Eliciting the patient’s motives and goals and helping the patient and her loved ones explore alternatives are essential to maintaining trusting relationships and open communication.

In some cases, hope might not have substantial ethical or therapeutic value.

Cases of elder self-neglect require physicians to balance the patient’s wish for independence and the risks of poor self-care.

Robert Ledbetter and Dr Buddy Marterre join Ethics Talk to discuss their article: “Where’s the Value in Preoperative Covenants Between Surgeons and Patients?”

Lack of ethical, legal, and clinical consensus about best practice sometimes combines with a poor clinical evidence base.

When responding to an ad for a job caring for patient-detainees along the US southern border, applicants should anticipate the need to navigate dual loyalties.