The guidelines for patients’ eligibility for bariatric surgery have not changed since 1991, although recent data suggest there may be indications for broadening application of the surgery.
A medical student’s desire to practice the specialty that he or she finds most interesting should not outweigh the right of patients in a pluralistic society to receive a full range of legal medical services.
Emily A. Kuhl, PhD, David J. Kupfer, MD, and Darrel A. Regier, MD, MPH
Revisions to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders aim to ground diagnoses in empirical evidence, make them less stigmatizing, and incorporate assessments of patients' functioning over time.
A discussion of the ethical issues raised by a patient’s request for off-label, prophylactic bariatric surgery to prevent diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM type 2).
With good planning and good will, medical professionals’ right of conscience and patients’ rights to controversial services can be both protected and accommodated.