Physicians are obligated in many jurisdictions to perform life-sustaining treatments on premature infants with serious developmental or physical impairments, even if it goes against the parents' wishes.
David Collier, MD, PhD, Ronald M. Perkin, MD, MA, and Joseph R. Zanga, MD
The legal definitions of child neglect and child abuse are not as clear cut when faced with the issue of whether parents should be held responsible for failing to follow weight-loss plans for a morbidly obese child.
The American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on the Family recommends that pediatricians take a more active role in helping to insure that the family environment is conducive to a child's emotional and physical well-being.
The author believes the AMA's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs should collaborate with academic physicians to create clear professional standards for the field of medicine.
The concept of professionalism in medicine has been expanded over the years to cover a broad set of ideas about everyday behavior and habits of physicians.
The medical student believes that the art of doctoring is learned continuously over time and cannot be assessed in a proposed medical school examination.
Three reports considered by the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs are described, along with the process for revising the AMA's Code of Medical Ethics and trivia about contraceptive use.