Medical Ethics Advisor
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570 Clinics Found Marketing Unproven Stem Cell Treatments
Stem cell interventions are offered at 570 clinics, with generally unproven treatments being marketed to consumers, found a recent study.
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Cost Savings for Palliative Care in ACOs ‘Astounding,’ Say Researchers
Home-based palliative care within an accountable care organization was associated with significant cost savings, fewer hospitalizations, and increased hospice use in the final months of life, found a recent study.
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Ethical Responses if Patient is Offended by a Healthcare Provider’s Tattoos
If a healthcare provider’s visible tattoos offend a patient or family member, does this supersede the clinician’s rights to self-expression?
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Ethical Concerns if Cancer Drugs, and Science in General, are Overhyped
Half of the cancer drugs described with superlatives such as “breakthrough,” “groundbreaking” and “game-changer” were not yet approved as safe and effective, found a recent study.
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Surprising Conflicts of Advisory Committee Speakers
Much attention has been paid to clinicians with financial ties to industry and resulting conflicts of interest, but patients who speak at public meetings also have financial ties, found a recent analysis.
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Some Older, Chronically Ill Patients Don’t Realize They Have a Choice in Deciding Surgery
Patients and family members were surprised that postoperative recovery was so difficult, and lacked knowledge on advance directives and the fact that they could decline major surgery.
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Drastic Surge in Drug Prices: ‘Unethical and Immoral’
A new business model is emerging in which pharmaceutical companies buy the rights to a drug, then raise the price dramatically. Often, the drugs are produced by one manufacturer, with few or no alternatives.
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New Report Examines Ethics of Gene Drive Research
A recent report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examines the ethics of gene drive research.
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Physicians Paid to Refer Patients: ‘Fundamental and Clear’ Ethical Violation
The nonprofit hospital system Broward Health in Florida recently agreed to pay $70 million to settle allegations that it engaged in “improper financial relationships” under laws prohibiting kickbacks for patient referrals.
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Provide High-Quality Ethics Education on a Limited Budget
Medical institutions didn’t always understand the importance of ethics to physician training, notes Timothy Lahey, MD, MMSc, chair of the clinical ethics committee at Lebanon, NH-based Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and associate professor at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine.