AMA Updates Code of Medical Ethics for Contemporary Medicine

CHICAGO — Completely updated after an eight-year modernization project, a revised edition of the Code of Medical Ethics is available from the American Medical Assoc. (AMA) in hardcover or e-book format. The revised edition contains ethical guidance improved for relevance, clarity, and consistency to help physicians keep pace with emerging demands they face with new technologies, changing patient expectations, and shifting healthcare priorities.

The Code of Medical Ethics has played a central role as medicine’s authoritative guide to professional values and responsibilities since it was created by the AMA in 1847. Much in medicine has changed in 170 years, but this founding document — the first uniform code of ethics of its kind — still is the basis of an explicit social contract between physicians and their patients.

“The new edition of the Code of Medical Ethics will remain a useful and effective resource that physicians can continue to rely on, while remaining faithful to the virtues of fidelity, humanity, loyalty, tenderness, confidentiality, and integrity that are enshrined in the original code,” said Dr. Steven Stack, AMA past president.

Packed with clear, concise direction for the ethical practice of medicine, the Code of Medical Ethics is regularly cited as the medical profession’s authoritative voice in legal opinions, medical journals, and news outlets. It is an essential companion for all medical students and physicians.