Anne Drapkin Lyerly, MD, MA and Ruth R. Faden, PhD, MPH
Participation in a research study—in which there are rigorous standards and close monitoring—may be a safer context for the use of medications in pregnancy than the clinical setting, where the evidence base is lacking.
Patients with dementia need social supports and opportunities and acceptance of their disability in order to feel hopeful despite their functional decline.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(7):649-655. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.7.ecas2-1707.
Acknowledging the roles and views of the caregiver may be the first step to resolving disagreements between caregivers and clinicians over artificial nutrition at the end of life.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(7):656-662. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.7.ecas3-1707.
Harm occurs when race is used as a proxy for characteristics stereotypically ascribed to members of a group, much as the obligatory mention of age is used to indicate the typical patient’s expected health status and vitality.
Some disability advocates take issue with the “normalization” goals of the medical model of rehabilitation, but expressions of that position can be dismissive of rehabilitationists’ efforts to remediate oppressive functional deficits.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(6):562-567. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.6.msoc1-1506.
Viewing dementia as a distinct disease promotes funding for research but may stigmatize those who have dementia and lead to disinvestment in caregiving.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(7):713-719. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.7.mhst1-1707.
This process of developing EBM-based guidelines and applying them to clinical care highlights the tension between generating unbiased knowledge based on statistical aggregation and the application of this information to individual patients.