One of the many doors money and power often open gives access to opioids where they would otherwise be withheld without strict oversight and management. Elvis Presley provides perhaps the most famous example of unmanaged access to drugs.
Assuming rigid control over patients’ health care and subjecting them to strict regimens without offering them a choice in the matter is frank paternalism. Moreover, proceeding with an invasive test without obtaining proper informed consent is malpractice.
Society values both the appropriate use of new technological and management innovations and the maintenance of a strong personal and therapeutic relationship between patients and physicians. The medical-home model may be able to accomplish both.
Social and behavioral data contained in electronic health records are essential for studying health disparities. Can researchers avoid bias when collecting, analyzing, and using such data?
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(9):E873-880. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.873.
Patient safety is a medical ethics issue that must be addressed through health care teams’ open communication as well as through time-outs and checklists.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(9):925-932. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.9.stas1-1609.
Dr Joshua D. Safer joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Rebkah Tesfamariam: “How Should a Transgender Patient’s History of Deep Vein Thrombosis and Smoking Influence Gender-Affirming Health Decision Sharing?”
Dr Whitney Riley Linsenmeyer joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Dr Sarah Garwood: “Patient-Centered Approaches to Using BMI to Evaluate Gender-Affirming Surgery Eligibility.”
Jennifer Aldrich, MD, Jessica Kant, MSW, LICSW, MPH, and Eric Gramszlo
Estelle v Gamble (1976) reiterates that the 8th Amendment to the US Constitution requires adequate care to be offered to all people who are incarcerated.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(6):E407-413. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.407.