Inquire about the patient’s current living situation. Ask about feelings of neglect or abuse and look for signs (e.g., weight loss, contusions, pressure sores, or poor hygiene) that might indicate an unsafe home environment.
Although identical twin-to-twin skin grafting has resulted in excellent survival rates in burn patients, the nature and scope of ethical decision making in monozygotic sibling skin grafting needs further examination.
AMA J Ethics. 2018; 20(6):537-545. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.6.cscm2-1806.
After the infant’s birth, the neonatologist’s first duty is to his or her patient—the newly born infant. If clinical circumstances are different than anticipated, the physician must first consider the best interests of the baby.
Family presence in the trauma bay is not entirely analogous to family presence during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and requires a chaperone system.
AMA J Ethics. 2018; 20(5):455-463. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.5.ecas5-1805.
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.
Pamela B. Teaster, PhD, MA, MS and Al O. Giwa, LLB, MD, MBA, MBE
Since ageism contributes to global mental health inequity among older people, responding to their needs should be a clinical, ethical, and policy priority.
AMA J Ethics. 2023; 25(10):E765-770. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.765.
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.