Physicians can improve diets of patients who live in food deserts by providing nutrition materials, training in food preparation, and promoting nutritious food availability in communities where they practice.
AMA J Ethics. 2018; 20(10):E918-923. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.918.
Farmworkers can become ill due to toxic exposure in their work environments. Recommending specific restrictions, educating patients on protection strategies, and partnering with agribusiness owners and allied health workers can drive development of alternatives to agricultural practices with health risks.
AMA J Ethics. 2018; 20(10):E932-940. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.932.
Sarah Reinhardt, MPH, RD and Ricardo J. Salvador, PhD, MS
Clinicians should contribute to healthful, equitable, sustainable food procurement initiatives consistent with their institutions' health-promotion missions.
AMA J Ethics. 2018; 20(10):E974-978. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.974.
Vegan patients screened for vitamin and mineral deficiencies might benefit from supplements, but physicians are obliged to discuss lack of regulation in the supplement industry and possible risks.
AMA J Ethics. 2018; 20(11):E1025-1032. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1025.
Joel T. Wu, JD, MPH, MA and Jennifer B. McCormick, PhD, MPP
False health-related speech can cause harm, but it’s not restricted unless it’s obscene. Physicians are obliged not only to correct patients’ false beliefs, but to engage digital spaces in which false claims thrive.
AMA J Ethics. 2018; 20(11):E1052-1058. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1052.
Jane Bartels, MBBS and Christopher J. Ryan, MBBS, MHL
When patients cannot give informed consent or refusal for antipsychotic medication, physicians must meet specific criteria to justify temporarily withholding a diagnosis.
AMA J Ethics. 2018; 20(12):E1119-1125. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1119.
Elder self-neglect can be assessed with the Elder Self-Neglect Assessment (ESNA) and addressed by physicians’ partnering with patients to achieve common goals.
AMA J Ethics. 2017; 19(10):1047-1050. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.10.corr2-1710.