“Difficult” patient-physician encounters have roots in uncertainty about individuals’ trustworthiness, clinicians’ skills and training, and medical science.
AMA J Ethics. 2017; 19(4):391-398. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.4.mhst1-1704.
Antibiotics can be compared to other forms of “tragedy of the commons,” whereby a common good (effective treatment of infections) is jeopardized by individual consumption and lack of stewardship.
AMA J Ethics. 2024; 26(5):E418-428. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.418.