Many local law-enforcement agencies in the United States ask physicians to assess the physical and mental competence of applicants for concealed-weapons permits. But physicians may have legal and ethical concerns, and we lack standards for making these determinations.

American physicians have not widely criticized medical policies at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp that violate medical ethics. We believe they should. Actions violating medical ethics, taken on behalf of the government, devalue medical ethics for all ...

Hunger striking is a nonviolent act of political protest. It is not the expression of a wish to die, nor is it akin to the decision of a terminally ill patient to discontinue food and fluid intake. Rather, it is brinkmanship. Faced with hunger-striking ...

Arguing against a recent OHRP finding, this article emphasizes the difference in research studies between risk associated with standard-of-care treatment and risk associated with assignment to a novel intervention.

Recent years have seen highly publicized examples of doctors' rejecting patients on the basis of such characteristics as sexual orientation and weight. Differential treatment based on negative moral judgments of patients is unethical, and legal standards largely agree.

Taking care of a spouse with Alzheimer's disease validates the author's insistence on the primacy of patients' experience of illness, while deepening his questioning of the application of the illness–disease distinction and clarifying the moral processes of caregiving.

Policies of refusing to hire smokers, which are being adopted by some U.S. employers, result in a failure to care for people, place an added burden on already-disadvantaged populations, and preempt interventions that more effectively promote smoking cessation.

Some U.S. employers have created controversy by establishing policies of refusing to hire smokers. But such policies may save lives, both directly and through effects on social norms, in a realm where current interventions haven't had sufficient success.

The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues has concluded that before pediatric trials of anthrax vaccine can be considered in the absence of an outbreak or attack, further steps must be taken, including additional research in adults, to reduce risks to participating children.

Decisions are influenced by whatever decision makers stand to gain or lose, economically, psychologically, and socially. Leaders of health care organizations must therefore shape incentives so as to promote the institution's goals but avoid unintended harm.

Awaiting surgery for a malignant pleural effusion, the man is in pain and looks much older than his 50 years. The medical oncologist thinks he's dying. But the surgeon believes the procedure will help, and medical hierarchy discourages questioning of such decisions.

The exercise of conscience in health care is generally considered synonymous with refusal to participate in contested medical services, especially abortion. This depiction neglects the fact that the provision of abortion care is also conscience-based.