AMA Journal of Ethics

Whether conditions are recognized as pathological can influence how symptoms get addressed and how treatments get reimbursed. When we choose to call something a disease, even our expressions of empathy towards individual patients can change.

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?

Protecting one’s moral integrity may require a conscience clause that protects positive conscience claims by permitting individuals to perform actions that are otherwise prohibited by legal or institutional rules.

Genome editing raises old questions, but CRISPR arose in a political landscape that vastly differs from the early aughts.