Medical Ethics Advisor – February 1, 2008
February 1, 2008
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Texas medical center on verge of ending cancer treatment for illegal immigrants
The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston has long been the hospital where indigent patients including illegal immigrants sought care. -
Guest Column: Rationing of care to undocumented immigrants
There is little doubt that the budget problems and added demand on limited resources that undocumented immigrants contribute to health care institutions is real, and that institutions located closest to the border bear the greatest burden. -
Five people you need to know during a pandemic
A recent bestselling novel centers around five pivotal people the main character meets in the afterlife. But ethics researchers at The Hastings Center say there are five pivotal people that public health leaders are going to want to meet now, to prepare and protect them before an influenza pandemic. -
Veterans allege religious discrimination in chapel
A Veterans Health Administration (VA) hospital's move to make its chapel religiously neutral by removing Christian symbols except during Christian services is under fire by two veterans who are considering legal action over what they say is suppression of Christians' freedom of religion. -
Role of direct-to-consumer ads for genetic tests
Many genetic tests advertised directly to consumers are "home brews" that are neither regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), nor clinically valid, according to findings by a Boston obstetrics/gynecology specialist. -
Pioneering bioethics group disbands after 22 years
The Bioethics Resource Group (BRG), a medical ethics education organization in Charlotte, NC, voted to shut itself down in December after 22 years in which it fostered hospital ethics committees and educated clinicians on advance directives and do-not-resuscitate orders. -
Look for clues that patient comprehends information
Physicians pressed for time need to note whether their patients truly comprehend what they're being told and what they read about their medications; deficient health literacy is being counted as one contributor to health care disparities in some populations.