Medical Ethics Advisor
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Are High-Dose Painkillers Ordered? Ethics Can Prevent Harm, Conflicts, Legal Disasters
Ethicists can help resolve issues in cases involving high-dose painkillers by using highly publicized cases as a teaching tool, determining which cases should be escalated automatically, and helping resolve conflicts among clinicians.
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Widespread Boarding of Pediatric Psychiatric Patients Raises Concerns
It is difficult to imagine a child with a medical emergency staying in an ED for several days waiting for an inpatient bed. Yet, it happens routinely to children and adolescents with psychiatric emergencies.
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Early Documentation of End-of-Life Wishes Linked to Better Outcomes
Careful and early charting of a hospice patient’s end-of-life wishes reduces the chance of an unwanted hospitalization, according to the results of a recent investigation.
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Ethical Education on Mechanical Circulatory Support Lacking
Modern life-sustaining therapies pose some complex ethical questions. Still, most residency and fellowship programs do not address the ethics of these interventions specifically.
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When Is It Appropriate to Admit End-of-Life Patients to ICU?
ICU admission should be based on the alignment of uniquely beneficial treatment offered by the ICU, along with patients’ values and stated goals of care, the authors of a recent paper argued.
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Complex Language Hinders Informed Consent
It is rare for written consent forms used for cancer treatment with radiotherapy to meet recommended readability levels for patient materials, according to the authors of a recent analysis.
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Change in How Donated Livers Are Allocated Sparks Debate
A patient has needed a liver transplant for years, and one finally becomes available in her town. Instead, the organ is shipped by plane to someone hundreds of miles away. Because of a change in how donated livers are allocated, such a scenario could become common.
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Guidance on Grateful Patient Fundraising: No Consensus on Direct Solicitation by MDs
There is more attention paid to ethical implications of grateful patient fundraising, particularly when physicians solicit directly from their patients. Recent guidance could help physicians in this area.
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