When patients express overt racism, caregivers need to feel safe and supported. The scope of organizations’ responsibilities to make that happen needs to be clearly defined.
AMA J Ethics. 2019;21(6):E499-504. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2019.499.
Mortality rates for breast cancer are higher where treatments are unavailable and unaffordable. Though less effective, breast examination could be a good screening approach.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(2):E93-101. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.93.
Joshua Nagler, MD, MHPEd and Rebekah Mannix, MD, MPH
Humor can help motivate positive interactions amidst fast-paced clinical encounters but can alienate colleagues when weaponized to promote assumed superiority of an individual or group.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(7):E583-587. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.583.
Medical school faculty have a nonnegotiable duty to report students whose professional behavior falls seriously short of the mark. If they refrain from fulfilling this duty for fear of retaliation, the antiharassment pendulum has truly swung too far.
Laurel J. Lyckholm, MD and Arwa K. Aburizik, MD, MS
Decision-making capacity can be preserved in patients with mental illness and should be formally assessed in the context of their values and past decisions.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(5):444-453. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.5.ecas4-1705.
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.