We currently have no simple test of any kind that tells us whether someone has pain, but there is reason to be optimistic that brain imaging that can contribute to evaluation of pain may be within our grasp.
When deciding whether a pregnant woman will take antidepressants that pose a slight risk to the fetus, the patient and doctor must each make value-based determinations about whether absolute protection of the fetus is more important than preventing the mother’s probable suffering.
PSOs are not required to share their data, which limits the ability to achieve a much-needed national perspective. Regardless, the are a step in the right direction.
Lynn Monrouxe, PhD, Malissa Shaw, MSc, PhD, and Charlotte Rees, MEd, PhD
Students’ decision making about ethical dilemmas can be supported via education, faculty development, and structures for reporting professionalism lapses.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(6):568-577. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.6.medu1-1706.
A year after Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Pou was arrested and charged with one count of second-degree murder and nine counts of conspiracy to commit second-degree murder for administering drugs to patients who subsequently died.
Psychodynamic therapy is generally suited to treating issues arising in cancer treatment because it enables rapid development of the therapeutic alliance.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(5):467-474. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.5.stas2-1705.
Elizabeth Lee Daugherty, MD, MPH and Douglas B. White, MD, MA
Opportunities to advance scientific knowledge may arise during humanitarian crises, but their presence does not justify suspension of the ethical foundations governing human subjects research.
Physicians working in close-knit communities, whether small towns or urban neighborhoods, have to manage relationships with people who may be simultaneously patients and neighbors, friends, and business associates.
Thomas W. LeBlanc, MD, MA, MHS and Arif H. Kamal, MD, MBA, MHS
Clinical trials should assess patients’ distress and test interventions to address it, just as they assess adverse events and test novel therapeutic agents.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(5):460-466. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.5.stas1-1705.