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.

Dr Jake Young joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article: “AMA Code of Medical Ethics’ Opinions Related to Robotic Surgery.” 

Editorial fellow Dr Ariel Wampler describes what few know about material and device regulation, and Dr Adriane Fugh-Berman explains why we should ask more questions about device representatives’ intraoperative roles during implantations.

Jeffrey Bedard joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article: "What Should Patients Be Told About Device Representatives’ Roles at the Point of Surgical Care?"

Physicians should recognize the influence that small gift-giving has on prescribing patterns and consequently interactions between pharmaceutical representatives and medical students and residents should be limited.

A patient’s refusal of tracheostomy during an anticipated difficult intubation prompts critical questions about how to best express respect for a pediatric patient’s autonomy and whether and when deviation from standard of care is clinically and ethically appropriate.

Physicians must express compassion when discussing risk and success rates of palliative surgery.

U.S. courts have ruled that device manufacturer representatives’ presence in the operating room does not make them responsible for the supervision of physicians or liable for the practice of unauthorized medicine.

Risk managers can help patient-subjects and clinician-researchers make informed novel device implantation decisions in the absence of preclinical trial data.