Medical Ethics Advisor – July 1, 2006
July 1, 2006
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Crossing new frontier: Paving the way to make face transplantation reality
Even before doctors in France performed a thus-far successful transplant of a partial face in November 2005, experts in the United States had the expertise and knowledge to transplant a face. What they have lacked is the right person to receive the graft. -
When minors choose risky, alternative therapies
Abraham Cherrix is a 15-year-old boy with Hodgkin's disease. He's also an Internet-savvy free thinker who doesn't want to do another round of chemotherapy and radiation; what he wants to do is go to Mexico for a controversial herbal treatment he hopes will cure him. -
Cedars-Sinai's traveling Torah brings blessings
A gravely ill Sephardic Jew came to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from his home in Israel, hoping to find a successful treatment for his terminal cancer. The treatment did not yield the results he had hoped, but chaplain Rabbi Levi Meier visited his room with something more comforting than medicine. -
A prescription is worthless if a patient can't afford it
Knowing that you have hit on the ideal medication for your patient's condition is a satisfying feeling. But if you fail to ask one important question before handing him the prescription "Can you afford this medicine?" your careful thought may have been wasted. -
Gene therapy trials: Parents in UK say include CF kids
Clinical trials involving gene therapy are considered to be of great enough real and potential risk that they are not attempted in children before they have been conducted with adults.