Ethics
Exploring the Effect of Data on Precision Medicine Research
October 19, 2018Electronic health records can offer information on social and behavioral data, which can aid research investigating genetic and social factors across health disparities.
Increasing Minority Representation in Gene Editing Technology Research
October 19, 2018Without substantial genetic information to draw from, scientific research has failed to achieve adequate understanding of the clinical variants in minority populations.
Establishing Meaningful Informed Consent: Challenges in mHealth
October 15, 2018The role of mHealth technologies, including smartphone applications and wearable sensors that enable real-time health monitoring, has become more prevalent within the last decade.
Illness Severity, Comorbid Clinical Features Affect Patient Capacity to Provide Informed Consent
October 11, 2018Patients unable to give informed consent displayed insufficient understanding of the study risks and benefits and the difference between research and individualized care.
Mistaking Legal Recourse for Evidence-Based Medical Practices in Surrogacy
October 09, 2018Paying a surrogate to carry a fetus shoehorns a fourth, and fifth, party into the already tight therapeutic triangle formed by the biological mom, fetus, and physician.
The Open Access Debate: Should Patients Freely Access Research?
October 03, 2018Patients and their families are advocating for their right to access the latest medical research papers to help find potential treatments and understand health conditions.
Are Physician-Patient Relationships Ethical? Ethicists Say No, But Some Docs Disagree
October 03, 2018According to the American Medical Association Code of Medical Ethics, romantic or sexual relationships between physicians and patients are unethical.
Caring for Carriers: Do Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Test Results Have a Place in Primary Care?
October 01, 2018A case and commentary published in the AMA Journal of Ethics discusses the ethics of primary care physician response to direct-to-consumer genetic testing results of concerned patients.
Cognitive Functioning Affects the Ability of Patients With Advanced Cancer to Give Informed Consent
September 25, 2018Approximately half of patients with advanced cancer who are enrolled in phase 1 clinical trials do not know the ultimate goal of the study.
The Ethics of Forced Cesarean Deliveries: An Unthinkable Practice, Examined
September 25, 2018"Moral norms" in the medical domain must be applied to pregnant women and their physicians.
Clinical Practice Guidelines Establish Norms of Practice But Must Reduce Risk for Bias
September 24, 2018Clinical practice guidelines are an important part of medical practice, but scarce funding for updates and the risk for bias have raised challenges.
Inconsistent Interpretation of Equivalence Threatens Its Implementation in Prison Healthcare Settings
September 21, 2018The implementation of healthcare equivalence in English prisons is threatened by a focus on security, tight budgets, and an increasing — and aging — prison population.
Ambiguity of Comfort Care Creates Confusion for Physicians, Patients Alike
September 21, 2018The term "comfort care" has generally become synonymous with end-of-life care in today's healthcare environment.
Addressing Ethical Challenges Associated With Precision Medicine
September 20, 2018There is a continual debate regarding which approaches should be used to base stratification of patients to precision therapy.
Benefits and Ethical Considerations of Using AI for Predicting Incapacitated Patients' Consent
September 20, 2018The use of an artificial intelligence algorithm could become valuable for medical decision-making processes.
Examining the Ethical Considerations of Grateful Patient Fundraising
September 20, 2018Grateful patient philanthropy — donations often made "in response to excellent medical care" — comprises approximately $10 billion in charitable giving to health care centers per year.
Bioethics Concerns Should Be a Key Element in mHealth Technology Development
September 19, 2018With the ubiquitous availability of digital technology such as smartphones, smart watches, health-related apps, and patient monitoring devices, the era of mHealth is upon us.
Managing Organ Donation Preferences in Cases With Circulatory Determination of Death
September 19, 2018Organ donation immediately following the withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy and circulatory determination of death is a growing practice.
Ethical Concerns Arise in Clinical Trial Enrollment as Number of Uninsured and Underinsured Americans Skyrockets
September 14, 2018Until universal access to healthcare is ensured as a human right, researchers must keep important ethical concerns in mind when designing future clinical trials.
Collaboration Between Pharma and Education Leads to Improved System for Compassionate Use Requests
September 12, 2018Patients with difficult-to-treat illnesses often have limited treatment options, with many patients seeking experimental drugs outside of clinical trials.
"Gatekeeping" in Surgery: Balancing Modifiable Risk Factors With Patients' Wishes
September 11, 2018Surgeons often face challenges when patients who may need elective procedures present with modifiable risk factors for surgical complication, such as obesity or smoking.
Deconstructing the Rescue Fantasy: Moving Away from Medicalized Dying Gives Patients Dignity in Death
September 07, 2018Addressing the physician "rescue fantasy" can lead to improved patient care, especially at the end of life.
Weighing the Risks: Is Fetal Intervention Ethical When Postnatal Outcome Is Uncertain?
September 04, 2018Choosing an appropriate treatment strategy is a difficult endeavor when no existing prediction criteria are available and postnatal outcomes are unclear.
Variations in Approach Among Treating Physicians Within the Same Practice May Affect Care in End-of-Life Cases
September 04, 2018A shared-decision making model should be used to guide physicians who assume care for critically ill patients who already have care plans in place.
"Is It Just a Phase?" What to Do When Transgender Youths Ask to Transition
September 04, 2018In the last 5 years, many clinicians have faced tough questions about how best to serve transgender youth while doing no harm.
How to Ensure Effective Communication During End-of-Life Care Discussions
August 31, 2018Open, clear, and professional team-based communication can help facilitate the challenging conversations that must take place when preparing a patient for end-of-life care.
Dengue Vaccine Presents Solutions and Backlash in Dengue-Endemic Regions
August 31, 2018The principles of "trolleyology" can be used to understand hesitancy among certain individuals to vaccinate against the Dengue virus.
AMA Code of Medical Ethics: Guidelines for End-of-Life Care
August 30, 2018Compassion and communication for both patients and families are among the most important factors involved in providing end-of-life care.
Challenges in Assessing Terminally Ill Patients' Decision-Making Capacity for Assisted Suicide
August 29, 2018The criteria used to assess decision-making capacity for assisted suicide includes the patient's ability to comprehend relevant information and ability to understand the disorder and its consequences.
Examining the Ethics of Deceased vs Living Uterus Donors
August 28, 2018The first live birth after a uterus transplant was achieved in Sweden in 2014, followed by 4 more births, all from uteri provided by living donors.
Free E-Newsletter
Check out what's trending
Medical Bag Articles
- Causes of Burnout in Resident Physicians Examined
- The Striking Effects of Diversity in Health Care: Improving Patient Outcomes
- Should Physicians Play a Role in Minimizing the Societal Cost of Medical Care?
- Establishing Meaningful Informed Consent: Challenges in mHealth
- Nutrition Tips for Physicians: Staying Healthy During Busy Days
- Institutional Rearing Associated With Psychopathology Risk in Children
- The Progression of Health Care From Personalized Medicine to Wellness Genomics and Beyond
- Improved Outcomes With New Protocol for Treating Acute Ischemic Stroke
- FDA Panel Votes on Drug/Device Combo to Treat Pain in Medically Supervised Setting
- FDA Panel Votes on Prucalopride for Chronic Idiopathic Constipation
- Institutional Rearing Associated With Psychopathology Risk in Children
- The Progression of Health Care From Personalized Medicine to Wellness Genomics and Beyond
- Improved Outcomes With New Protocol for Treating Acute Ischemic Stroke
- FDA Panel Votes on Prucalopride for Chronic Idiopathic Constipation
- FDA Panel Votes on Drug/Device Combo to Treat Pain in Medically Supervised Setting