Due to the high cost of prescription medications, physicians should help patients receive the most cost-effective medications in relation to the patient's insurance coverage, or lack thereof.
A Peace Corps physician working in Africa describes in his latest online journal entry the pay-for-service environment pervasive in Africa and calls for ethical standards of treatment to lessen the differences between the more- and less-fortunate members of society.
A physician describes the challenges of caring for dying poor patients and how the inner-city hospital where he works has created an innovative palliative care program to help give such patients more dignity and choices in their end-of-life care.
While physicians always had the duty to treat indigent patients, the growing financial pressures of limited resources and limited state support have lead to the current guidelines in the AMA's Code of Medical Ethics on caring for the poor.
A newspaper reporter who was a live organ donor for his childhood friend relates the impact first-hand reporting of the experience had on his life as well as the public.