Robert Klitzman

Ethicist and professor of psychiatry

Robert Klitzman is a professor of psychiatry and director of the Masters of Bioethics Program at Columbia University who writes often for CNN Opinion.
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Dr. Shelly Tien, 40, changes into scrubs and puts her clothes in her backpack in her office at Planned Parenthood in Birmingham, Alabama, U.S., March 14, 2022. Dr.Tien, who flew into Birmingham late the night before from Jacksonville, Florida to perform abortions in Alabama, will fly back home at the end of the day to Florida where she is a full-time abortion doctor and and one of about 50 doctors in the United States who travels across state lines to provide abortions in states with limited abortion access. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein SEARCH "HOCKSTEIN USA ABORTION" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Opinion: Roe’s reversal doesn’t just hurt women – it harms us all
Jun 25, 2022
The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe now forces doctors to grapple with having to violate the principles of the HIppocratic Oath because of a judicial mandate that most Americans oppose, writes Dr. Robert Klitzman.
A healthcare worker fills a syringe with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Jackson Memorial Hospital Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021, in Miami. A recent recommendation by the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising people who are 65 and older, and workers whose jobs put them at high risk of exposure -- including those in healthcare -- to receive a booster shot six months after their second shot.
Lynne Sladky/AP
How the Covid-19 booster shots could make the vaccination gap worse
Oct 18, 2021
Robert Klitzman writes that the FDA’s approval of additional doses for the Covid-19 vaccine comes as good news, but until we address the widening vaccine gap, we will continue to contend with Covid-19.
A doctor checks on an unvaccinated Covid-19 patient at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center in Tarzana, California on September 2, 2021.
APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images
Why doctors can’t prioritize care based on vaccine status
Sep 20, 2021
Physicians commit to treating patients to the best of their ability, without prejudice, Robert Klitzman writes. Of course, it’s different when a patient’s decision can potentially jeopardize the health of others. But the point remains: as physicians, we are responsible for treating patients – even those who make bad decisions.
A healthcare worker prepares COVID-19 vaccine doses at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center on December 16, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. The first rounds of Pfizer's vaccine were administered in Oregon on Wednesday.
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Are we ready for a Covid-19 booster shot?
Aug 12, 2021
Robert Klitzman writes that if everyone in the US and other wealthy countries who wanted a booster got one, far fewer doses would be available for the rest of the world. Some people may dismiss these poorer countries’ needs. But Covid is showing us how, in both getting the virus and preventing it, we are all tightly interconnected.

About

Robert Klitzman is a professor of psychiatry and director of the Masters of Bioethics Program at Columbia University. He is author of the book, “The Ethics Police?: The Struggle to Make Human Research Safe.” He co-founded and for five years co-directed the Center for Bioethics, and for 10 years directed the Ethics and Policy Core of the HIV Center. He has conducted research and written about a variety of ethical issues in medicine and public health to promote public and professional education concerning these issues.