Joel T. Wu, JD, MPH, MA and Jennifer B. McCormick, PhD, MPP
False health-related speech can cause harm, but it’s not restricted unless it’s obscene. Physicians are obliged not only to correct patients’ false beliefs, but to engage digital spaces in which false claims thrive.
AMA J Ethics. 2018; 20(11):E1052-1058. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1052.
Government can regulate false speech and professional speech, which bans “gag laws” and compelled speech about laws to restrict abortion, for example. How should health professions share regulatory responsibility with government to prevent true speech about health information from being stifled?
AMA J Ethics. 2018; 20(11):E1041-1048. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1041.
This article considers that benefits of using humor in clinical settings come with risks of diminishing therapeutic capacity in patient-clinician relationships.
AMA J Ethics. 2020; 22(7):E576-582. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.576.
Joshua Nagler, MD, MHPEd and Rebekah Mannix, MD, MPH
Humor can help motivate positive interactions amidst fast-paced clinical encounters but can alienate colleagues when weaponized to promote assumed superiority of an individual or group.
AMA J Ethics. 2020; 22(7):E583-587. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.583.
Thalia Arawi, PhD, Ghassan S. Abu-Sittah, MBChB, and Bashar Hassan
Decolonization of curricula in health professions is key to preparing clinicians to respond with care and competence to vulnerabilities and disease burden exacerbated by conflict.
AMA J Ethics. 2022; 24(6):E489-494. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2022.489.
Dr Ghassan S. Abu-Sittah joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Dr Thalia Arawi and Bashar Hassan: “Everyone Is Harmed When Clinicians Aren’t Prepared”