Medical Ethics Advisor – November 1, 2003

November 1, 2003

• Financial woes force Texas hospital to make ‘heartbreaking’ choices

  Frontline access management staff at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston face excruciating tasks on a daily basis.

  Read more about Financial woes force Texas hospital to make ‘heartbreaking’ choices - Medical Ethics Advisor – November 1, 2003

• New EMTALA may damage already weak safety net

  Hospitals struggling to survive while absorbing an increasing amount of uncompensated health care are welcoming recent changes to federal patient-dumping legislation that clarify and limit the instances in which hospitals are required to provide care regardless of a patients ability to pay.

  Read more about New EMTALA may damage already weak safety net - Medical Ethics Advisor – November 1, 2003

• Mental retardation and reproductive freedom

  Concerned that their loved ones mental capacities may not be able to keep up with their physical maturity, parents and guardians of adults and adolescents with mental retardation sometimes seek to have these people undergo medical sterilization procedures to prevent what they perceive as the potential burden of unanticipated parenthood.

  Read more about Mental retardation and reproductive freedom - Medical Ethics Advisor – November 1, 2003

• MD/patient communication styles often worlds apart

  Ask many physicians about informed consent and often youll find they consider it a concept clear in ethics texts, but murky in practice.

  Read more about MD/patient communication styles often worlds apart - Medical Ethics Advisor – November 1, 2003