Supporting burn patients physically, psychologically, and emotionally during their recovery can be a challenge. This month on Ethics Talk, we explore how medical teams can ensure that patients are given the holistic care they need.

When patients are unable to express their wishes and do not have surrogates or advance directives, which and whose values should inform decision making for them? We discuss ethical complexities of caring for unrepresented patients.

Dr Kristen R. Choi joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Bantale Ayisire: “When Experiencing Inequitable Health Care Is a Patient’s Norm, How Should Iatrogenic Harm Be Considered?”

Dr Thaddeus M. Pope joins Health By Law to discuss updates to the Uniform Law Commission’s Health-Care Decisions Act.

Dr Keith W. Hamilton joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Dr George Maliha, Keith Robert Thomas, and Mary Ellen Nepps: “How Might Antibiotic Stewardship Programs Influence Clinicians’ Autonomy and Organizations’ Liability?”

Dr Robert I. Field joins Ethics Talk to discuss whether and to what extent private equity firms’ increasing presence in health care deserves our scrutiny and what policy makers, clinicians, and patients should know about responding to private equity ownership stakes in the organizations where they work and where they go for health services.

Trauma care presumes informed consent for treatment, but resident supervision is required within a training structure of graduated responsibility.

A UPAC is an alternative to engaging a guardianship court appointment process or to using physicians or ethics committees as decision makers.

Physicians, committees, and guardians all make decisions for unrepresented patients in the US. This article considers a “tiered” approach as an alternative.

Clinical applications of AI prompt consideration of how responsibility should be distributed among professionals, tech companies, and others.