AMA Journal of Ethics^®

Dr Hanni Stoklosa and Mike Schiller joins Ethics Talk to discuss their article, coauthored with Drs Mollie Gordon, Rebecca Chen, John Coverdale, and Phuong Nguyen: “How Should Health Care Organizations Limit Roles of Human Trafficking in Their Labor and Supply Chains?”

Little attention has been given to roles played by human trafficking in health care organizations’ supply chains of key equipment, such as hand sanitizers and gloves.

Dr Vivian Shaw and Ms Susanna Park talk about the invisibility of anti-Asian racism before, during and beyond this COVID-19 pandemic.

Identifying patients who are trafficked is key to caring well for these vulnerable adults and children. But labeling patients as trafficked can stigmatize patients if clinicians aren’t trained well in trauma-informed care.

Trafficking-specific ICD-10-CM codes account for physical, social, and psychological dimensions of trafficked patients’ experiences. Data collected by clinicians can also motivate improvements in health policy, resource allocation, and prevention.

AMA Journal of Ethics theme editor Terri Davis, a third-year MD student at West Virginia University School of Medicine, interviewed Ranit Mishori, MD, about how to respond to incidents of suspected human trafficking in health care settings.

Physicians caring for trafficking victims should know about applicable criminal and human rights law and mandatory reporting requirements.

What’s the evidence base for future standards of care for trafficked patients?

Art therapy helps trafficking survivors deal with trauma, but anti-trafficking advocates who exhibit survivors’ artwork must guard against re-exploitation.

Public health surveillance for infectious disease provides a model for a mandatory reporting policy for human trafficking, which poses risks for survivors.