Using data from comparative effectiveness studies to inform cost-effectiveness analyses or other economic evaluations would strengthen ethical policy making.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(7):651-655. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.7.pfor1-1507.
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.”
Trauma-informed care ensures ethical treatment for children experiencing physical or psychological distress associated with a medical event or procedure.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(8):793-801. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.8.pfor1-1708.
The communication gulf is not only one of language, but also one of culture, understood broadly. And, despite the priority of medical concerns, every effort should be made to obtain consent consistent with appropriate care.
Fibromyalgia, with no positive tests, is a “foreigner” in the medical landscape. Medicine looks for signs of pathology, changes in the structure or function of organs. The mantra of physicians facing patients with fibromyalgia: “Your tests are normal.”
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.
Patients seeking IVF are highly motivated to become parents and may wish to preserve financial resources for surrogacy or adoption should IVF not succeed, so risk sharing appeals to them, which makes its high cost especially problematic.
With the U.S. Supreme Court likely to decide on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, it is instructive to understand the relevant policy positions of the largest physician organization in the country.
The social-justice question we must pose to physicians is: Are you willing to advocate for changes to the medical system that creates the need for you to take on charity care in the first place?
Measuring outcomes alone is not the answer. There should be a way to reward the doctor for educating a patient about lifestyle modifications and then documenting that the care provided followed patient preferences.