Annette Hanson, MD, Ron Pies, MD, and Mark Komrad, MD
Authors respond to “How Should Physicians Care for Dying Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis?” by arguing that patients’ motives for accessing death with dignity laws should be thoroughly explored and that temporarily limiting patient autonomy can promote well-being at the end of life.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(11):E1107-1109. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1107.
Alexander Craig, MPhil and Elizabeth Dzeng, MD, PhD, MPH
Responding to “Added Points of Concern about Caring for Dying Patients,” authors argue that physicians’ refusal to prescribe lethal drugs in accordance with states’ death with dignity laws could damage patient-physician relationships and harm patients.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(11):E1110-1112. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1110.
Elder self-neglect can be assessed with the Elder Self-Neglect Assessment (ESNA) and addressed by physicians’ partnering with patients to achieve common goals.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(10):1047-1050. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.10.corr2-1710.
Nubia Chong, MD, Maria Mirabela Bodic, MD, Peter Steen, MD, Ludwing Salamanca, MD, PhD, and Stephanie LeMelle, MD, MS
Paternalistic language in patients’ health records is of specific ethical concern because it emphasizes clinicians’ power and patients’ vulnerabilities and can be demeaning and traumatizing.
AMA J Ethics. 2024;26(3):E225-231. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.225
Reducing racial disparities in pain treatment requires an interdisciplinary approach to identifying causes of racial biases and teaching health care professionals to recognize and reduce them.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(3):221-228. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.3.medu1-1503.
Jeanne M. Farnan, MD, MHPE and Vineet M. Arora, MD, MAPP
Overview of a program for medical students, residents and fellows, and academic medical center faculty to train them in useful handoff and handoff evaluation techniques.
Nalini Vadivelu, MD, Sukanya Mitra, MD, MAMS, and Roberta L. Hines, MD
Inadequate education of primary care clinicians leads to inadequately treated pain, which has myriad dire consequences. To address this problem, education about pain management should be made a mandatory part of medical school curricula.