How can clinicians respond to the health challenges associated with global climate change? This month on Ethics Talk, we learn about how art can communicate the health effects of climate change, the challenges that hot and humid days pose for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and what the global health risk of climate change means for individual clinicians.
Clinicians have an ethical obligation to promote health equity in their communities. This month, we discuss how clinicians worked to expose the water crisis in Flint, and explore ways that clinicians can combat systemic injustice and promote health equity.
Andrew M. Courtwright, MA and Mia Wechsler Doron, MTS, MD
A positive right to parenthood obligates others to support a person’s attempt to become a parent. Do physicians have a duty to assist their patients’ procreative efforts, and, if so, in what ways?
Trauma surgeons’ role in gun violence prevention is hampered by restrictions on funding for research with implications for public health interventions.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(5):475-482. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.5.msoc1-1805.
Gene editing to enhance humans’ adaptability to climate change should consider safety, harm to be averted, succeeding generations, and social consequences.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(12):1186-1192. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.12.stas1-1712.
Public health and climate stabilization historically have competed for public funds, but investment in either good has the potential to advance both goods.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(12):1193-1201. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.12.pfor1-1712.