The American College of Physicians and the Federation of State Medical Boards’ guidelines for online medical professionalism apply existing norms of communication and confidentiality to new settings but will need to be modified in light of technological advances and unanswered questions.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(5):441-447. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.5.nlit1-1505.
Networking with a friend to help a patient gain employment is not unethical as long as confidentiality is maintained and the patient grants his or her doctor permission to discuss the situation with the friend.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(5):425-427. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.5.ecas2-1505.
Christina Krudy, MD and Kavita Shah Arora, MD, MBE
Antenatal corticosteroids aren’t as effective in reducing neonatal mortality in low-income as high-income regions due to cultural and health care differences.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(3):261-268. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.3.stas1-1803.
J. Brian Szender, MD, MS and Shashikant B. Lele, MD
The estimated reduction in risk of ovarian cancer for any woman undergoing opportunistic removal of the Fallopian tubes is up to 50 percent, but whether removal is more beneficial than ligation has not been established.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(9):843-848. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.9.stas1-1509.
The AMA Code of Medical Ethics' opinions on confidential care for sexually active minors and physicians' exercise of conscience in refusal of services.
A physician in a university student health center may feel a duty to intervene when he finds out from a patient that a student who is not a patient is diverting medication, but doing so would violate patient confidentiality.
A discussion of how to handle the documentation of mental health care in electronic medical records so that patient wishes for confidentiality are balanced with the need for interdisciplinary communication and care coordination.
Instead of trying to reduce the number of people who have access to a patient's medical record by quarantining information, hospitals should explain the current meaning of confidentiality to patients as part of the informed consent process.