When patients and physicians disagree on the use of genetic engineering technology, physicians must act in accordance with professional ethics and society's guidelines.
An ethical case describes the use of a virtual consultation with a pediatric psychiatrist when a 6-year-old boy seen in the emergency room has injuries suspected to be due to child abuse.
Readers are referred to an article by Neil Farber et al in the Archives of Internal Medicine to discuss whether it is appropriate for physicians to administer lethal injections for capital punishment when medical society policies forbid physician participation.
Although parents may someday have the ability to enhance the complex physical and mental traits of their offspring, such genetic enhancements raise a number of difficult ethical questions.