Medical Ethics
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Clinicians: Patient, family factors obstacles to end-of-life discussions
Hospital-based clinicians see factors related to patients and family members as more important barriers to end-of-life discussions than clinician and system factors, according to the DECIDE study.
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“It’s the ethics police!” Put a stop to outdated perceptions of clinical ethics consults
There is a pervasive misconception that our primary focus is to find what is ethically inappropriate, and assign blame or fault,” says Adam Pena, MA, an instructor at Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy in Houston.
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Reality check needed: Many unaware of limitations of life-sustaining treatments
Family members of patients generally overestimate the potential benefit of life-sustaining treatments in the ICU, according to Paul Hutchison, MD, MA, assistant professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine.
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Residents struggle with talking about resuscitation preferences, even with training
Training improved resident-led code status discussions in some ways but not others, according to a recent study.
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Report offers recommendations for central ethical issues involving neuroscience
A new report on neuroscience and ethics from The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues offers recommendations involving cognitive enhancement, consent capacity, and neuroscience and the legal system.
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Code status orders for psychiatric admissions: They’re not happening consistently
Psychiatric inpatients were less likely to have an order on admission regarding code status compared to medical inpatients, according to a recent study.
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Is Palliative Care Expertise Inadequate at your Institution?
Hospitals are challenged to meet patients’ palliative care needs despite a scarcity of specialists, lack of training, and persistent misconceptions.
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Impaired physicians have ethical obligation to self-report, experts say
Do physicians have diminished capacity as a result of substance abuse, burnout, behavioral or psychological issues, or physical illness? Regardless of the reason for impairment, physicians have an ethical obligation to protect their patients from harm.
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Parents eager for newborn genomic testing; ethical questions currently unanswered
Parents have widespread interest in genome sequencing for newborns, regardless of their demographic background, according to a recent study led by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital. Researchers queried 514 parents within 48 hours of a child’s birth.1
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Voice ethical concerns — not just during consults, but organizationwide
Clinical ethicists can voice concerns not just during consults involving individual patients, but also more generally to address organizationwide issues.