News: AMA updates Code of Medical Ethics

For the first time in 50 years, the American Medical Association updated its AMA Code of Medical Ethics, according to a recent announcement by the organization.

The update, which began eight years ago, included revising outdated guidance and consolidating redundant information into comprehensive statements on each topic. The organization also aimed to make the Code easier to navigate. The Code will feature a new chapter structure with a uniform format and grouping of related issues and guidance. 

The AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs reviewed each individual ethical opinion for clarity, timeliness, relevance, and consistency. The new Code was approved during the 2016 AMA Annual Meeting and will be available online shortly.

“Contemporary medicine must remain moral medicine during the current rapid pace of change in [the] health care delivery system, and just as it did during its founding, the AMA has responded to this challenge by again putting ethics on center stage,” AMA President Steven J. Stack, MD, said in a news release. “The comprehensive update to the Code’s ethics guidance keeps pace with emerging demands physicians face with new technologies, changing patient expectations and shifting health care priorities.”