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An advisory board to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recommended that a proposal to hold pediatric trials of the anthrax vaccine be reviewed by an ethics board before proceeding.
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There is a new, controversial genetic test of a gene called Apolipoprotein E (APOE) on the horizon.
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A study published in the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, says that informed consent sheets that are concise and written at lower reading comprehension levels, as well as videotaped presentations, work well in helping patients understand the risks, benefits, and treatment alternatives to cataract surgery.
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According to published research, a program created to communicate the treatment preferences of those with advanced illness or frailty ensures those preferences are honored 94% of the time. The Program, called Physicians Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST), was launched in Oregon almost 20 years ago.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
