Pharmacologic interventions might help physicians overcome cognitive deficits resulting from loss of sleep while on call or help them retain more details about the patients under their care.
Physicians make patients aware of those interventions that they (the patients) may then refuse. In short, informed consent is less about patient decisions than it is about restraining physicians.
The risks of misinformation being spread through online patient forums can be mitigated by communication strategies aimed at physicians and organizations.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(11):1088-1095. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.11.ecas3-1711.
Since 1995, the American Academy of Neurology has provided guidelines for brain death determination, but nationwide adherence to these guidelines has been incomplete.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(12):E1027-1032. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.1027.
The Holocaust and the racial hygiene doctrine that helped rationalize it still overshadow contemporary debates about using gene editing for disease prevention.
AMA J Ethics. 2021;23(1):E49-54. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2021.49.