Learning Center

Do patients have a right to know whether their physicians are vaccinated for COVID-19?

In general, a physician should not refuse a patient simply because the individual is not vaccinated or declines to be vaccinated.

Responsibly prescribing an approved medication for a novel, off label use requires that the physician reflect critically on the available evidence.

The health of the community ultimately requires that a broad range of care be available beyond crisis-driven patient needs.

Can it ever be ethically justifiable for physicians to withhold cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) unilaterally?

Public health containment strategies can raise concerns about appropriately balancing individual rights with protecting the health of the community.

Physicians who engage public's health concerns through the media have an obligation to uphold the ethical standards of the profession.

Efforts by physicians to engage vulnerable patient populations may be met with deep skepticism and mistrust.

Decisions to allocate scarce resources should not be based on non-medical criteria, such as judgments about a patient’s social worth.

Physicians’ dual obligations to serve both the well-being of their individual patients and that of other patients and the community at large come into sharp tension in a public health emergency.