The framework below outlines three foundational ethical duties of health care institutions that can be enacted by leaders through policies, processes, and communication with their workforce: (1) the duty to plan for foreseeable situations with impact on patient care and institutional operations, (2) the duty to safeguard patient populations and the health care workforce, and (3) the duty of care, long understood as nonabandonment of patients.

Case Narrative W is a 32-year-old man with heart failure. Prior to diagnosis he was relatively healthy and physically fit. A trial of medication was not effective. Some members of...

Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will discuss “Constructing an Ethics Framework for AI in Biomedical Research,” or ethics at the intersection of artificial intelligence and health care, at the 2024 Rothenberg...

Over the past few decades, many major cities in the United States have become more diverse and gained more residents with limited English proficiency. Health care systems have attempted to accommodate these residents, but their medical interpreter services are inadequate and inefficient. The results can be delayed emergency care for children, an increase in medical errors and health care costs, and a decrease in care quality and patient satisfaction.

Health care and society will strive to find ways to undercut crude bans inconsistent with perceived medical need and professional duty.

“My emotions and insecurities were at an all-time high, so much so that I was no longer comfortable coming into work. Do my coworkers also joke about my culture, my skin tone? Do my patients and families feel uncomfortable with me being their nurse? These were the questions I frequently asked myself as I anxiously braced myself for my next shift. I could no longer walk the streets, sidewalks, or even the hospital lobby without believing someone was looking at me because of the color of my skin.” ¬ This quote from Cecilia Igwe-Kalu describes her experience as a nurse confronting racism in health care.

Twice upon a time, there was a girl who died. The death certificate that New Jersey issued to 17-year-old Jahi McMath on June 22 was the second one issued for...

Health care access is local; creating, financing, expanding, or restricting health care access for a low-income population involves local, state, and federal policies. During the Obama administration, health insurance for the...

The Supreme Court announced that it will hear a legal challenge to President Obama’s 2014 executive action to protect an estimated five million undocumented immigrants from deportation and permit them to work...