Dr David Marcus joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article: “When, If Ever, Is It Appropriate to Regard a Patient as ‘Too Medically Complex’ for One Inpatient Service, But Not Another?”
Constraints on hospitalists and surgeons and restricted orthopedic admission criteria can exacerbate patients’ distress that comes from clinicians’ disagreements.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(12):E873-877. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.873.
Asking for forgiveness may be oppressive to a patient or family still grappling with the fact of the harm, the impact of the harm, and their own emotional response to the harm.
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?
Family planning to mitigate climate change should reflect patients’ values and preferences, which physicians should elicit during contraceptive counseling.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(12):1157-1163. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.12.ecas1-1712.
The importance of the Oregon experiment is that the state developed a public process for prioritizing medical services rather than relying on undisclosed private decisions by individuals or insurers.