AMA Journal of Ethics theme editor Emily Johnson, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, interviewed Susan Mizner, JD, about some merits, drawbacks, and alternatives to guardianship.

Dr Olivia Kates talks about appropriate use of antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Arthur Caplan talks about ethical issues surrounding the development, production, and use of potential SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.

Prof Debbie Kaminer talks about vaccine mandates and other policy solutions to promote herd immunity against COVID-19.

Elder self-neglect can be assessed with the Elder Self-Neglect Assessment (ESNA) and addressed by physicians’ partnering with patients to achieve common goals.

A guardian’s request to sterilize a woman with intellectual disabilities is not ethically justifiable unless the woman assents and it is to her benefit.

The best interests of a pregnant psychotic patient can be served by determining her decision making capacity and using surrogate decision making if needed.

Cases of elder self-neglect require physicians to balance the patient’s wish for independence and the risks of poor self-care.

Withholding information from patients during an informed consent process is ethically unacceptable. Patients may restrict the amount of information they wish to receive or designate someone else to receive the information for them.

When patients cannot give informed consent or refusal for antipsychotic medication, physicians must meet specific criteria to justify temporarily withholding a diagnosis.