The DSM-5 Task Force’s handling of the ethical controversy over the bereavement exclusion demonstrates the need for more inclusive deliberative processes.
AMA J Ethics. 2017; 19(2):192-198. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.2.pfor2-1702.
The separation of dental and medical care is a medical ethics issue because it negatively impacts vulnerable populations who lack access to dental care.
AMA J Ethics. 2016; 18(9):861-868. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.9.peer1-1609.
False clinical and ethical dilemmas may be created when physicians ignore patient characteristics and contexts that are integral to shared decision making.
AMA J Ethics. 2017; 19(2):141-146. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.2.ecas1-1702.
Having implied that a particular clinical decision had been made to “free up a hospital bed,” the attending physician walked away without further comments to the residents or talking with the patient.
Alexander Craig, MPhil and Elizabeth Dzeng, MD, PhD, MPH
Eliciting the patient’s motives and goals and helping the patient and her loved ones explore alternatives are essential to maintaining trusting relationships and open communication.
AMA J Ethics. 2018; 20(8):E690-698. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.690.
Research is often conducted without the knowledge or consent of those whose tissues are banked and poses possible harms to social groups if information about a few members is unscientifically applied to all.
Thomas W. LeBlanc, MD, MA, MHS and Arif H. Kamal, MD, MBA, MHS
Clinical trials should assess patients’ distress and test interventions to address it, just as they assess adverse events and test novel therapeutic agents.
AMA J Ethics. 2017; 19(5):460-466. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.5.stas1-1705.
Decision-making capacity can be preserved in patients with mental illness and should be formally assessed in the context of their values and past decisions.
AMA J Ethics. 2017; 19(5):416-425. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.5.ecas1-1705.