Recent trends in justice in medical ethics focus primarily on the need for society to create equitable access to healthcare for everyone. The goal is for the medical community to address longstanding and historical social determinants of health and root causes of health disparities. Recognizing the need to incorporate a social justice approach to healthcare, ethicists aim to ensure a fair allocation of medical resources and medical treatments to all regardless of socioeconomic status, race, or other factors.
Telehealth medicine is another recent topic of examination in medical justice. The focus is to lower costs and ensure internet accessibility for all so that equitable access is achieved and inequalities are not exacerbated. Justice in the area of digital health technologies also centers on privacy concerns, informed consent and algorithmic bias. Ethicists aspire to protect patient data, ensure patients understand how their personal data can be at risk, and address bias in algorithms which can compromise fair outcomes.