The American Medical Association named alcoholism and addiction as illnesses during the 20th century. Obesity, smoking, and motor vehicle safety were also named as public health issues and targeted in poster advertising campaigns.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(12):E1201-1211. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1201.
Clinicians tend to view obesity as a disease, while members of the body positivity movement value their bodies as they are. Should clinicians treat obesity as a disease in patients who don’t see themselves as ill?
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(12):E1195-1200. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1195.
The causes of many health behaviors are deeply rooted in our culture, and using a counseling model that assumes individual control and responsibility for these behaviors can cause patients to feel hectored instead of helped.
The gross negligence of the physicians who cared for Steve Biko, an apartheid-era South African political activist who died of injuries inflicted while in police custody, illustrates how dual loyalty—toward patients and, in this case, the state—makes performance of professional duties difficult.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(10):966-972. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.10.mhst1-1510.
In the past, forced sterilizations violated the autonomy of vulnerable women. Today, measures intended to protect such women from the abuses of the past may in fact hamper their autonomy in a different way.
Health care professionals and those who teach them must be prepared to examine the implications of carbon dioxide emissions on human well-being and make decisive steps towards sustainability.
James Mills Jr., MD, a founder of emergency medicine, believed he could have greater impact on medical care for the poor in his city by giving up his practice and working in the emergency room full time.
“Difficult” patient-physician encounters have roots in uncertainty about individuals’ trustworthiness, clinicians’ skills and training, and medical science.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(4):391-398. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.4.mhst1-1704.