Drs Katrina Bramstedt and Ana Iltis discuss the development of QoL assessment tools to help patient-subjects considering reconstructive transplantation.

This month, Virtual Mentor theme issue editor, Katie Falloon, a medical student at the Duke University School of Medicine, interviewed Dr. Thomas Price about the ethical and regulatory issues associated with assisted reproductive technologies (ART).

Dr Olivia Kates talks about appropriate use of antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The experience of an English professor dying of ovarian cancer in Margaret Edson’s play Wit shows that both literary and medical discourse obfuscate and objectify rather than promote communication of “simple human truths” that dignify life and death.

Physicians’ ethical obligations to disclose conflicts of interest to patients and to obtain their informed consent for treatment are particularly critical when proposed treatments are experimental.

The authors of a recent journal article believe that most doctors and clinical trial sponsors would not object to changes in regulations requiring doctors to disclose financial incentives to their patients.

Protecting patients rather than informed consent should be the goal when the complexity of information overwhelms patients’ decision-making capacity.

A historical look at dermatological testing and the regulations that have been enacted to protect the patients who test skin care products.

Physicians can help oncology patients decide whether to focus on aggressive chemotherapy or less aggressive comfort measures for end-of-life care.