Conflicts of Interest in Patient Care

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The primary objective of the medical profession is to render service to humanity; reward or financial gain is a subordinate consideration. Under no circumstances may physicians place their own financial interests above the welfare of their patients.

Treatment or hospitalization that is willfully excessive or inadequate constitutes unethical practice. Physicians should not provide wasteful and unnecessary treatment that may cause needless expense solely for the physician’s financial benefit or for the benefit of a hospital or other health care organization with which the physician is affiliated.

Where the economic interests of the hospital, health care organization, or other entity are in conflict with patient welfare, patient welfare takes priority.

AMA Principles of Medical Ethics: II

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Related Opinions

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Opinion 1.1.1

Patient-Physician Relationships

At the heart of medicine lie relationships founded in a “covenant of trust” between patient and physician in which physicians commit themselves to responding to the needs and promoting the welfare of patients.

Opinion 2.1.1

Informed Consent

Informed consent to medical treatment is fundamental in both ethics and law. Patients have the right to receive information and ask questions about recommended treatments so that they can make well-considered decisions about care.

Opinion 7.1.4

Conflicts of Interest in Research

Minimizing and mitigating conflicts of interest in clinical research is required in order to justify and maintain trust in the medical research community.

Opinion 9.6.9

Physician Self-Referral

Physicians should not refer patients to a health care facility that is outside their office practice and at which they do not directly provide care or services when they have a financial interest in that facility.

Opinion 11.2.1

Professionalism in Health Care Systems

Physicians should hold leaders accountable to meeting conditions for professionalism in health care systems. This includes advocating for changes in health care payment and delivery models to promote access to high quality care for all patients, recognizing that over-reliance on financial incentives may undermine physician professionalism.