Ethics

One doctor encourages you to reflect on your Hippocratic roots when considering physician-assisted suicide.

One doctor believes there are patients who will legitimately choose medical aid in dying—we just have to acknowledge them.

Rationing of crucial materials during the pandemic, like masks and vaccines, has become a matter of life and death.

If a patient gives consent to be killed, is a physician ethically justified in acceding to the request?

In the face of opposition from doctors, clinics, and courts, Victor Escobar became the first Colombian to die via euthanasia on Friday January 7, 2022.

How can we better define, clarify, and expand the Goldwater Rule for ethical and effective use in today's society?

Adverse effects of solitary confinement and other restrictive housing practices include higher risks of suicide among youth.

Should terminally ill therapists err on the side of self-disclosure or silence?

Has this slogan crowded out the importance of life with dignity?

In this new series, you will find reflections on psychiatry and society as seen in—and inspired by—current events.

Proponents of medical aid in dying often accuse their opponents of lacking compassion. But what does that word really mean?

For the first time since 2015, Scottish Parliament is considering legislation on medical aid in dying.

What are your thoughts on medical aid in dying?

Climate change is a devastating existential threat that can exaggerate preexisting inequities and health/mental health problems. As mental health professionals committed to understanding deep emotional wounds and addressing complexities of relationships, psychiatrists have the tools to assist in bridging the current gaps.

At almost every turn, insurance payers, based on seemingly ignorant and unethical justifications, continue to undermine the quality of psychiatric care.

How can psychiatry meet its ethical duty to mitigate climate change while also promoting collegiality at conferences?

What’s a psychiatrist to do? An APA ethics panel at the Annual Meeting considered various dilemmas, including possible conflicts between physicians’ obligations to individual patients and their obligation to promote the public good.

A psychiatrist reads the news and responds with art.

Leaders are struggling to justly distribute the coveted vaccine, as their are many vexing ethical issues surrounding COVID-19.

Should a patient at the end of her life have access to psilocybin, even if it’s illegal?

Every phase of the COVID-19 pandemic brings new ethical challenges.

A case for why psychiatrists should discuss the COVID vaccines with their patients.