The guidelines for patients’ eligibility for bariatric surgery have not changed since 1991, although recent data suggest there may be indications for broadening application of the surgery.
Without reflection and openness, physicians can be swept up into thinking that current disease categories and diagnoses arrived at through the differential diagnosis technique are certain and permanent.
This month, Virtual Mentor spoke with Dr. Catherine Belling about the power of diagnosis and how it can change the way we view ourselves, others, and the world around us.
Amanda Fakih, MHSA and Kayte Spector-Bagdady, JD, MBE
Testing everyone for everything identifies more fetal conditions, but confusion persists about whether clinicians should leave screening decisions to patients.
AMA J Ethics. 2019;21(10):E858-864. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2019.858.
A discussion of the ethical issues raised by a patient’s request for off-label, prophylactic bariatric surgery to prevent diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM type 2).
Diagnosing a child with borderline signs of Asperger disorder can be a gateway to needed interventions and services and also a label that stigmatizes or influences the child’s development.
The early diagnosis of Alzheimer disease is a boon in that it enables advance planning, but that planning process can engender conflict between respect for future-oriented autonomy and future welfare.
A discussion of the ethical issues raised by a patient’s request for off-label, prophylactic bariatric surgery to prevent diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM type 2).
Alysse Gail Wurcel, MD, MS, Jacinda C. Abdul-Mutakabbir, PharmD, MPH, Shira Doron, MD, Christina Yen, MD, and Justin Berk, MD, MPH, MBA
Antimicrobial resistance is a global threat that inequitably affects minoritized populations, including Black, Latinx, and Indigenous people, especially in carceral settings.
AMA J Ethics. 2024;26(5):E399-407. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.399.