Ethics: Today's Hot Topics

• Doctors Don't Have the Right to Threaten to Kill Patients   Dr Art Caplan discusses fired resident Lara Kollab as an example of how not to treat patients and the appropriate penalties of such threatening behavior.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, March 2019
• A 'Cruel Tool': Hospital Ads Offering False Hope   Advertisements suggesting that personalized cancer treatment can improve survival or even offer a cure are not realistic for all patients and are unethical.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, March 2019
• 'Crowdfunding' for Dubious Cures: What's Your Role?   Millions of dollars are raised through Internet crowdfunding, but the treatments they're chasing may be useless. Who is advising these patients? And what happens to all the money?
  Medscape Business of Medicine, February 2019
• Should We Forgive the Virginia Governor's Youthful Bad Acts?   Remember, everything you've done in the past is discoverable in the Internet age, Art Caplan warns.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, February 2019
• Should All Medical Schools Have Free Tuition?   Art Caplan discusses potential positives and pitfalls of tuition-free medical school with Robert Grossman, dean of NYU Langone Medical School, and Tim Rice, deputy director at the Manhattan Institute.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, January 2019
• So Wrong! Doctors 'Sell' Exemptions for Vaccinations   The ethics of vaccination exemptions: Dr Art Caplan discusses recent changes to laws regarding vaccination policies for children.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, January 2019
• Should Doctors Speak Out About Gun Violence?   The NRA is telling physicians to 'Stay in your lane!' Art Caplan says that's ridiculous.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, December 2018
• Gene-Edited Babies: Breakthrough or 'Morally Irresponsible'?   Ethicist Art Caplan finds the report of human embryonic genetic editing 'hugely immoral' and offensive to basic principles of human experimentation.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, December 2018
• Enough With Celebrities in Drug Ads on TV!   Ethics expert Art Caplan says medication information should come from doctors, not celebrities.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, November 2018
• Should Patients Be Alerted When Doctors Are Disciplined?   Dr Art Caplan discusses a new app implemented in California that may improve trust between patients and doctors.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, October 2018
• Do Children Have Vaccination Rights?   Dr Art Caplan discusses the need to shift the focus on vaccines from parents to children.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, October 2018
• Male Contraception: Will It Work?   Can we trust men? Dr Art Caplan discusses the issue of male contraception and the associated responsibility.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, October 2018
• Will Insurers Drop Health, Life, and Disability Policies?   Dr Art Caplan discusses the challenges that face policymakers and the medical community when it comes to the potential effects of direct-to-consumer genetic testing.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, October 2018
• Should Doctors Act Confident Even When They're Not?   A bioethicist talks about physicians' style of communication in terms of instilling confidence and trust in patients.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, October 2018
• Let's Get Real About Conflict-of-Interest Disclosures   The relationships we have with organizations or companies may often give a misimpression. Here's how we should clarify them.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, August 2018
• Are Docs Giving Patients the Wrong Idea About Brain Death?   Many patients' family members don't feel that brain death is true death, and some recent cases in which 'brain-dead' patients recovered add to the conundrum.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, August 2018
• Is It Right to Ask a 4-Year-Old to Donate Bone Marrow?   Can a young child really consent to a possibly-painful procedure to save a sibling? Dr Art Caplan discusses how to decide such cases.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, August 2018
• Should It Be Harder to Get Abortions for Down Syndrome Babies?   Should states prevent elective abortion of babies with Down syndrome? Ethicist Art Caplan weighs in on this controversial topic.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, July 2018
• Should Commercial DNA Tests Help Reunite Immigrant Families?   Some commercial DNA testing companies have offered their assistance to help reunite immigrant children with their families. Is this a good idea?
  Medscape Business of Medicine, July 2018
• Don't Mistake 'Palliative Care' for 'Abandonment of Care'   Some patients who are at end of life may get confused about what palliative care is. An expert explains that it's not just stopping treatments, nor is it abandonment of care.
  Medscape Business of Medicine, June 2018