This article interrogates anthropocentrism and nonhuman animal instrumentalization in One Health (OH). It argues that OH’s approach to human health and zoonosis focuses too narrowly on furthering certain human interests at the expense of nonhuman animals, which is not sustainable,…
When a physician refers a patient for a nonclinical reason, that patient has been “turfed.” There are numerous reasons why turfing is clinically, legally, and ethically problematic; a main one is that the practice is physician centered and does not…
Turfing is a colloquialism that refers to what clinicians do to patients whose needs do not fit neatly and tidily into typical clinical placement protocols, especially during inpatient admissions from a hospital’s emergency department. This term and this practice are…
When physicians admit patients to a hospital, their decisions about where—and to whose professional stewardship and services—those patients belong are influenced by federal policies, of which many clinicians are not aware. The distinction between observation and admission has clinical and…
This activity is comprised of five multiple-choice questions based on the content of an AMA Journal of Ethics podcast about how the design of mental health facilities contributes to safety and to patient healing. The featured guest is Stefan Lundin,…
This activity is comprised of five multiple-choice questions based on the content of an AMA Journal of Ethics podcast about how comparing different conceptions of health can help us interrogate just exactly what a One Health approach to health offers…
This activity is comprised of five multiple-choice questions based on the content of an AMA Journal of Ethics podcast about critical theory in health professions education. The featured guest is Dr John Chenault, an associate professor and the director of…
Inpatient psychiatric units’ policies and restrictions for suicide prevention can exacerbate harm rather than promote wellness. This commentary on a case examines ethics concerns about prevention policies that overly rely on liberty restriction, as expressed in the design of inpatient…
Inpatient psychiatric units should be therapeutic environments that support dignity and recovery. When adverse outcomes (eg, self-harm, violence) happen in these settings, clinicians and administrators can face litigation and other pressures to prioritize risk management over supporting patients’ access to…
When a pregnant patient misuses or becomes dependent on any addictive substance during pregnancy, two people are exposed: the pregnant patient, and the fetus/newborn. It is estimated that approximately 5% to 7% of pregnant persons use addictive substances. Among these,…
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