Physicians have a responsibility to practice palliative medicine so they can appropriately care for their dying patients and help them achieve their end-of-life goals.
Sterling Johnson joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Dr Kimberly L. Sue: "Drawing on Black and Queer Communities’ Harm Reduction Histories to Improve Overdose Prevention Strategies and Policies.”
Dr Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Drs Catherine J. Livingston and Ricky N. Bluthenthal: “How Should Harm Reduction Be Included in Care Continua for Patients With Opioid Use Disorder?”
Dr Kelly Gillespie joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Dr Taleed El-Sabawi: “When Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Gets Disrupted by Extra-Clinical Variables, How Should Clinicians Respond?”
Although members of the medical profession are divided on the issue of physician-assisted suicide, they should continue to responsibly advance the discourse on end-of-life care through use of the media and the policies of physician membership organizations.
Physicians should find a way to balance their responsibility to care for individual patients with their desire to serve as public policy advocates so that they do not become overwhelmed in handling both roles.