The trend toward casual address and dress in the medical profession could reinforce the power differential that already exists between patient and physician and adversely affect the patient-physician relationship.
A recent journal article calls for a public policy that would require physician-researchers to demonstrate the absence of undue influence or coercion on informed consent.
Physicians need to be aware of the legal and ethical issues raised by genetic information and technology, as evidenced by three court rulings dealing with prenatal testing and a family predisposition to genetic genetically transferred illness.