Ethics

Elevator Ethics: No Talking About Patients

Health care providers should avoid talking about specific patients even when members of the public or patients are not present.

The Psychology of Conflict Resolution

Health care providers should try not to make the common mistake of assuming that they have not contributed even in a small way to a conflict.

Patients More Likely to Complete Electronic Informed Consent Forms

Patients are more likely to complete electronic informed consent forms than paper informed consent forms, a study suggests.

Racism Recovery Program Provides a Safe Space for Black Health Care Workers

Safe space participants discussed ways to cope with racism in the workplace and developed individualized racism recovery plans.

How an Ethics Consultant Can Help Resolve Conflicts

Ethics consultants begin by identifying and clarifying the conflict to ensure it is related to ethics.

The Role and Responsibilities of Surrogate Decision Makers

Surrogate decision makers for a patient are obligated to make health care decisions based on what the patient would have wanted if it is known.

Opioid Denials Lead to Rise in Violent Attacks on Pain and Addiction Experts

Pain and addiction specialists discuss the rise in workplace violence related to opioid denials and how to improve communication and change patient expectations.

Violating Patient Confidentiality Is Sometimes Necessary

Patients trust that what they tell their doctors will remain confidential, but under certain specific circumstances, the doctors may be obligated to breach that trust.

It’s a Doctor’s Duty to Combat COVID-19 Misinformation

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored how easy it is for disreputable and non-authoritative sources to spread wrong and possibly dangerous medical information.

Physicians Must Help Patients Evaluate Risk vs Benefit

When patients are able to articulate their beliefs, it can help them move from making what may have been an unconscious choice into a conscious one.

AHA/ACC Consensus Statement on Medical Professionalism and Ethics

The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology believe there is “no better time to review and take a fresh perspective on medical ethics and professionalism in the light of established norms and current stressors.”

Strategies for Managing Uncertainty in Patient Care

For many health care professionals, successfully managing uncertainty means recognizing that surety is complicated and illusory and knowledge is iterative and provisional rather than definitive.

Moral Judgments and COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy

Whatever strategy you employ to encourage vaccinations, it is important to be respectful and empathize with your patient’s concerns and perspectives.

Ethical Considerations in Prescribing Unproven Therapies for COVID-19

Meeting public demand for an urgently needed effective medication quickly and safely during a pandemic involves difficult tradeoffs.

Researchers Reveal Racial Disparities in Access to Remdesivir for Patients With Cancer and COVID-19

Black patients were half as likely to receive remdesivir as White patients, according to researchers from the CCC19.

Keeping Health Information Secure in the Cloud

Putting information in the cloud can be a good move for a physician’s practice — but only if done well.

Explaining Treatment Risks to Patients

Physicians should frame treatment options by their “harms and benefits,” not by their “risks and benefits.”

Can Advocacy Groups Provide Useful Patient-Centered Data?

A survey presented during ASCO20 found that patients who considered themselves adequately informed felt “in control” most days.

ACP: US Response to COVID-19 Identifies Inequalities in Health Care System

The American College of Physicians statement outlines how the “status quo” created health inequalities and prevented the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and outlines steps on how to move forward.

Apologies, Properly Made, Go Far in Maintaining Physician-Patient Relationship

From an ethical perspective, disclosing adverse events to patients is predicated on the idea that physicians have obligations to tell the truth, but physicians may worry that apologizing will incur greater responsibility for liability.