Browse Medical Ethics Advisor Articles by Topic

Ethical challenges in assessing adolescents’ decision-making capacity

An adolescent disagreeing with a parent over treatment is uncommon in the clinical setting.

Could efforts to stop opioid abuse harm patient/physician relationship?

Due to a growing epidemic of opioid addiction, it’s possible that physicians will react to statements skeptically.

Proposed changes on human subjects research raise some ethical concerns

Reduced administrative burdens and greater protection for human subjects are the goals of proposed revisions to the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, also known as the Common Rule.

Conflicts can result in clinicians’ moral distress

Ethical conflicts within a care team are not uncommon — nor are they particularly surprising.

Significant Savings Come With Early Palliative Care

A new study says early intervention is the key.

Did the provider “Google” a patient?

Of 530 medical students, residents and physicians, 64 used Google to research a patient, and 10 had searched for patients on Facebook, according to a recent survey.

Is it ethical to practice invasive procedures on the newly dead?

Is it ethical to use the bodies of newly dead patients to practice invasive procedures such as thoracotomies, cricothyrotomies, lateral canthotomies, or venous cutdowns?

Is patient’s POLST form inaccessible to provider?

Even if patients’ end-of-life wishes are meticulously documented using a Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment form, they sometimes are ignored simply because a provider can’t locate the form.

Placebo effect eases pain — even if participants are aware

The placebo effect eases pain even if research participants know the treatment they are receiving has no medical value whatsoever, according to a recent study.

Aggressive end-of-life care persists in cancer patients

Despite a 40% increase in the number of patients with cancer who designated a durable power of attorney, there was no decrease in the rates of aggressive medical care received in the last weeks of life, according to a recent study.