Dr. Jones has a duty to determine how the test results were lost and why, disclose this information to his patient, Mrs. Taylor, and see that she is not held responsible for the costs of rerunning the test.
Critical skills required to weigh decisions with serious consequences, manipulate information rationally, and choose wisely are skills that are likely to be impaired by frontal lobe injury that results in personality change.
The AAP’s guidelines on lipid screening for children raise concerns about the fundamental purpose of prevention and its role in balancing individual autonomy with the benefits of society at large.
Caregivers often think that so-called “frequent-flyer” patients are at fault for their poor medical outcomes. In many such cases, though, unaddressed psychosocial issues are the root of the patients’ repeat visits to the emergency department.
With heterosexual transmission the chief cause of global HIV spread, those without the power to select sexual partners, choose the timing of sexual encounters, or insist on safer sex practices are unable to protect themselves from infection.
Patient safety is a medical ethics issue that must be addressed through health care teams’ open communication as well as through time-outs and checklists.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(9):925-932. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.9.stas1-1609.