Laurence B. McCullough, PhD, Frank A. Chervenak, MD, and John H. Coverdale, MD, MEd
The best interests of a pregnant psychotic patient can be served by determining her decision making capacity and using surrogate decision making if needed.
AMA J Ethics. 2016; 18(3):209-214. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.3.ecas2-1603.
Camillo Lamanna, MMathPhil, MBBS and Lauren Byrne, MBBS
Perhaps machine learning systems trained on patients’ electronic health records and social media footprints could be used as decision aids when patients lack capacity or face overwhelming decisions.
AMA J Ethics. 2018; 20(9):E902-910. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.902.
Large precision health initiatives like the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us campaign raise important ethical questions about consent, privacy, and inclusivity. This month on Ethics Talk, we explore with Dr Katie Johansen Taber and Ysabel Duron strategies for protecting participants and ensuring that diverse communities are represented.
Vegan patients screened for vitamin and mineral deficiencies might benefit from supplements, but physicians are obliged to discuss lack of regulation in the supplement industry and possible risks.
AMA J Ethics. 2018; 20(11):E1025-1032. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1025.
Jane Bartels, MBBS and Christopher J. Ryan, MBBS, MHL
When patients cannot give informed consent or refusal for antipsychotic medication, physicians must meet specific criteria to justify temporarily withholding a diagnosis.
AMA J Ethics. 2018; 20(12):E1119-1125. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1119.
Elder self-neglect can be assessed with the Elder Self-Neglect Assessment (ESNA) and addressed by physicians’ partnering with patients to achieve common goals.
AMA J Ethics. 2017; 19(10):1047-1050. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.10.corr2-1710.
Patients have a right to decline or withdraw LVADs. Informed consent and shared decision making is not easy, however, with treatments that are high risk, high reward.
AMA J Ethics. 2019; 21(5):E394-400. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2019.394.