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.
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.
Dr Dinushika Mohottige and Karina Albistegui Adler join Ethics Talk to discuss their article, coauthored with Allison Charney and Dr Lilia Cervantes: “What Should Clinicians in Organizations Without Established MLP Programs Do When Their Patients Need Lawyers to Meet Their Health Needs?”
Dr Veronica Hutchison joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Dr Eve Espey: “How Should IUD Placement Pain Be Described and Managed?”
Dr Suzanne Minor joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Arianna Tapia and Dr Sarah E. Stumbar: “Abortion in the Nineteenth Century Through the Lens of Ann Lohman.”
Lawyer Cynthia Chandler joins Ethics Talk to discuss the practice of sterilization in California state prisons, and Dr Anthony Loria shares new research on surgical outcomes for incarcerated patients.