Joel T. Wu, JD, MPH, MA and Jennifer B. McCormick, PhD, MPP
False health-related speech can cause harm, but it’s not restricted unless it’s obscene. Physicians are obliged not only to correct patients’ false beliefs, but to engage digital spaces in which false claims thrive.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(11):E1052-1058. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1052.
Government can regulate false speech and professional speech, which bans “gag laws” and compelled speech about laws to restrict abortion, for example. How should health professions share regulatory responsibility with government to prevent true speech about health information from being stifled?
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(11):E1041-1048. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2018.1041.
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.
Ashok, a Nepali man with neurofibromatosis, has undergone 3 surgeries to remove facially disfiguring tumors. His portrait is one of over 200 exhibited by this artist-researcher and mother.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(6):E513-524. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.513.
This article considers that benefits of using humor in clinical settings come with risks of diminishing therapeutic capacity in patient-clinician relationships.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(7):E576-582. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.576.
Joshua Nagler, MD, MHPEd and Rebekah Mannix, MD, MPH
Humor can help motivate positive interactions amidst fast-paced clinical encounters but can alienate colleagues when weaponized to promote assumed superiority of an individual or group.
AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(7):E583-587. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.583.