Grace Kim, Uriel Sanchez Molina, and Altaf Saadi, MD, MSHPM
Undocumented patients can be subject to discrimination, reporting, detention, or deportation in violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, so what goes in the record is critical.
AMA J Ethics. 2019;21(1):E8-16. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2019.8.
Being undocumented is a risk factor for mental illness, and immigration status relates prominently to overall health. That’s enough to consider it protected health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule.
AMA J Ethics. 2019;21(1):E32-37. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2019.32.
A 3-step analgesic ladder was introduced in 1986 and needs change. Surgical interventions could reduce opioid use and motivate expansion of current pain management approaches.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(8):E695-701. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.695.
Ava Ferguson Bryan, MD, AM, Elizabeth Yates, MD, MPH, and Neelima Tummala, MD, MSc
The health sector has obligations and ample opportunities to protect health by decreasing waste and motivating more system-wide sustainable clinical practices.
AMA J Ethics. 2022;24(10):E927-933. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2022.927.
Dumping domestic and international health care waste into the earth’s terra firma and oceans undermine global health equity and the health of vulnerable communities.
AMA J Ethics. 2022;24(10):E986-993. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2022.986.
This commentary on a case considers a transgender patient’s mental health and risk for DVT in ethical decision making about feminizing gender-affirming hormone therapy.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(6):E386-390. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.386.
Lee C. Zhao, MD, Gaines Blasdel, Augustus Parker, and Rachel Bluebond-Langner, MD
Tension between realistic goals and unrealistic views about how to achieve them is compounded when patients are eager to revise a prior surgeon’s gender-affirming procedure.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(6):E391-397. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.391.
Annika Brakebill, A. Mark Fendrick, MD, and Jeffrey T. Kullgren, MD, MS, MPH
These key steps are ones health sector stakeholders should take to help patients and clinicians use pricing information to inform health decision making.
AMA J Ethics. 2022;24(11):E1034-1039. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2022.1034.