Physicians who encounter a patient who is suffering from depression may find it necessary to breach confidentiality and patient autonomy in order to act in the best interest of the patient.
The stigma associated with contracting a sexually transmitted disease was originally perpetrated within the health care system as early as the 16th century and subsequently reinforced in the wider society.
Many public health officials are calling for mandatory vaccination against smallpox for all emergency medical workers, but the possibility of adverse reactions to the vaccine raises questions of compensation for those injured.
Public health officials have a responsibility to alert the public to prospective dangers without unduly restricting individual freedom or adding to the stigmatization of certain illnesses.
The Model State Emergency Health Powers Act proposes state legislation that should be enacted to ensure an adequate and coordinated response to public health emergencies.
Physicians need to carefully explain the difficult medical realities of carrying a fetus with severe congenital abnormalities to term but then follow the wishes of a religious family who ask for reasonable medical care.
Physicians need to carefully explain the difficult medical realities of carrying a fetus with severe congenital abnormalities to term but then follow the wishes of a religious family who ask for reasonable medical care.