Laurence B. McCullough, PhD, Frank A. Chervenak, MD, and John H. Coverdale, MD, MEd
The best interests of a pregnant psychotic patient can be served by determining her decision making capacity and using surrogate decision making if needed.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(3):209-214. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.3.ecas2-1603.
A guardian’s request to sterilize a woman with intellectual disabilities is not ethically justifiable unless the woman assents and it is to her benefit.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(4):365-372. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.4.ecas2-1604.
Dr Crystal M. Hayes joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Dr Anu Manchikanti Gomez: “Alignment of Abolition Medicine With Reproductive Justice.”
The FDA’s approval for over-the-counter sales of emergency contraception marked a departure from its standard approval process and obstructed access to a safe and effective drug. That departure could set a dangerous precedent for future decisions.
Anne Drapkin Lyerly, MD, MA and Ruth R. Faden, PhD, MPH
Participation in a research study—in which there are rigorous standards and close monitoring—may be a safer context for the use of medications in pregnancy than the clinical setting, where the evidence base is lacking.
Diethylstilbestrol (DES) was widely used in the 1940s to 1960s to prevent pregnancy loss but was later found to be associated with adverse health effects in exposed offspring, underscoring the need for careful evaluation of new therapies.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(9):865-870. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.9.mhst1-1509.