Articles Tagged With:
-
‘Decision-makers of Last Resort’ Pose Unique Ethical Challenges
Surrogates sometimes vehemently disagree, despite all attempts to resolve the conflict. In other cases, there’s simply no one to speak on the patient’s behalf. Either way, the clinical team is forced to turn to the courts or government if an important medical decision must be made.
-
‘Feel-Good Approach’ Is Not Enough: Assess Quality of Ethics Consults
Quality of clinical care routinely is assessed using myriad established approaches, with patient safety issues addressed with such proven methods as root cause analyses. On the other hand, quality of ethics consultations often is not addressed at all.
-
Disclosure of Errors Not Documented — Even if Patient Seriously Harmed
Very few disclosures of medical errors or apologies to the patient or relatives were documented in medical records, found a recent analysis of malpractice claims.
-
Lawsuits Allege Patients’ End-of-Life Wishes Ignored
Several recent lawsuits alleged that patients were harmed by unwanted care because their end-of-life wishes were disregarded by the clinical team, with one case resulting in a $1 million settlement against the hospital.
-
Secnidazole Oral Granules (Solosec)
The FDA has approved the first oral single-dose treatment for bacterial vaginosis in adult women.
-
Etiology of Acute Liver Failure and Next-generation Sequencing
Metagenomic next-generation sequencing was applied to examine serum from 204 adult patients with acute liver failure (ALF). Researchers identified a potential viral etiology in eight of the 187 patients with ALF of indeterminate etiology. Potential pathogens identified in these included HSV-1, HBV, parvovirus B19, CMV, and HHV-7.
-
Do Antibiotics Reduce Hormonal Contraceptive Effectiveness?
This is a systematic review of studies evaluating the effect of concomitant non-rifamycin antibiotics use on hormonal contraceptive effectiveness. Although data are limited, there is no evidence to support the existence of drug interactions.
-
IT Workers Can Fall for Online Scams
Healthcare IT staff often assume they know what they’re doing when it comes to data security, and all the other employees are likely to create a data breach by falling for an online phishing scam or other hacking attempt. But a recent report suggests IT staff can make big mistakes, too.
-
Stewardship, Science, and Spirituality
Awareness of a patient’s and family’s belief system might help physicians appropriately frame explanations about the importance of antimicrobial stewardship.
-
Most Clinicians Admit to Sharing EMR Passwords
A majority of medical staff surveyed recently said they have accessed an electronic medical record system using a password improperly supplied by a fellow medical staffer, and explained that strict confidentiality rules can make it difficult to get the data needed to do their jobs properly.