To help a seriously ill young patient whose normal childhood has been disrupted, pediatricians must be more than sympathetic professionals in white coats—they must know how to motivate each patient and then go the extra mile to do so.
AMA J Ethics. 2015; 17(5):461-464. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.5.msoc1-1505.
Treatment decisions in high-risk situations require a dynamic relationship between doctor and patient in which patient preferences and clinician recommendations contribute equally in shaping a final treatment decision.
Oliver Schirokauer, PhD, MD, Thomas A. Tallman, DO, MMM, Leah Jeunnette, PhD, Despina Mavrakis, MBA, and Monica L. Gerrek, PhD
An educational initiative is described in which medical and bioethics students observe health care in an urban jail for two days and reflect on their learning.
AMA J Ethics. 2017; 19(9):845-853. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.9.peer1-1709.
In the same way that we learn about normal variations in blood pressure, we need to learn about “normal” variations in sexual interests and practices. We want to avoid clueless questions or unintentionally inflammatory statements.
Using data from comparative effectiveness studies to inform cost-effectiveness analyses or other economic evaluations would strengthen ethical policy making.
AMA J Ethics. 2015; 17(7):651-655. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.7.pfor1-1507.
My most important job is to help my patients (and their families) who are depressed, grieving, or angry following severe injury or illness to imagine possible narratives for the next chapter of life.
AMA J Ethics. 2015; 17(6):500-505. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.6.ecas1-1506.
An undercurrent in all debates about allocation of health care resources to the poor is the matter of access to and coverage of health care for immigrants, particularly low-income and undocumented ones.
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.