Dr Jonathan Treem joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Drs Joel Yager and Jennifer L. Gaudiani: “A Life-Affirming Palliative Care Model for Severe and Enduring Anorexia Nervosa.”
Is it ethical for a psychiatrist to monitor a patient’s blog without the patient’s permission? If so, what information from the blog is suitable for entry in the patient’s medical record?
Requirements for informed consent are relatively vague and the exceptions are few, so it is in the physician’s best interest to inform patients about proposed treatment options, ascertain that they understand their choices, and secure their consent.
Research findings that nutritional inadequacy and exposure to environmental toxicants, especially in utero and in early life, induce epigenetic changes that last throughout life raise complicated questions about maternal responsibility.
Cancer chemoprevention is rooted in the concept that ingesting certain phytochemicals from specific plants can boost the intrinsic defensive mechanisms of cells that protect against oxidative damage, inflammation, and DNA-damaging chemicals.
The gross negligence of the physicians who cared for Steve Biko, an apartheid-era South African political activist who died of injuries inflicted while in police custody, illustrates how dual loyalty—toward patients and, in this case, the state—makes performance of professional duties difficult.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(10):966-972. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.10.mhst1-1510.
Health care professionals’ use of social media can pose ethical challenges related to the boundary between professional and personal identities, privacy, confidentiality, and the trustworthiness of health care professionals.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(11):1009-1018. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.11.peer1-1511.