How should we prepare for rapid advancement of gene editing technology? This month on Ethics Talk, Dr Sean C. McConnell provides an introduction to gene editing and CRISPR technology and Scott J. Schweikart discusses what prudent governance requires.

In reconstructive transplantation, quality of life assessments incorporate many variables. Dr Katrina Bramstedt and Dr Ana Iltis discuss the development of QoL assessment tools to help patient-subjects considering reconstructive transplantation.

Decision making in health care demands that we balance multiple considerations, like quality of life, statistics, and how different options could affect others. Dr Brian Zikmund-Fisher shares his own experience as a patient and introduces how decision science can help us navigate ethically complex health decisions.

Health professions students often participate in global health outreach programs to benefit resource-poor areas of the world and to gain valuable clinical experience. Ethical questions arise when the sustainability and educational value of these programs is questioned. This episode of Ethics Talk features John Straw and Cat Quinn of Concern America, an alternative to academic-based global health outreach programs.

What makes a drug’s price fair? In this episode of Ethics Talk, Dr. Aaron S. Kesselheim helped us talk through drug pricing: what makes it “fair,” how drugs are priced the way they are, and what some current legislative and market-based methods for curbing rising drug prices could look like.  

When a patient is unable to express their own wishes and does not have a surrogate or advance directive, how should clinicians determine the best course of care? This month on Ethics Talk, Scott Schweikart provides an overview of 3 of the most common approaches to caring for unrepresented patients, and Dr David Ozar explains some of the policy challenges facing health professionals who care for these patients during emergencies.

When a patient’s preference expresses injustice, how should clinicians respond? This month on Ethics Talk, Dr Fatima Cody Stanford discusses a delicate tension between preserving relationships with biased patients and preserving one’s own dignity, and Dr Kimani Paul-Emile describes how organizations can support clinicians who experience bias, discrimination, or harassment. 

Evolving indications for last-resort life support technologies pose unique challenges. When should ECMO be started, and when should it be stopped? We spoke with Dr. Elizabeth Sonntag, Dr. Daniel Brauner, and Dr. Nicholas Braus about ECMO and end-of-life care. 

What are key factors for successful partnerships between clinicians, health care organizations, and communities? This month on Ethics Talk, we discuss strategies for building trust and engaging effectively with Dr. Daniel Skinner, Dr. Berkeley Franz, Dr. Kelly Kelleher, and Robin Hacke.

As physicians interact more and more with AI in their clinical practices, how should medical education evolve? This month on Ethics Talk, we sit down with Dr. Kimberly Lomis and Christopher Khoury to discuss how educators can adapt to rapid change in an ethically complex field.