Clinicians have an ethical obligation to promote health equity in their communities. This month, we discuss how clinicians worked to expose the water crisis in Flint, and explore ways that clinicians can combat systemic injustice and promote health equity.

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.

Jamaljé R. Bassue joins Ethics Talk to discuss his short film: “You Might Be Here Awhile.”

Dr Sunita Sah joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article: “How Should the US Federal Government Oversee Clinicians’ Relationships With Industry?”

Professor Wendy E. Parmet joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Dr Claudia E. Haupt: “Holding Clinicians in Public Office Accountable to Professional Standards.”

This month, AMA Journal of Ethics theme editor Matthew Edwards, a third-year medical student at the University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine, interviewed Douglas R. Bacon, MD, MA, on the development of anesthesiology and the "balanced anesthesia" approach.

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.

Kathleen Wong joins Ethics Talk to discuss her comic: “Lit, Unread, Unrested.” 

Dr Keith W. Hamilton joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Dr George Maliha, Keith Robert Thomas, and Mary Ellen Nepps: “How Might Antibiotic Stewardship Programs Influence Clinicians’ Autonomy and Organizations’ Liability?”

Dr Christy A. Rentmeester joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article: “Should We Think of Early Career Cheaters as Capable of Stewardship?”