Medical Ethics Advisor – March 1, 2005
March 1, 2005
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Can apology, honesty stem the med-mal tide?
Are Im sorry really the magic words? According to a coalition of doctors, hospitals, attorneys, and patients, a lesson most of us learned as toddlers could be the key to stemming the flood of medical malpractice lawsuits in the United States. -
Nurses say their smoking affects patient care
Nurses who smoke experience feelings of guilt and embarrassment and also might be less likely to intercede with patients to encourage them to quit smoking because they feel to do so would be hypocritical. -
Ads for elective body scans not full image
Companies offering full-body computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans frequently make unsubstantiated claims about what the scans can do, but rarely give information about the limitations and risks of the tests. -
To ease end of life, embrace death
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus panel on end-of-life care convened in December 2004, and among the conclusions reached by the panel of experts on death and palliative care is that medicine knows too little about the process of dying. -
‘Best interest’ can be tricky when patient is unknown
Questions surrounding resuscitation and other heroic measures, surrogacy, and withdrawal of futile care are complicated enough, but they can be even more complex when the patient is unidentified. -
CMS says defib coverage could save thousands
A decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to expand Medicare coverage of costly implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) will increase the number of Medicare beneficiaries eligible for an ICD by one-third, to nearly 500,000, and will require beneficiaries to release details about their cases to a database shared by hospitals. -
Wristbands raise worries at some hospitals
The Lance Armstrong Foundation, which funds programs that assist people living with cancer, has become known for its bright yellow elastic LIVESTRONG wristbands. But the Morton Plant Mease Health Care hospitals in Florida recently voiced concerns that the LIVESTRONG bracelet on a patients arm could be confused with the yellow plastic bracelets the hospitals use to indicate a patient has opted for do-not-resuscitate status.