Decision making in health care demands that we balance multiple considerations, like quality of life, statistics, and how different options could affect others. Dr Brian Zikmund-Fisher shares his own experience as a patient and explains how decision science can help us navigate ethically complex health decisions.  

Tara Montgomery and Dr Zackary Berger discuss how to address some health care cultures’ negative influences on service delivery and quality.

Kim Christiansen discusses her experiences managing limited mobility and chronic pain from a partial spinal cord injury and Dr Natalie Hoff describes good physical therapy care for patients with chronic migraine headaches.

Drs Arya Shah, Carmen Black Parker, and Ambrose H. Wong join us on this episode of Ethics Talk to discuss force, the role of authority, and how clinicians should not just minimize harm but demonstrate compassion.

Dr Edmund Pellegrino (1920-2013) talks about personal virtues in shaping ethical behavior and moral authority in promoting the common good.

Adhering too strictly to biomedical thinking about diagnosis can prevent clinicians from empathically engaging with patients and helping them navigate their illness experiences.

This article considers force use in clinical settings after a triggering event—a behavioral or medical crisis—and considers how it should be implemented.

Some patients’ end-of-life care plans still require good antimicrobial management.

Merits of more antimicrobial prescription oversight should be weighed against risks to patients and communities of untreatable bacterial infections.

Healthy Housing Omaha, an environmental health nonprofit, partnered with an artist and a newspaper to raise awareness of lead poisoning.