Should old folks who have lived their lives be allowed to place a huge economic burden on the young by using a disproportionate amount of limited Medicare resources for medical care?
This case poses two important questions. First, do schools have the right or the duty to monitor students’ health status measures and require action from parents and, second, what is the role of a student’s primary care physician in this context?
Clarissa G. Barnes, Frederick L. Brancati, MD, MHS, and Tiffany L. Gary, PhD, MHS
To combat the rising incidence of type 2 diabetes, New York City requires laboratories with electronic reporting capacity to upload data on hemoglobin A1c measurements to a city department of health registry.
Efrat Lelkes, MD, Angira Patel, MD, MPH, Anna Joong, MD, and Jeffrey G. Gossett, MD
Current policy requires separate informed consent for some Public Health Service increased-risk donors, and this can make shared decision making harder.
AMA J Ethics. 2020; 22(5):E401-407. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.401.
Annette Mendola, PhD and Richard L. Gibson, MD, MPH
Because research on the efficacy of approaches to addiction recovery is inconclusive, clinicians should recommend several, including 12-step approaches.
AMA J Ethics. 2016; 18(6):646-655. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.6.sect1-1606.
Physicians tend to rely on diagnostic criteria, including BMI, that can influence patients’ access to care, referrals, and insurance coverage for indicated interventions.
AMA J Ethics. 2023; 25(7):E507-513. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.507.
Diagnostic utility of weight and body mass index is widely overestimated, and their use as health and wellness measures can be sources of iatrogenic harm.
AMA J Ethics. 2023; 25(7):E540-544. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.540.