Medical Ethics
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New guidance on palliative care delivery in oncology practices
A new guidance statement to define high-quality primary palliative care delivery in medical oncology has been developed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
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Many academics on industry boards: Conflicts of interest are ethical concern
Academics from medical schools and research institutions hold nearly 10% of positions on boards of directors at publicly traded healthcare companies, according to a recent study.
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“Instant access” culture driving trend toward at-home testing
Ethical issues involving at-home self-testing include patient autonomy, the fact that knowledgeable providers aren’t interpreting findings, and the possibility of false or misleading results.
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Did ethics consults occur too late? Reluctant clinicians are one reason
Ethics consults often are called only after the patient lacks decision-making capacity and death is inevitable despite aggressive treatment.
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Greater palliative care knowledge in nursing homes linked to less aggressive end-of-life care
The more nursing directors knew about palliative care, the less likely their patients experienced feeding tube insertion, injections, restraints, suctioning, and emergency department visits, according to a recent study.
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Incidental findings in research subjects: It’s complicated
Incidental findings in research subjects — which can be completely benign or herald significant health problems — raise thorny issues for IRBs that are best addressed through informed consent and a detailed contingency plan.
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Comments, concerns on ANPRM draft may forecast NPRM reaction
A recently published analysis of comments on biospecimen research submitted in response to the 2011 Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking indicates institutional review boards and researchers are facing a series of “tradeoffs” that will likely carry over in the next iteration of the human research Common Rule.
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Changes to Common Rule would change exemptions
The NPRM of the Common Rule in human research protection provides for eight categories of exemption to IRB reviews and discusses a tool that investigators and others could use to determine whether a study is exempt.
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IC under revised Common Rule is transparent, tightened
Common Rule changes under the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking could impact how IRBs handle the informed consent process, by both increasing transparency and imposing stricter new requirements about information provided to prospective subjects.
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Shaking the IRB Foundation
“I think the local IRB has seen its day."