Exemplification Essay: The AMA Code Of Medical Ethics

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“Ethics are not optional in medicine,” as stated by director of health policy and public health Alexander E Limentani in a recent edition of British Medical Journal. For centuries, doctors have debated whether ethics and honesty go hand in hand or if there may be some exceptions to the truth. For instance, fifty-five percent of physicians say they often or sometimes describe a patient's prognosis in a more positive manner than the facts might support. Imagine looking a young child in the eyes, telling them they only have a few months to live while they have their whole life ahead of them When faced with the choice, would you want to live with the heartbreaking news you had terminal cancer or live the rest of your life carefree and unknowingly …show more content…
The Code defines medicine’s integrity and is viewed as a living document, “evolving as changes in medicine and the delivery of health care raise new questions about how the profession's core values apply in physicians' day to day practice” (AMA). Conflicts among the government and medical institutions, medical institutions and medical personnel, and physicians and patients are continually becoming more and more serious and complex leading to the change in the Code of Medical Ethics. Most recently, in 2008 the AMA published "African American Physicians and Organized Medicine, 1846-1968”, an article that investigates the Association’s relationship to and position on race. AMA later apologized for its role in discrimination of American Americans in organized medicine. In a 2009 meeting, the AMA’s House of Delegates reaffirms policy that unequivocally states that physicians “must oppose and must not participate in torture for any reason” (AMA). The new code integrates the traditional medical ethics with modern principles and morals. Ethics are the standards of conduct or social norms that prescribe behavior. That doesn’t go as to say the standards of conduct describe our actual behavior, since people often violate widely accepted

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