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Caroline Carcerano underwent spinal surgery at Tufts Medical Center in Boston in hopes that the procedure would resolve pain from a back injury. During the procedure, her neurosurgeon requested a special dye to test the location of tubing threaded into her spine.
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Nurses are often the health care providers who know the most about a patient’s wishes for end-of-life care, but are sometimes left out of such discussions.
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Institutions that fund or conduct neuroscience research should incorporate ethical considerations into all stages of the process, according to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues’ April 2014 report, Gray Matters, Integrative Approaches for Neuroscience, Ethics, and Society.
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When the family of an elderly Chinese patient insisted she not be told about her diagnosis of metastatic cancer, her physician felt he had an obligation to inform the patient.
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The Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospitals scandal, which involved unduly long delays in getting doctors’ appointments that jeopardized veterans’ health, “inevitably erodes trust by patients in individual providers as well as our system of health care.
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Recent data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) indicate that violations of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) are on the rise. An EMTALA expert suggests there are several reasons:
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Complying with the Emergency Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) can be hard enough before court rulings give the rule a longer reach. Courts in Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, and Tennessee have passed laws that make EMTALA applicable even after admission.
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IRBs working with community partners on non-medical studies need fresh tools, such as resourcefulness and imagination, when engaging in training and education.
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For some patients, enrolling in a clinical trial is not an option. They may meet exclusion criteria, or the nearest trial center may be geographically inaccessible, despite having a disease or condition that could benefit from investigational treatment. In such cases, the patients physician can request expanded individual patient access from the Food and Drug Administration. In dire situations, the physician can seek emergency use.
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Advancements in imaging technology mean a greater chance of detecting incidental findings in imaging research subjects. As IRBs turn their attentions to figuring out how to handle and manage IFs, some may not know where to begin or how to get their plans to the implementation stage.