Since 1840, when the first dental school in the United States was founded, educational and policy outcomes have reinforced the separation of dentistry from medicine. Originating in serial historical divides, this separation has produced grave health inequity. The COVID-19 pandemic…
Since the mid-1990s, poor oral health has been neglected as a public health threat, despite its recognition as epidemic in scale by the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Surgeon General. Americans’ poor oral health influences…
Here we present a case of a patient in terminal respiratory failure refusing to consent to emergent tracheostomy in the setting of an anticipated difficult intubation. We examine ethical concerns that arise from deviations from the standard of care in…
With advances in antiretroviral therapies, perinatally infected children are now living with HIV well beyond adolescence. Parents and health care practitioners thus face the challenge of deciding how best to disclose positive serostatus to children living with HIV. Although many…
This commentary examines 4 ethical issues in a case of clinicians considering conducting research on children in conflict zones: (1) whether any time or resources should be taken away from treating acute injuries in order to conduct research; (2) obtaining…
Military clinicians face unique ethical challenges in conflict zones, particularly if conflict reaches a health care setting. Although the ethical challenges of rationing and triaging while fulfilling obligations to individual patients are not dissimilar to those civilian clinicians encountered during…
Clinicians in post conflict health care settings can be tasked with caring for patients who are ex-combatants. This commentary responds to a case of a health worker with duties to care for ex-Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia combatants. Specifically, this…
This commentary on a case analysis examines the principles that govern decisions about which patients might be admitted to an international military hospital during humanitarian or combat operations. It explores the balance between duties under the Geneva Conventions and other…
Background: Despite the potential for ethical violations when research is conducted with conflict-affected populations, there is limited information on how and the extent to which ethical considerations specific to doing research with these populations are integrated into national and international…
Physicians tend to rely on diagnostic criteria to diagnose, which can influence patients’ access to care by legitimizing need for care, connections to appropriate clinicians, and insurance coverage for indicated interventions. This article considers potential unintended but foreseeable negative consequences,…
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