In the same way that we learn about normal variations in blood pressure, we need to learn about “normal” variations in sexual interests and practices. We want to avoid clueless questions or unintentionally inflammatory statements.
Nubia Chong, MD, Maria Mirabela Bodic, MD, Peter Steen, MD, Ludwing Salamanca, MD, PhD, and Stephanie LeMelle, MD, MS
Paternalistic language in patients’ health records is of specific ethical concern because it emphasizes clinicians’ power and patients’ vulnerabilities and can be demeaning and traumatizing.
AMA J Ethics. 2024;26(3):E225-231. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.225
Dr Rajesh R. Tampi joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Drs Aarti Gupta and Iqbal Ahmed: “Why Does the US Overly Rely on International Medical Graduates in Its Geriatric Psychiatric Workforce?”
Every physician should know that erotic pleasures occur in more diverse situations than one can imagine and that gender identity is a complicated idea.
The pace at which neurotechnological developments are being translated into clinical applications calls for a preparatory neuroethical model that can plot the benefits, burdens, and risks of neurosurgery as a step toward minimizing risks and maximizing benefits.
Is it ethical for a psychiatrist to monitor a patient’s blog without the patient’s permission? If so, what information from the blog is suitable for entry in the patient’s medical record?
Fabian M. Saleh, MD and H. Martin Malin, PhD, MA, LMFT
In treating patients whose sexual fantasies do not trigger an immediate legal duty to report, psychiatrists must be vigilant for signs that the patient intends to act on a fantasy.
The experience of an English professor dying of ovarian cancer in Margaret Edson’s play Wit shows that both literary and medical discourse obfuscate and objectify rather than promote communication of “simple human truths” that dignify life and death.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(9):858-864. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.9.imhl1-1509.