Dr Ariane Lewis discusses how we can navigate uncertainty and ambiguity about brain death by understanding clinical criteria for brain death determination and how our approaches to death are culturally and socially situated.
Dr Paris Adkins-Jackson proposes how to measure racism in academic health centers, as one responsibility of medicine is to rebuild trust with marginalized communities.
This month on Ethics Talk, Dr Sheryl Fleisch discusses strategies for delivering health services to people experiencing homelessness, including street psychiatry.
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 Zoe Tao and Dr Michael Oldani join Ethics Talk to discuss how learning about transgenerational trauma can help clinicians motivate health equity, especially among historically marginalized groups like Native American and First Nations communities.
Dr Travis Rieder discusses his own experiences with opioids and the ethical challenges of “legacy patients,” and Dr Stephanie Zaza, president of the American College of Preventive Medicine, discusses the future of opioid research priorities.
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.