care policies and practices. Feminist insights into clinicians as gatekeepers to gender-transition interventions can help resist tendencies to pathologize transgender.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(11):1132-1138. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.11.msoc1-1611.
One transgender patient draws upon his transition experiences to suggest strategies for health care professionals looking to be more responsive to transgender patients’ needs.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(11):1139-1146. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.11.mnar1-1611.
Using the patient’s worldview to challenge his or her decision and establish a treatment plan—implying the view is shared by the physician when it is not—could be seen as manipulative and deceptive.