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):416-425. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.5.ecas1-1705.
Withholding information from patients during an informed consent process is ethically unacceptable. Patients may restrict the amount of information they wish to receive or designate someone else to receive the information for them.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(3):209-214. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.3.ecas2-1503.
Patients who use drugs intravenously may be at high risk for relapse, but their situation is no more futile than that of persons with diabetes and coronary artery disease who smoke and frequent all-you-can-eat buffets.
The concept stewardship borrows from collective action problems that cannot be solved by individuals only, just like those discussed in environmental ethics.
AMA J Ethics. 2024;26(6):E479-485. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.479.