Medical Ethics
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Unique Informed Consent Challenges of Sequentially Randomized Trials
Some people initially appear to be good candidates for transplant. But complications of treatment may develop — changing the risk-benefit analysis. A repeat consent conference is necessary before each sequential randomization.
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Legal Requirements May Conflict With Clinicians’ Ethical Obligations
It is simply not possible for clinicians to do the right thing if ethical principles and legal requirements are in direct conflict, experts say. But it is important not to lose sight of what the right thing is.
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Remote Ethics Consults Help With Growing Demand for Onsite Ethics
Despite inherent limitations when the ethicist’s input comes instead from a screen or phone, some hospitals are moving toward remote ethics consults. Lack of robust ethics expertise onsite and a surge in demand are contributing factors.
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Diverse Populations Joining NIH All of Us
Nearly a quarter of a million people have joined the National Institutes of Health’s ambitious All of Us precision medicine initiative — with a large response from racial and ethnic minorities who have been historically victimized or ignored by human research.
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Electronic Informed Consent Platform Enhances Education and Engagement
Since Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center implemented the electronic informed consent process, thousands of research participants have consented electronically, increasing at a rate of about 500 per month.
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A Half-Century Later, Guatemala Experiments Still Horrify
Bioethicists recently published a case study of this horrific chapter in human research history after comprehensively reviewing all the records of the Guatemala experiments. The most egregious aspect was that some participants were intentionally infected with syphilis and other STDs.
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Oregon POLST Being Completed More Often and Earlier
Of Oregonians who died between 2015 and 2016, 45% had POLST forms in the registry, compared with about 31% between 2010 and 2011.
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Chaplains Can Have ‘Huge Impact’ on Patient Care — If They Are Called
Critical care nurses need to incorporate board-certified chaplains’ contributions into the patient plan of care during bedside report, the authors of a recent paper argued.
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Dementia Program Linked to High Hospice Use, Low Acute Care Utilization
Patients participating in a comprehensive dementia care co-management program were highly involved in advance care planning, high rates of hospice use, and lower acute care visits near the end of life, according to a recent study.
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Assumptions on Correct Surrogate Are Legally, Ethically Problematic
Generally speaking, ethicists consider three things: Who has had regular contact? Who has shown care and concern? And who knows the patient’s wishes best?