Articles related to MEDICAL ETHICS

Today’s understanding is that “pimping” on rounds and similar tactics tend to inhibit rather than promote learning. Yet residents and fellows, and to a lesser extent medical students, continue to complain of demeaning interactions in medical learning environments. Icahn School of Medicine instituted a system to take in reports of such behavior in an attempt to improve the educational environment there. In their model, the instructor is informed that an individual perceived a degrading interaction. The purpose is to allow the instructor to be aware and make changes as needed. But institutions who want to follow the example of the school need to be prepared to allocate the needed resources to do this follow up if the system is to have any benefit.

Most people would agree that a doctor’s behavior is unprofessional, arguably unethical, and certainly unacceptable when he or she uses the wrong treatment, whether willfully or through ignorance, or when they use the right treatment incorrectly. What, then, should we think about researchers who use the wrong techniques, use the right techniques wrongly, misinterpret their results, report their results selectively, cite the literature selectively, and draw unjustified conclusions?

This brief editorial introduces a series of articles describing the medical use of hallucinogens, ketamine, marijuana, and other agents — including the legal and ethical perspectives — in the treatment of various neurologic and psychiatric disorders.

Genetic tools such as CRISPR could enable creating a close approximation Neanderthal or other lost species DNA. Harvard geneticist George Church, PhD, argued some potential benefits to humans. But what are the potential implications and how should the question be weighed?

After earning a doctorate in nursing practice, this NP began to refer to herself as “Doctor Sarah Erny.” Now she must pay a civil fine and clean up her attribution.

The recent United States Supreme Court ruling raises the bar for evidence that must be shown by the government in order to successfully prosecute doctors who prescribe excessive dosages of painkillers — a huge win for prescribers.