Not all cultural traditions have the same conception of personhood. In Confucianism, self-individuation takes place only through engagement with others in the context of one’s social roles and relationships.
Medical students’ moral distress about end-of-life cases can be reduced through ethics consultation and ethics rounds, narrative reflection, and mentoring.
AMA J Ethics. 2017;19(6):585-594. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.6.stas1-1706.
Dichotomies, such as reconstructive vs aesthetic surgery and medical vs cosmetic dermatology, can distort meanings of surgical procedures. This can compromise the value of procedures themselves and practices for their reimbursement.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(12):E1188-1194. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1188.
Clinicians tend to view obesity as a disease, while members of the body positivity movement value their bodies as they are. Should clinicians treat obesity as a disease in patients who don’t see themselves as ill?
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(12):E1195-1200. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1195.
A guardian’s request to sterilize a woman with intellectual disabilities is not ethically justifiable unless the woman assents and it is to her benefit.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(4):365-372. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.4.ecas2-1604.
Haley Moulton, Benjamin Moulton, JD, MPH, Tim Lahey, MD, MMSc, and Glyn Elwyn, MD, PhD, MSc
Shared decision making in research informed consent conversations is complex due to diverse and potentially divergent interests of investigators and patient-subjects.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(5):E365-371. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.365.
Lee C. Zhao, MD, Gaines Blasdel, Augustus Parker, and Rachel Bluebond-Langner, MD
Tension between realistic goals and unrealistic views about how to achieve them is compounded when patients are eager to revise a prior surgeon’s gender-affirming procedure.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(6):E391-397. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.391.