Medical Ethics
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Data Show Mistreatment of Medical Students Is Common
It is hard to say if the problem is worse, or if residents are just reporting it more. Regardless, this is a longstanding problem, but few effective solutions or prevention tactics have been implemented.
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Unnecessary Restraint and Seclusion of Psychiatric Patients Is Ethical Concern
Violation of patient autonomy and the possibility of harming people (physically or psychologically) are major ethical concerns. But there are no recommendations quantifying what is considered an unacceptably high rate of seclusion or restraint. Without such guidelines, outlier facilities may not even realize their practices are outside the norm.
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Many Ethics Services Need Better Information on Volume
Researchers found inconsistencies in the way ethics consult volume was reported, which made estimates of growth over time inaccurate. These investigators created a methodology to allow many more factors to be weighed, which could lead to a more accurate estimate of how many consults ethics services should be performing.
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Lack of Ethical Leadership Can Be Source of Moral Distress
Ethical leadership requires perspectives of all stakeholders be considered. If managers do not actively encourage staff to offer input, people are going to be reluctant or unwilling to voice concerns.
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Race Disparities Identified in End-of-Life Care
Minority patients receive more aggressive end-of-life interventions than white patients, according to the authors of a recent study. The answer has to do, in part, with the history of maltreatment of vulnerable populations. Some minority patients, or their family members, have been the recipients of substandard medical care.
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The Wide Variability in Ethics Consult Mandates
Only half of hospitals have put any policies in place mandating ethics consults in certain situations, according to a recent analysis. These policies share few common features.
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Study: Few Black Adults Taking Proper Medicine for Difficult-to-Treat Hypertension
Black patients may not receive the right medications or proper lifestyle counseling.
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IRBs, Research Organizations Adjust to New Norms in COVID-19 Era
The research world’s axis shifted in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic. Research organizations and IRBs should expect that shift to be the new normal. There will be no return to the way it was before.
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More Research Needed Into How IRBs Operate and Make Decisions
The revised Common Rule’s provision that a single IRB should review protocols for multisite studies raises questions about how these IRBs handle conflicts of interest, local knowledge, and other issues. When a group of researchers sought to answer these questions, they found a big obstacle: Some IRBs, including the largest ones, were unwilling to participate.
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Steps for IRBs to Better Safeguard Participants
Technology is moving far faster than federal human research protection laws and regulations. But there are a few things IRBs can do that will help protect study participants.