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.
This narrative information graphic contextualizes the lack of current maternal morbidity and mortality data in the United States since the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in 2022.
AMA J Ethics. 2024;26(1):E92-93. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.92.
Dr Gillian R. Schmitz joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Dr Robert W. Strauss: “What Should Students and Trainees Be Taught About Turfing and Where Patients Belong?”
Makenzie Doubek joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Scott J. Schweikart: “Why Should Physicians Care About What Law Says About Turfing and Dumping Patients?”