Not all cultural traditions have the same conception of personhood. In Confucianism, self-individuation takes place only through engagement with others in the context of one’s social roles and relationships.
When combined with motivation to provide good care, uncertainty about how to do so for patients who are excluded from key public insurance provisions can give rise to workarounds. Their practical and ethical complexities should be recognized when considering how to best serve immigrant communities.
AMA J Ethics. 2019;21(1):E100-105. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2019.100.
Regularly scheduled dialysis is not standard of care for most undocumented immigrants in the United States, so preventative care, and advocacy for it, is needed.
AMA J Ethics. 2019;21(1):E86-92. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2019.86.
Carmen Black, MD, Emma Lo, MD, and Keith Gallagher, MD
Violence perpetrated against unarmed patients is common in health care, and evidence-based safety measures are needed to acknowledge and eradicate clinical violence.
AMA J Ethics. 2022;24(3):E218-225. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2022.218.
Mismanagement of hospital waste can release harmful, deleterious contaminants into soil, water, and air and can have far-reaching environmental and public relations consequences.
AMA J Ethics. 2022;24(10):E1013-1021. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2022.1013.
Unclear regulations and informal data gathering on immigrants who receive or donate organs can cause mistrust and suspicion of the organ allocation system and affect donation rates.
Physicians have an obligation to consider a patient’s quality of life when making treatment decisions and should consider giving patients the options of withholding or withdrawing aggressive treatment if that treatment will not restore the kind of life the patient finds meaningful.