http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. What treatment a doctor recommends for advanced cancer not only depends on medical aspects. His relationship to the individual patients and his own view of their life situation at their age play a role. This was found out by a research team led by Dr. Jan Schildmann of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) together with colleagues from the University of Oxford. The RUB researchers also explored how patients perceive and evaluate the information they receive for clarification and decision making. The medical ethicists report in the journals The Oncologist and Annals of Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-doctor-advice-cancer-patients-medical.html Cancer Mon, 03 Jun 2013 08:20:01 EST news289464235 With little evidence to guide them, many hospital intensive care units (ICUs) have been employing critical care physicians at night with the notion it would improve patients' outcomes. However, new results from a one-year randomized trial from researchers at Penn Medicine involving nearly 1,600 patients admitted to the Hospital of the University Pennsylvania (HUP) Medical ICU suggest otherwise: Having a nighttime intensivist had no clear benefit on length of stay or mortality for these patients, not even patients admitted at night or those with the most critical illnesses at the time of admission. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-nighttime-critical-physician-icu-doesnt.html Health Mon, 20 May 2013 14:00:09 EST news288273702 In a paper published in Science Express, a group of experts led by bioethicists in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine provide a framework for the new American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) recommendations on reporting incidental findings in clinical exome and genome sequencing. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-ethicists-framework-incidental-gene-sequencing.html Genetics Thu, 16 May 2013 14:00:01 EST news287931187 The majority of cancer doctors, patients, and members of the general public support cutting health care costs by refusing to pay for drugs that don't improve survival or quality of life, according to results of a new study that will be presented by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania during the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago in early June (Abstract #6518). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-broad-rationing-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 15 May 2013 18:00:04 EST news287856294 Fears that legalising euthanasia for very sick newborns would prompt the start of a "slippery slope" and lead to abuse of the option have proved groundless, says the architect of a dedicated protocol used by doctors in The Netherlands, in a special issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-slippery-slope-legal-euthanasia-sick.html Other Wed, 01 May 2013 18:30:02 EST news286645537 In the United States alone, an estimated 100,000 patients per year receive implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) – devices that detect life-threatening heart rhythm irregularities and deliver a high-voltage shock to return the heart to a normal pace. Despite their lifesaving purpose, many patients and clinicians will ultimately be faced with difficult decisions about deactivation of these devices as patients age and develop other conditions that may prove terminal. Little is understood about physicians' views surrounding the ethical aspects of ICD deactivation in end-of-life situations, especially as it relates to other medical interventions and patient and family directives. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-health-perspectives-icd-deactivation-end-of-life.html Other Tue, 12 Mar 2013 08:26:33 EST news282295567 Governments around the world should stop squandering resources fighting an "unwinnable war" against illegal drugs, such as cocaine and heroin. Instead, they should use the cash to curb antibiotic misuse, which poses a far more serious threat to human health, claims a leading ethicist in the Journal of Medical Ethics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-scrap-unwinnable-drugs-war-funds.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 20 Feb 2013 18:30:03 EST news280602901 France's medical ethics council said Thursday that assisted suicide should be allowed in exceptional cases when suffering patients make "persistent and lucid requests" in a step forward to legalising euthanasia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-french-medical-body-euthanasia-exceptional.html Other Thu, 14 Feb 2013 12:10:05 EST news280065002 Advance care directives allow patients to provide instructions about their preferences for the care they would like to receive if they develop an illness or a life-threatening injury and lose the capacity to make decisions for themselves. While many people may assume that patients have strong preferences for the type and aggressiveness of care they wish to receive near life's end, a new study by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania suggests that for many patients, preferences for end-of-life care are constructed on the spot and heavily influenced by the ways in which the options are presented. Specifically, the investigators found that even when it comes to such seemingly personal decisions as end-of-life care, people tend to accept options that are presented as the default, much as they accept the default in choosing automobile insurance or whether to contribute to 401(k) programs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-default-options-patient-choices-advance.html Health Mon, 04 Feb 2013 16:00:11 EST news279198313 As patients and physicians share decision-making in choices among treatment options, decision aids such as videos, websites, pamphlets or books are coming to play an important role. However, in some cases, it may be ethical for the decision aids to provide a "nudge" toward a particular option, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine, the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in a report that appears in the journal Health Affairs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-nudge-ethical-choice.html Health Mon, 04 Feb 2013 16:00:06 EST news279197873 Conscience clauses, which allow pharmacists to opt out of providing the "morning after pill" without a prescription, risk unwanted pregnancies and undermine the principle of universal healthcare in the NHS, say pharmacists in the Journal of Medical Ethics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-unwarranted-pregnancies-morning-pill-conscience.html Medications Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:30:02 EST news278789690 People with Alzheimer's disease are less likely to participate in a clinical trial if they have non-spouse caregivers, according to a study by a team of researchers including the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The new study, published in the December 19th, 2012, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, demonstrates that additional recruitment and retention strategies may be required to increase enrollment of AD patients with caregivers other than spouses. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-alzheimer-patients-non-spousal-caregivers-clinical.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Wed, 19 Dec 2012 16:23:32 EST news275156605 France should allow doctors to "accelerate the coming of death" for terminally ill patients, a report to President Francois Hollande recommended Tuesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-france-legalise-deaths.html Health Tue, 18 Dec 2012 10:42:28 EST news275049742 It's not every day that a new academic discipline is born. But that's exactly what happened in 2010, when the Project on Bioethics, Sexuality and Gender Identity — or "Queer Bioethics," for short—came to life at the University of Pennsylvania. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-queer-bioethics-birth-academic-discipline.html Other Fri, 21 Sep 2012 07:21:52 EST news267430902 Parental hopes of a "miraculous intervention," prompted by deeply held religious beliefs, are leading to very sick children being subjected to futile care and needless suffering, suggests a small study in the Journal of Medical Ethics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-deeply-held-religious-beliefs-prompting.html Health Mon, 13 Aug 2012 18:30:01 EST news264092850 The American College of Physicians (ACP) and the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) explore the ethical dimensions of the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) in a new position paper published by the Journal of General Internal Medicine: "The Patient-Centered Medical Home: An Ethical Analysis of Principles and Practice." The text is also available on ACP's website. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-acp-sgim-pcmh-aligns-principles.html Health Mon, 30 Jul 2012 14:41:46 EST news262878089 Diagnostic tests are increasingly capable of identifying plaques and tangles present in Alzheimer's disease, yet the disease remains untreatable. Questions remain about how these tests can be used in research studies examining potential interventions to treat and prevent Alzheimer's disease. Experts from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will today participate in a panel at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2012 (AAIC 2012) discussing ways to ethically disclose and provide information about test results to asymptomatic older adults. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-penn-expert-ethical-implications-alzheimer.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Tue, 17 Jul 2012 13:01:21 EST news261748863 While researchers are busy identifying new biomarkers to detect disease and tailor treatments to individual needs, legal battles have been waged all the way up to the Supreme Court, trying to sort out whether a private company can own the rights to a particular biomarker. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-personalized-medicine.html Health Thu, 24 May 2012 09:30:55 EST news257070648 Any law to make the wearing of cycle helmets mandatory in the UK should apply only to children, because the evidence that cycle helmets significantly protect adults against serious head injury is equivocal, conclude researchers in the Journal of Medical Ethics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-uk-law-helmets-kids.html Health Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:30:03 EST news250359419 The American College of Physicians (ACP) has released the sixth edition of its Ethics Manual, published as a supplement to the current issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, ACP's flagship journal, and available online at www.annals.org. The manual is intended to facilitate the process of making ethical decisions in clinical practice, teaching, and medical research, and to describe and explain underlying ethics principles, as well as the physician's role in society and with colleagues. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-acp-ethics-manual-emerging-issues.html Other Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:27:41 EST news244751249 Doctors and other medical professionals occasionally joke about their patients' problems. Some of these jokes are clearly wrong, but some joking between medical professionals is not only ethical, it can actually be beneficial, concludes an article in the Hastings Center Report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-gallows-humor-medicine-wrong.html Other Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:38:56 EST news236270310 The changing tide of Alzheimer's diagnosis presents new challenges to the public, physicians and lawmakers: if you could find out your Alzheimer's risk, would you want to know? How should doctors tell you your risk? And what does it mean for the many newly diagnosed Americans still in the workplace? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-safeguards-discrimination-early-alzheimer-patients.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:41:35 EST news235327271 (AP) -- The nation's largest pediatricians' group has issued its first policy on protecting children from sexual abuse by doctors, citing a recent Delaware case and urging medical facilities to screen employees for previous abuse. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-policy-sex-abuse-doctors-profound.html Health Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:46:26 EST news230305575 Doctors should be allowed to object to any procedure that conflicts with their personal, moral, or religious beliefs, reveals a survey of medical students, published in the Journal of Medical Ethics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-conscientious-procedure-doctor-medical-students.html Other Tue, 19 Jul 2011 03:05:26 EST news230263509 A Queen's University professor is helping standardize practices for healthcare ethicists who consult and give guidance on medical ethics issues to doctors, nurses and patients across the country. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-medical-ethicists-hospitals-standards.html Health Tue, 31 May 2011 11:42:30 EST news226060938 Most medical students feel they lack the skills and legal knowledge required to challenge poor clinical practice and promote better patient care, reveals research published ahead of print in the Journal of Medical Ethics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-medical-schools-legal-skills-medicine.html Other Mon, 16 May 2011 19:04:20 EST news224791386 Medical educators need to be aware of the cultural context in which they teach because these outside forces can affect what is taught and how information is received by students. Drawing upon their experiences teaching medical students the same formal curriculum, researchers at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York and in Doha, Qatar, urge other educators to pay attention to cultural patterns outside their medical schools to be sure that their lesson plans don't go astray because of missed cross-cultural signals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-social-context-medical-health.html Other Tue, 12 Apr 2011 14:11:40 EST news221836291