Using the patient’s worldview to challenge his or her decision and establish a treatment plan—implying the view is shared by the physician when it is not—could be seen as manipulative and deceptive.
The growing number of web-savvy patients alters the power dynamic in the patient-physician relationship. In the older model of care, physicians served as unchallenged experts who alone devised therapeutic plans for patients.
People have a social obligation to conform to the general rules of sleeping: sleep at night, in a bed, in a private place away from public view, and in proper attire.
Physicians make patients aware of those interventions that they (the patients) may then refuse. In short, informed consent is less about patient decisions than it is about restraining physicians.
J. Corey Williams, MD, MA, Ashley Andreou, MD, MPH, and Susan M. Cheng, EdLD, MPP
Faculty who lack skill in addressing negative bias in learning environments can erode safety, especially among underrepresented students, trainees, and patients.
AMA J Ethics. 2024;26(1):E6-11. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.6.
Alexandre White, PhD and Jeremy A. Greene, MD, PhD
Teaching and learning patient advocacy in academic health centers requires critical engagement with social, political, historical, and cultural conceptions of racial difference.
AMA J Ethics. 2024;26(1):E62-67. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.62.