The Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs reports how the AMA's Code of Medical Ethics has evolved over the years to provide two opinions that address which patients physicians have the right to choose to serve and when physicians can terminate a therapeutic relationship.
Physicians must be able to decide when to accept a patient's decision in the event that the decision seems irrational or does not seem to be in the patient's best interest.
The author believes the AMA's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs should collaborate with academic physicians to create clear professional standards for the field of medicine.
The threat of bioterrorism in the form of aerosolized smallpox is real, and policy is needed to clarify the risk of disease to the public and recommendations on vaccination.
The concept of professionalism in medicine has been expanded over the years to cover a broad set of ideas about everyday behavior and habits of physicians.