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Peer-reviewed article

An Extravagant Gift From a Grateful Patient

Gift giving is psychologically and culturally complex. In any context, a gift can have multiple meanings. In the context of the doctor-patient relationship, the giving of gifts and decisions about whether to accept gifts raise complex…

By John D. LantosJanuary 1, 20181 min readin PEDIATRICS

Gift giving is psychologically and culturally complex. In any context, a gift can have multiple meanings. In the context of the doctor-patient relationship, the giving of gifts and decisions about whether to accept gifts raise complex ethical issues. In this essay, a number of pediatric oncologists discuss the ethical considerations that should guide physicians as they decide how to respond to an extravagant gift from a family.

Originally published at PEDIATRICS · January 1, 2018.

About the author

John D. Lantos is a pediatrician and bioethicist writing on AI in medicine, neonatal intensive care, and end-of-life decisions. His essays appear in JAMA, JAMA Pediatrics, the Hastings Center Report, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Aeon. Read more about John.

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