Hospital
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Ethical Approaches to Obtain Surrogate’s Research Consent for Critically Ill Patient
Best practices for surrogate consent in critical care research include minimizing coercion, giving surrogates time and space, and ensuring decisions reflect patient values. Strategies to address family disagreements and confirming patient autonomy also are important.
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Early Goals of Care Conversations Ensure Ethical Care in the ED
Integrating goals of care discussions and palliative consults early in the emergency department improves patient-centered outcomes, reduces unnecessary intensive interventions, and lowers costs. Early engagement aligns treatment with patient wishes and helps avoid ethical conflicts.
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Clinicians May Not Be Following Hospital Policies on Withdrawing/Withholding Life-Sustaining Treatments
Although most hospitals have policies on limiting life-sustaining treatment, many clinicians misunderstand, overlook, or inconsistently apply them. Greater education, ethics consultation, and standardized procedures are needed to ensure fairness, safeguard autonomy, and guide appropriate medical care.
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Surge of Scientific Fraud Is a Persistent, Rapidly Growing Ethical Problem
The rise of “paper mills” producing fraudulent research is undermining scientific integrity. Systemic pressures, institutional complicity, and weak detection systems accelerate the problem, threatening public trust in science and posing risks to health research.
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Organ Donation Practices Are Being Ethically Scrutinized: Communication Is a Key Concern
Ethical controversies in organ donation include missteps during procurement, poorly timed family communication, and debate over normothermic regional perfusion. Transparent dialogue, ethical safeguards, and better clinician training help to uphold patient and family values.
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Most Bioethicists View Social Justice as an Important Part of Ethics Role
Most bioethicists see social justice as central to their work. They address inequities by amplifying vulnerable patients’ voices, examining institutional policies, and advising leadership, ensuring healthcare decisions respect dignity, fairness, and broader social responsibilities.
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Studies Reveal Financial Conflicts Often Are Undisclosed, Raising Ethical Concerns
Physicians frequently fail to disclose financial conflicts of interest, undermining trust and objectivity. Discrepancies in reporting highlight the need for standardized disclosure policies, ethicist guidance, and stronger interventions to mitigate industry influence on medicine.
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Fraud Is Persistent, Pervasive Ethics Concern with Social Media Recruitment
Fraudulent participants increasingly compromise research recruitment via social media, threatening data integrity. Although verification methods can deter scams, they often create accessibility barriers, especially in disability research. Ethicists and institutional review boards must balance inclusivity with fraud prevention strategies.
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Some IRB Policies Unfairly Exclude People with Uncertain Decision-Making Capacity
Many IRB policies exclude individuals with impaired decision-making capacity, raising ethical and civil rights concerns. Researchers and ethicists advocate for inclusion, reassessment of capacity, and accommodations to ensure fair participation while balancing risk, consent, and autonomy.
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New Ethics Training Approaches Better Prepare Medical Students for Reality
Medical schools are adopting innovative ethics training methods, such as resident-led case conferences and humanities-based end-of-life education. These programs connect ethical principles to real clinical practice, helping trainees handle complex issues such as futility, patient autonomy, and dying patients.