Efrat Lelkes, MD, Angira Patel, MD, MPH, Anna Joong, MD, and Jeffrey G. Gossett, MD
Current policy requires separate informed consent for some Public Health Service increased-risk donors, and this can make shared decision making harder.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(5):E401-407. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.401.
Shared decision making honors patient autonomy, particularly for preference-sensitive care decisions and even when patients have impaired decision-making capacity.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(5):E358-364. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.358.
Frances Grimstad, MD, MS and Elizabeth Boskey, PhD, MPH, MSSW, LICSW
Gender-affirming surgery for teens is growing as a field. Norms about who should be involved, to what extent, and for which health decisions are still evolving.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(5):E452-457. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.452.
Drs Katrina Bramstedt and Ana Iltis discuss the development of QoL assessment tools to help patient-subjects considering reconstructive transplantation.
Mandating processes that are not evidence based generates distress among patients and clinicians, so physician advocacy in national, state, and local policymaking is key.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(8):E668-674. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.668.
Pain is the most common reason patients seek health care. The AMA Pain Care Task Force suggests how clinicians can offer good pain care and become savvy about situating themselves in the health care system to do so.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(8):E709-717. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.709.