Medical Ethics
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Ethical Considerations of Electronic Consent in Stroke Clinical Trials
eConsent improves trial enrollment, efficiency, and diversity by enabling remote participation and reducing burdens. Ethical benefits include timely interventions and broader representation. Barriers remain, but adoption can accelerate research and enhance equity in stroke care and beyond.
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Research Ethics Boards/IRBs May Have Gaps in Expertise
Institutional review boards often lack specialized expertise for emerging research areas. Solutions include recruiting diverse members, using consultants, and ongoing training. Boards must ensure protocols justify risks, uphold ethical principles, and adapt to new technologies while maintaining participant protections.
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Ethical Considerations if Patient Undergoing Surgery or Invasive Procedures Has DNR Order
Managing do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders during surgery is complex. Guidelines stress patient autonomy and preoperative discussions. Misinterpretation of DNR can lead to under-treatment. Structured workflows, education, and ethics consults help align care with patient goals while minimizing perioperative risks.
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Ethical Concerns Surround Accessibility and Documentation of Advance Care Plans
Advance care planning often is lacking, especially among marginalized groups. Values-based conversations, standardized documentation, and clinician prompts improve planning. Clear workflows and education help ensure patient wishes are honored, reducing conflicts and ethical dilemmas during critical care.
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Ethical Challenges with EFIC Studies
Exception from Informed Consent (EFIC) allows emergency research without prior consent but raises ethical concerns. Best practices include rigorous protocols, community engagement, and digital consultation tools to balance patient rights with advancing care in time-sensitive, high-risk scenarios.
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Ethical Concerns if Researchers Fail to Meet Recruitment Targets
Under-enrollment in clinical trials raises ethical issues, including inconclusive results and wasted participant risk. Strategies such as research navigators and extended-hour recruitment improve enrollment and diversity, ensuring trials answer critical questions and uphold obligations to participants and society.
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New Approaches to Improve Medical Trainees’ Ethical Confidence
Medical trainees often lack confidence in applying ethical principles. Programs such as RISE use case-based learning, role-play, and simulations to build skills. Tools such as Pedi-EPAT assess ethical reasoning, emphasizing structured feedback and practice to prepare clinicians for complex decisions.
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Inadequate, Missing, or Inaccessible Goals of Care Documentation Is Ethical Concern
Goals-of-care documentation remains inconsistent and incomplete, limiting goal-concordant care. Research reveals disparities across patient groups and delayed documentation near death, emphasizing the role of ethicists in promoting early, equitable, artificial intelligence-assisted, and standardized documentation of patient preferences and end-of-life wishes.
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Clinicians Fail to Address Risks of Medical Interventions for Patients with Dementia
Clinicians often overlook dementia-specific risks when recommending interventions, leading to uninformed consent and decisional regret among caregivers. Supported and shared decision-making frameworks can promote autonomy, respect, and ethical care tailored to patients’ cognitive capacity and evolving goals.
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Oncologists Face Serious Ethical Dilemmas Caused by Persistent Drug Shortages
Persistent cancer drug shortages force oncologists into ethically fraught choices about rationing and patient prioritization. Shortages disrupt care and research, prompting calls for institutional ethics committees, transparent allocation criteria, and national reforms to ensure equitable access and safer drug supply chains.