False information undermines health and exacerbates disabilities. Constitutional rights to free speech come with responsibilities. Clinicians and citizens have duties to counter false health information.
AMA J Ethics. 2021;23(5):E432-433. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2021.432.
The author believes the AMA's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs should collaborate with academic physicians to create clear professional standards for the field of medicine.
The threat of bioterrorism in the form of aerosolized smallpox is real, and policy is needed to clarify the risk of disease to the public and recommendations on vaccination.
The Declaration of Helsinki was recently revised to require that the control arm of a trial use the current standard of care, even if that standard is not generally available in developing nations where the research is being conducted.
Those conducting Western-style clinical trial research in developing countries must consider the manner in which ethical principals are implemented within local standards of care.