AMA Journal of Ethics^®

A surgeon’s duty is to identify goals of care, including those about quality of life, from a patient’s perspective and to consider how to achieve them.

Drs Pringl Miller, Preeti John, and Sabha Ganai join Ethics Talk to discuss their article: “How Should Surgical Palliative Success Be Defined?”

This acrylic painting draws on Picasso’s 1907 Head of the Medical Student to consider intimacy and its ethical demands.

Patients can now easily view their health records, so clinicians must consider a reader’s interpretation of how they convey sensitive personal health information. What might this mean for ethics consultants?

Most women requesting pregnancy termination have already decided to undergo an abortion, but some jurisdictions have implemented strategies to induce doubt and regret.

Shared decision making in research informed consent conversations is complex due to diverse and potentially divergent interests of investigators and patient-subjects.

Ethical stakes include a psychiatrist’s care management responsibilities and burdens borne by family members over the course of the patient’s care.

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?

Physicians should be aware of the powerful impact celebrities’ cancer narratives can have on patients’ experiences of their illnesses and treatment decisions. Partnering with celebrities is one strategy for delivering evidence-based health information and messaging to the public.

Physicians who are uncomfortable with patients’ requests to participate in prayer should pause, listen respectfully, and reflect back their understanding of the request, regardless of whether they pray.