Annals of internal medicine
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Physician solicitation of charitable contributions from patients-also known among other things as grateful patient fundraising-raises significant ethical concerns. These include pressure on patients to donate and the effects of this on the patient-physician relationship, potential expectations of donor patients for treatment that is not indicated or preferential care, justice and fairness issues, disclosure and use of confidential patient information for nontreatment purposes, and conflicts of interest. ⋯ But those are among the reasons grateful patient fundraising is ethically problematic. This American College of Physicians position paper explores these issues and offers guidance.