AMA Journal of Ethics theme editor Amanda Xi, MD, a transitional year resident at Henry Ford Hospital, interviewed Donald M. Berwick, MD, shortly before the Supreme Court’s decision in King versus Burwell.

This month, Virtual Mentor spoke with Dr. Alex Ding and Mr. Jordan VanLare, a fourth-year medical student at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, about their impressions of health reform and how it will impact the medical practice environment they will soon enter.

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.

Prof Ana Santos Rutschman talks about the impact of intellectual property regimes on domestic and global responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Steven Goodman talks about the ethical and scientific implications of breaking the blind of placebo-controlled COVID-19 vaccine trials.

Dr Arthur Caplan talks about ethical issues surrounding the development, production, and use of potential SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.

Dr Caleb Alexander examines the US Food and Drug Administration's controversial decision to approve aducanumab for the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease.

Drs Stefano Bertozzi and Jeffrey Mackie-Mason talk about business models of scientific publishing that advance biomedical knowledge and discovery.

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

The diagnostic and clinical criteria for diagnosing persistent vegetative state.