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One-Size-Fits-All Limits on Opioids Are Ethically Problematic

The current opioid crisis generated immediate actions at many levels; regulatory requirements were implemented quickly. However, some of these placed seemingly arbitrary limits on prescribing, even for painful surgical procedures.

Evolving Ethics of Anonymous Sperm and Egg Donors

Traditionally, the identity of sperm and egg donors were kept strictly anonymous, but this is changing. A recent position statement from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine concerns this ethical issue.

Ethics Consult Can Go Undocumented — to the Detriment of Ethics Department

Many problems can occur if ethics consults are documented sparsely or not at all. Lack of documentation hinders the ethics service from knowing how it is performing.

Ethical Issues for Individuals Providing Unproven Stem Cell Treatments

There are well-established, significant ethical concerns regarding the safety and efficacy of treatments offered by stem cell clinics. Much less is known about those actually providing these unproven interventions. Now, researchers have collected data about their background and training.

Social Media Effective Tool to Recruit Youth for Research Studies

The results of two recent investigations reveal that young people and physicians offer differing views about using social media to recruit participants into clinical research trials.

Ethicists Play ‘Vitally Important Role’ in Addressing Widespread Clinician Burnout

A recent report confirms that burnout among U.S. clinicians is occurring at alarming rates and includes recommendations for system reforms and human factors redesign.

Controversial ‘Public Charge’ Rule Sparks Ethical Outcry

According to the rule, using public benefits, including Medicaid, may affect individuals’ ability to enter the United States or adjust to legal permanent resident status.

Spreading the Word About Ethics Is Challenging

Cases may involve conflicts between the family and clinicians, confusion over the decision-making process, moral distress, or all these factors and more. Still, no ethics consult may ever happen. Sometimes, it is because clinicians have no idea ethics services exist at the organization.

Number of Ethics Consults Could Be Tip of Iceberg; Many Concerns Go Unvoiced

In one review, researchers found only five ethics consults were documented during a three-month period. Yet, 63 staff members reported having an ethical concern during that same period. Notably, most of these issues involved moral distress in some way.

All-Volunteer Model Risks Marginalizing Ethics

Evidence that ethics consultations are cost-effective can help move the dial toward compensating the people who do it.