People have a social obligation to conform to the general rules of sleeping: sleep at night, in a bed, in a private place away from public view, and in proper attire.
Physicians make patients aware of those interventions that they (the patients) may then refuse. In short, informed consent is less about patient decisions than it is about restraining physicians.
High reliability organizations operate in complex, high-hazard domains for extended periods without serious accidents, catastrophic failures, or ecological health threats.
AMA J Ethics. 2024;26(2):E171-178. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.171.
Richard L. Kravitz, MD, MSPH and Jodi Halpern, MD, PhD
Patients have a responsibility to discerningly present the drug information they receive from direct-to-consumer advertising and to be active partners with their physician in making health care decisions.
Health practitioners can help reduce health disparities if they consider the implications and affect that patients' geographical location has on their health.
The U. S. health care system encourages patients to take more responsibility for their own treatment decisions and expects their doctors to cooperate in that effort. But the guidelines for exercising that responsibility remain very murky indeed.