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It's a "tremendous victory to have something approaching universal access" as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but the resulting increase in underinsured patients will pose ethical challenges for providers, according to Joseph J. Fins, MD, MACP, chief of the Division of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medical College and director of medical ethics at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Center in New York City.
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Recently ripped from the headlines is the heartbreaking story of a 3-year-old girl in dire need of a kidney transplant. Additionally, she was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease called Wolf-Hirschhorn, which is characterized by a distinctive facial appearance, delayed growth and development, diminished intellectual disability, and epileptic-like seizures.
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According to the results of a study1 in Psychiatry Research, spirituality and religiousness might contribute to improved quality of life (QOL) in patients who have been diagnosed with residual schizophrenia.
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A Massachusetts appeals court has overturned a ruling by Norfolk probate judge Christina L. Harms who ordered that a 32-year-old mentally ill woman, known as "Mary Moe," have an abortion against her will even if it meant she had to be coaxed, bribed, or even enticed into a hospital. Additionally, Harms ordered that the Moe be sterilized.
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The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization's (NHPCO) annual report, Facts and figures: hospice care in America, shows the number of patients served remains fairly constant at 1.58 million in 2010 (a slight rise from 1.56 million served in 2009). Yet a statistic of concern to hospice and palliative care professionals is the drop in median and average length of service.
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Research published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia suggests that organ donation rates in the United Kingdom (UK) could be increased if the issues affecting declined consent are improved. At present, only 30% of the UK population is registered on the National Health Service (NHS) Organ Donor Register (ODR).
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The importance and potential benefits of palliative care to ease suffering and improve quality of life for patients being treated in hospital intensive care units (ICUs) has received increasing recognition but is not without significant challenges, as discussed in a roundtable discussion in a recent issue of the Journal of Palliative Medicine.
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When investigators seek an exception from informed consent (EFIC) for emergency research, they must show that they have engaged in community consultation and public disclosure, informing the public that they might encounter an experimental intervention while being treated in an emergency setting.
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In the past decade, a growing number of academic medical centers have begun offering research ethics consultation services in which bioethics experts help scientists address the ethical and societal implications of their laboratory and clinical experiments.
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Thousands more American senior citizens with kidney disease are good candidates for transplants and could obtain them if physicians would move past outdated medical biases and put them on transplant waiting lists, according to a new study1 by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
