This article considers force use in clinical settings after a triggering event—a behavioral or medical crisis—and considers how it should be implemented.

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.

A “simplicity strategy” suggests expressing respect for persons and empathy and models inclusive group inquiry, epistemic humility, and justice.

Physicians with a mental illness can have good, empathic relationships with their patients, even if patients know of their condition.

Psychiatric aides and technicians are part of direct care workforces in inpatient units who are subject to high rates of violence but earn far less than higher-status clinicians.

Principles of respect for autonomy, beneficence, and nonmaleficence guide trauma-informed care. Care ethics should also support this framework for responding to the health needs of trafficked patients.

Off-label prescribing of drugs is appropriate when their use is in the patient’s best interest on the basis of credible, published scientific data.

In some cases, hope might not have substantial ethical or therapeutic value.

Overriding a proxy decision maker’s refusal of medication for a psychotic patient is justified when the patient poses a danger to himself or others.

Does a patient’s request not to have a diagnosis included in her health record undermine a clinician’s capacity to provide clinically and ethically appropriate treatment?