If health information is private, why do we know so much about Prince’s death? Critical legal and ethical questions remain unsettled about whether and when it is appropriate for medical examiners or coroners to release information from autopsy reports to the public.
AMA J Ethics. 2016; 18(8):839-842. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.8.msoc2-1608.
The authors address the medical ethics question of whether autopsy is necessary from Cartesian and sociocultural perspectives and how to obtain consent.
AMA J Ethics. 2016; 18(8):771-778. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.8.ecas2-1608.
Cytopathologists frequently interact directly with patients at their bedsides to perform fine needle aspiration procedures. When, if ever, should cytopathologists share preliminary diagnostic impressions directly with patients?
AMA J Ethics. 2016; 18(8):779-785. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.8.ecas3-1608.
Rehabilitation environments are structured to accommodate cross-disciplinary patient care. In this story, one physician shares what she learned in a hospital playroom about rehabilitation, interprofessional collaboration, and patient-centered service delivery.
AMA J Ethics. 2016; 18(9):960-964. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.9.mnar1-1609.
Thoughtful design can welcome patients’ families’ roles in promoting healing. At the same time, clinicians’ need for functionality and privacy is critical. How ought these considerations be balanced in designing the spaces where patient care takes place?
AMA J Ethics. 2016; 18(1):73-76. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.18.1.sect1-1601.
J. Corey Williams, MD, MA, Ashley Andreou, MD, MPH, and Susan M. Cheng, EdLD, MPP
Faculty who lack skill in addressing negative bias in learning environments can erode safety, especially among underrepresented students, trainees, and patients.
AMA J Ethics. 2024; 26(1):E6-11. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.6.
There are at least two considerations here: the patient’s perception of a physician’s empathic expression and the physician’s level of comfort with expressing empathy and attending to patients’ emotions.
AMA J Ethics. 2015; 17(2):111-115. doi:
10.1001/virtualmentor.2015.17.2.ecas1-1502.
Physician behavior that generates a patient complaint and ultimately leads to disciplinary action is both legally and ethically problematic—violating both regulatory rules and professional codes.
AMA J Ethics. 2015; 17(5):448-455. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.5.pfor1-1505.
In treating children with autism, physicians should reframe the common dynamic in which the family wants medication that the doctor is withholding to focus instead on the family’s and physician’s share goal—the patient’s well-being.
AMA J Ethics. 2015; 17(4):299-304. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.4.ecas1-1504.
Jason D. Hall, JD, Lee A. Goeddel, MD, MPH, and Thomas R. Vetter, MD, MPH
In the perioperative surgical home, the anesthesiologist coordinates care with other team members to provide seamless continuity from preoperative evaluation to postoperative care.
AMA J Ethics. 2015; 17(3):243-247. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.3.stas2-1503.