Supporting burn patients physically, psychologically, and emotionally during their recovery can be a challenge. This month on Ethics Talk, we explore how medical teams can ensure that patients are given the holistic care they need.

When patients are unable to express their wishes and do not have surrogates or advance directives, which and whose values should inform decision making for them? We discuss ethical complexities of caring for unrepresented patients.

Dr Christopher Whaley joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Dr Austin Frakt: “If Patients Don’t Use Available Health Service Pricing Information, Is Transparency Still Important?”

Dr Kevin Schulman joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Dr Barak Richman: “Informed Consent as a Means of Acknowledging and Avoiding Financial Toxicity as Iatrogenic Harm.”

Dr Harold A. Pollack joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article: “Necessity for and Limitations of Price Transparency in American Health Care.”

Dr Anna L. Westermair joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Dr Manuel Trachsel: “Moral Intuitions About Futility as Prompts for Evaluating Goals in Mental Health Care.”

Dr Helen Chapple joins Ethics Talk to discuss the harms of poor end-of-life care and how to avoid them.

Ramya Sampath joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article: “When Is Iatrogenic Harm Negligent?”

Virtual Mentor issue editor Sophia Cedola, a medical student at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, interviewed Dr. Craig Blinderman about talking with patients who are terminally ill, asking him whether there are some key “do’s” and “don’ts” for having end-of-life conversations with patients and their families.

Instructing a surrogate to make one's end-of-life decisions should be a social, morally guided decision, not a purely personal one.