title: The interface: ethical decision making, medical toxicology, and emergency medicine.
abstract: The overwhelming social and economic costs of alcohol, tobacco, and other substances of abuse are discussed, as are some of the important public health interventions appropriate for emergency physicians. This article addresses the complexity of ethical decision making when toxicologic emergencies occur in emergency medicine. The management strategies for patients with apparent intoxication are addressed with regard to decision-making capacity. The balance between confidentiality and support for an individual patient and responsibility of the physician to society is discussed. The relative importance of HIPAA is compared with an individual physician's code of ethics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Bellevue Hospital/NYU Hospitals, New York University School of Medicine, 462 First Avenue, Room OB-345A, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kreismann
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gang
authors.forename: Lewis R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Goldfrank
mesh_terms: D003219:Confidentiality / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003657:Decision Making / Q000941:ethics; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000941:ethics; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D014481:United States