Medical Ethics Advisor – July 1, 2008
July 1, 2008
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Task force suggests health care rationing in catastrophes
"If a mass casualty critical care event were to occur tomorrow, many people with clinical conditions that are survivable under usual health care system conditions may have to forgo life-sustaining interventions owing to deficiencies in supply or staffing." -
Discharge process is a balancing act
So noted Barbara Chanko, RN, a health care ethicist who was one of the speakers in a Veterans Health Administration national ethics teleconference in late May. -
Affective forecasting may impact medical ethics
There's no doubt that physicians are the linchpin of the healthcare system. And when it comes to patient education and counsel regarding diagnoses, prognoses and possible death, they also bear the leadership role. -
UK's 'right-to-die'card stirs controversy
One individual in the UK, who happens to be on the Salford City Council in Great Britain, has introduced what is being called the "right-to-die card" in that country and has set off a controversy among those in the Christian pro-life movement and those who choose it as a way to make their wishes known in the event they are incapacitated due to sudden injury or illness. -
Stop-smoking counseling: more effective than thought
While it might seem that physician lectures to patients about the dangers of smoking are falling on deaf ears, experts in the United States and England say doctors who take a few minutes to talk with patients about their smoking really do make a difference when it comes to helping them quit successfully. -
Society forms policy on use of palliative care
Palliative care is an obligation owed every patient with critical disease, and not just those for whom curative options have been exhausted, according to a national medical society. -
African-Americans get less EOL discussion
A new study on ICU physicians conducted by an assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland found that physicians are less comfortable discussing end-of-life issues and do it less frequently with African-American patients and their families than with Caucasian patients and families. -
Non-invasive ventilation helpful in lung cancer
A paper presented at the American Thoracic Society's 2008 International Conference in Toronto in May suggests that patients with end-stage lung cancer may benefit from noninvasive ventilation (NIV).