Dr Pilar Ortega joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Drs Glenn Martínez, Marco A. Alemán, Alejandra Zapién-Hidalgo, and Tiffany M. Shin: “Recognizing and Dismantling Raciolinguistic Hierarchies in Latinx Health.”
The separation of dental and medical care is a medical ethics issue because it negatively impacts vulnerable populations who lack access to dental care.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(9):861-868. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.9.peer1-1609.
Clinicians in Catholic health care institutions cannot prescribe contraceptives for pregnancy prevention under a false diagnosis without committing fraud and contravening doctrine. Referrals are one option the authors consider for navigating patient requests for contraception.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(7):E630-636. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.630.
Supporting burn patients physically, psychologically, and emotionally during their recovery can be a challenge. This month on Ethics Talk, we explore how medical teams can ensure that patients are given the holistic care they need.
AMA Journal of Ethics theme editor Subha Perni, MD, a recent graduate of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, interviewed Elizabeth Epstein, PhD, RN, about strategies for understanding and address moral distress in clinical settings.
When the patient delivers a low-birth-weight infant that requires extensive time in the neonatal intensive, should she be held responsible? Where do we draw the line? More importantly, on what basis do we draw the line?
Using the patient’s worldview to challenge his or her decision and establish a treatment plan—implying the view is shared by the physician when it is not—could be seen as manipulative and deceptive.
After the infant’s birth, the neonatologist’s first duty is to his or her patient—the newly born infant. If clinical circumstances are different than anticipated, the physician must first consider the best interests of the baby.
Having implied that a particular clinical decision had been made to “free up a hospital bed,” the attending physician walked away without further comments to the residents or talking with the patient.