Medical Ethics Advisor – January 1, 2012
January 1, 2012
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Pay bone marrow donors, landmark court ruling says
In a groundbreaking decision, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a technological breakthrough makes donating bone marrow a process nearly identical to giving blood plasma. This decision by the courts now makes it legal to compensate marrow donors, just as plasma donors are compensated. -
Palliative care: Not just for end of life
Patients and caregivers often are not familiar with palliative care, or they misunderstand its purpose. Therefore, education on the reasons to make use of a multidisciplinary palliative care team and the benefits provided is important. -
Survival rates unaffected by end-of-life discussions
Discussing and documenting patients' preferences for care at the end of life does not cause them any harm, contrary to recent claims. -
Life expectancy estimating possible
A new scoring system that can more accurately predict the life expectancy of a patient with advanced cancer in terms of "days," "weeks," and "months" is described in a study1 published in British Medical Journal. -
Informed consent experts advocate improvements
The ethics rule regarding biomedical and behavior research involving human subjects in the U.S., also known as the common rule, govern Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). -
Human study examines medical marijuana
In the first human study of its kind, research from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) suggests that patients with chronic pain might experience greater relief if their doctors add cannabinoids the main ingredient in cannabis or medical marijuana to an opiates-only treatment. -
Hospice caregivers need care interventions
Hospice family caregivers are "second order patients" themselves and require their own unique care needs, according to a study led by the University of Kentucky researcher Elaine Wittenberg-Lyles, PhD. -
Recycled pacemakers safe and effective
Many heart patients in India are too poor to afford pacemakers. However, a study has found that removing pacemakers from deceased Americans, resterilizing the devices, and implanting them in Indian patients "is very safe and effective." -
Recruiting minorities in clinical research
Research ethicists and others have long described the value of recruiting more minorities in clinical research (CR) trials, but the question is whether review boards have a role to play in advancing this goal. -
News Briefs
he Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has red lighted the morning-after pill for teens under 17, without a prescription.