Scott Schweikart joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article: “AMA Code of Medical Ethics’ Opinions Related to Clinicians in Government.”

In the September 2014 issue on physicians as agents of social change, Dr. Audiey Kao, editor-in-chief of Virtual Mentor interviewed Dr. Rajiv Shah, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development or USAID.

Dr Ariane Lewis discusses how we can navigate uncertainty and ambiguity about brain death by understanding clinical criteria for brain death determination and how our approaches to death are culturally and socially situated.

Dr Patrick Smith talks about intersections of public health, civic good and spiritual well-being during this COVID-19 pandemic. 

Which distinctions between minimally conscious states and vegetative states should clinicians consider?

The adverse health effects of climate change should be the focus of physician advocacy efforts and of conversations between physicians and their patients.

The diagnostic and clinical criteria for diagnosing persistent vegetative state.

As high-tech care decisions led to value clashes in hospital corridors, ethics committees developed to respond to diverse viewpoints, families’ concerns, and clinicians’ moral distress. They now exist in almost all US health care organizations.

Hospital ethics committees originated with concerns about legal liability, but today they educate, develop and implement policies, and review cases.

Physicians need to become more involved in the public debate regarding issues of medicine, science, and evolution.