Medical Ethics Advisor – June 1, 2012
June 1, 2012
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Prenatal care for illegal immigrants divides Nebraska lawmakers
Illegal immigration and health care have been mentioned a great deal in the news recently, and the issue has Nebraska's lawmakers at odds. Some conservatives are supporting a plan to offer state aid to pregnant women in the United States illegally. -
Program studies role of religion in practicing medicine
Is a doctor's spirituality an obstacle or a benefit in the clinic? Does religious affiliation affect medical decision making? Can a spiritual calling protect doctors against career burnout? -
Can patients be given too much room to make own decisions?
If a patient has high blood pressure, prescribing medication might seem like a "no-brainer" to the physician. However, this isn't always true for the patient, according to Mary Catherine Beach, MD, MPH, core faculty at the Berman Institute of Bioethics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. -
Cataract surgery: Multiple options become ethical issue
Options for a cataract patient might include a monofocal lens that will require the use of glasses, or a multifocal intraocular lens that might not, but carries the risk of side effects such as glares and halos. -
Patient preferences at end of life overlooked
If a nursing home resident has a urinary tract infection, he or she may want to avoid the discomfort and side effects of being transported to the hospital for intravenous antibiotics, and would rather be cared for with medications in the nursing home. -
Sickest patients aren't surveyed
As it stands now, only hospital patients discharged to a home setting complete the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey - not patients who are discharged to a nursing home or rehab, or family members of patients who died in the hospital. -
Genetic testing "running way ahead" of ethics
If genetic testing reveals a woman has a 60% chance of developing breast cancer in her lifetime, what good does this information do for a patient? -
PCPs to face ethical dilemma of genetics
In the near future, genomics will become an ordinary part of physician office visits, predicts Kenneth W. Goodman, PhD, professor and director of the University of Miami (FL)'s Bioethics Program. -
Review board focuses on children, pregnant women
When an institution's study portfolio gets large enough, its review board must decide: Is it time for a new board? And if so, how do you divide the work? At many institutions, that division is based on methodology studies are assigned to either a biomedical review board or one devoted to social-behavioral studies.