Countering the prevailing thought that more medical testing and treatment is always better can be achieved by creating a forum for open discussion of costs and value to prevent patient harm from overuse.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(11):1079-1081. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.11.mnar1-1511.
Health educators have duties to teach patient focus, motivate equity, and cultivate students’ capacity to serve our most vulnerable neighbors, wherever they reside.
AMA J Ethics. 2021;23(11):E858-863. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2021.858.
Deborah M. Eng, MS, MA and Scott J. Schweikart, JD, MBE
A just culture perspective suggests that punitive responses to those who err should be reserved for those who have willfully and irremediably caused harm.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(9):E779-783. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.779.
This comic conveys the absurdity of overreliance on symptom measures and excessive testing in contemporary clinical decision making and health care practice.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(9):E816-817. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.816.
Camillo Lamanna, MMathPhil, MBBS and Lauren Byrne, MBBS
Perhaps machine learning systems trained on patients’ electronic health records and social media footprints could be used as decision aids when patients lack capacity or face overwhelming decisions.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(9):E902-910. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.902.
Trafficking-specific ICD-10-CM codes account for physical, social, and psychological dimensions of trafficked patients’ experiences. Data collected by clinicians can also motivate improvements in health policy, resource allocation, and prevention.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(12):E1143-1151. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1143.
Michael Anderson, PhD and Susan Leigh Anderson, PhD
Two concerns (unknowability of how output is derived from input and overreliance on clinical decision support systems) are main sources of ethical questions about AI in health care.
AMA J Ethics. 2019;21(2):E125-130. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2019.125.
Victoire Fokom Defo, MD and Joël Fokom Domgue, MD, MPH
HPV tests are alternatives to Pap smear screening that enable women to self-collect specimens and might be the best cervical cancer prevention strategy for many.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(2):E116-125. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.116.