When a seriously ill mature minor and his parent disagree about his receiving an experimental intervention, who should decide what treatment he will receive?
Joanna E. Siegel, ScD, Jessica Waddell Heeringa, MPH, and Kristin L. Carman, PhD
As efforts to include patients in the design and execution of research studies continue to expand, public deliberation offers a means for the general public to become involved with the broader social context that determines the impact of research, from the identification of research priorities to the use of research results to shape health care policy and practice.
When a patient requests an unfamiliar treatment, the physician should not hesitate to research it before giving a categorical reply about its safety or efficacy.
Jessie Kimbrough-Sugick, MD, MPH, Jessica Holzer, MA, and Eric B. Bass, MD, MPH
Researchers who approach community partners with an agenda already in hand are missing the point of the community-based participatory research enterprise: developing priorities for study together.
Nontherapeutic infant male circumcision is not medically or ethically justifiable and should be deferred until the person is able to decide for himself.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(8):815-824. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.8.msoc2-1708.
Kevin Z. Chao, MD, Daniel J. Riskin, MD, MBA, and Thomas M. Krummel, MD
Stanford’s Biodesign Program brings together students and postgraduates in medicine, engineering, law, and business to embark on a 1- to 2-year fellowship in medical device innovation.
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.
Tom Alsaigh, MD, Laura Nicholson, MD, PhD, and Eric Topol, MD
Clinicians should have a working understanding of gene editing, controversy surrounding its use, and its far-reaching clinical and ethical implications.
AMA J Ethics. 2019;21(12):E1089-1097. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2019.1089.
Despite drawbacks of immunosuppression and surgery, vascularized composite allotransplants can enhance lives of patients who meet candidacy criteria and are well supported.
AMA J Ethics. 2019;21(11):E968-973. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2019.968.
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).