The AMA Code of Medical Ethics discusses situations in which a surrogate is needed but not available to make health care decisions for a patient.

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.

HPV tests are alternatives to Pap smear screening that enable women to self-collect specimens and might be the best cervical cancer prevention strategy for many.

As larger organizations become more influential in the health care sector, the Code can help physicians navigate those organizations’ influence on their practices.

Health care ethics committees may fail in their role as mediators if their members lack impartiality, independence, or expertise in policy formation.

Noninvasive prenatal testing arguably constitutes a form of eugenics in a social context in which certain reproductive outcomes are not valued.

Government-supported review and safety monitoring is needed for dietary supplements’ use in the care of patients with mental illness.

Dr Katherine Wu joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Dr Erik Messamore: “Reimagining Roles of Dietary Supplements in Psychiatric Care.”

AMA Journal of Ethics theme editor Terri Davis, a third-year MD student at West Virginia University School of Medicine, interviewed Ranit Mishori, MD, about how to respond to incidents of suspected human trafficking in health care settings.

AMA Journal of Ethics theme editor Karel-Bart Celie, a second-year medical student at Columbia University School of Medicine, interviewed Joseph J. Fins, MD, about the work of ethics committees and consultants as they pursue professionalization and respond to changes in health care organization and practice.