The stigma associated with contracting a sexually transmitted disease was originally perpetrated within the health care system as early as the 16th century and subsequently reinforced in the wider society.
Public health officials have a responsibility to alert the public to prospective dangers without unduly restricting individual freedom or adding to the stigmatization of certain illnesses.
Volk v DeMeerleer may conflict with professional guidelines regarding physicians’ obligations to breach patient confidentiality to protect third parties.
AMA J Ethics. 2018; 20(1):10-18. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.1.peer2-1801.
Is this a conflict over a team member’s practice style or is it a breach professional boundaries? Is it appropriate for team members to make this judgment, or should it instead come from the team leader?
Christina Krudy, MD and Kavita Shah Arora, MD, MBE
Antenatal corticosteroids aren’t as effective in reducing neonatal mortality in low-income as high-income regions due to cultural and health care differences.
AMA J Ethics. 2018; 20(3):261-268. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.3.stas1-1803.
Forced sterilization of HIV-positive women, which is widespread in South Africa, Namibia, and Chile, violates women’s human right to autonomy and the principle of informed consent and is medically unnecessary.
AMA J Ethics. 2015; 17(10):952-957. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.10.pfor2-1510.