Introduction of an intervention that reduces the perceived risk of a given behavior may cause a person to increase risky behavior—this is called “risk compensation.”
Caregiver trustworthiness and a competent patient’s prerogative to return to suboptimal living conditions are critical considerations in discharge planning.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(6):506-510. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.6.ecas2-1506.
Fabian M. Saleh, MD and H. Martin Malin, PhD, MA, LMFT
In treating patients whose sexual fantasies do not trigger an immediate legal duty to report, psychiatrists must be vigilant for signs that the patient intends to act on a fantasy.
Recommendation for induced lactation in nonbiological mothers is widespread in the medical literature. To resist offering the service for nongestating lesbian mothers bespeaks potential discrimination.
The legal definition of a patient and the corresponding duties of the physician have been debated in state courts for over a century, and many aspects of the question are still unresolved.
Erin P. Williams, MBE and Jennifer K. Walter, MD, PhD, MS
Undue influence, which occurs when prospective research participants who otherwise would not enroll are induced to enter studies that might pose significant risks, may also involve social injustices such as unequal payment and participant selection methods that unequally distribute the potential harms and benefits of research.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(12):1116-1121. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.12.ecas2-1512.
The 2015 proposed changes to the Common Rule for human subjects research protections, which are a response to novel methods of data collection and analysis, clarify and broaden the scope of informed consent processes, identify exemptions, and make changes to Institutional Review Board requirements.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(12):1147-1151. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.12.hlaw1-1512.