An AAOS Opinion on Ethics and Professionalism is an official AAOS statement dealing with an ethical issue, which offers aspirational advice on how an orthopaedic surgeon can best deal with a particular situation or circumstance. Developed through a consensus process by the AAOS Ethics Committee, an Opinion on Ethics and Professionalism is not a product of a systematic review. An AAOS Opinion on...

A: Abandonment of a patient may result in civil liability for the physician. Abandonment is usually defined as "the unilateral severance of the professional relationship without reasonable notice at a time when there is still the necessity of continuing medical attention." 1 Proof of actionable abandonment requires a showing that the physician failed to provide "an adequate medical attendant" a...

MEDICINE & HEALTH/RHODE ISLAND In 1997, a young pharmacist who had gone on to medical school graduated from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, PA. In 2000, he was licensed to practice medicine in the state of Rhode Island; in 2001 he earned Board Certification in Emergency Medicine. Several years later, he entered into an agreement with Rx Partners, an Internet pharmacy that employed ph...

A young woman came to see me a few days ago, a former patient now in her twenties. She will die soon; nothing can be done. We shared some recollections of the years when I was her pediatrician, and she expressed some regrets that she was to have no future. But she shed no tears. Still, I cannot forget her eyes staring into the distance as though searching for a way to cry. Momentarily, she smil...