Recommendation for induced lactation in nonbiological mothers is widespread in the medical literature. To resist offering the service for nongestating lesbian mothers bespeaks potential discrimination.
An undercurrent in all debates about allocation of health care resources to the poor is the matter of access to and coverage of health care for immigrants, particularly low-income and undocumented ones.
When talking to physicians about practice variation, “Why does hospital A have higher cesarean rates than Hospital B?” is likely to be more effective than “Why does Doctor A have higher cesarean rates than Doctor B?”
Medical school faculty have a nonnegotiable duty to report students whose professional behavior falls seriously short of the mark. If they refrain from fulfilling this duty for fear of retaliation, the antiharassment pendulum has truly swung too far.
Matthew William McCarthy, MD and Joseph J. Fins, MD
Hospital medicine must expand its mission to include the teaching of medical ethics, professionalism, and communication to trainees during clinical rounds.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(6):528-532. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.6.peer2-1706.
Transparency about teaching hospitals’ educational mission respects patient autonomy and aligns patients’ interests with those of trainees and the public.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(6):537-543. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.6.ecas1-1706.