Ethics of Representing Unrepresented Patients
I am delighted to be a part of this special issue of the AMA JOURNAL OF ETHICS on "Ethics of Representing Unrepresented Patients."
Representing Unrepresented PatientsHolland M. Kaplan, MD
Case and CommentaryWhen There’s No One to Whom an Error Can Be Disclosed, How Should an Error be Handled?Ryan G. Chiu
How Should Clinicians NavigateDecision Making for Unrepresented PatientsTimothy M. Dempsey, MD, MPH and Erin Sullivan DeMartino, MD
Should Aggregate Patient Preference Data Be Used to Make Decisions on Behalf of Unrepresented Patients? Nathaniel Sharadin, PhD, MA
Should Dialysis Be Stopped for an ...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - July 3, 2019 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Thaddeus Mason Pope, JD, PhD Tags: Health Care syndicated Source Type: blogs
Patient with Dyspnea. You are handed a triage ECG interpreted as " normal " by the computer.
I was handed this ECG of a patient with dyspnea:What do you think?Computer interpretation: Normal EKGPhysician Overread (Final interpretation): Normal EKGThe ST segment is very flat, with a sudden rise to the peak of the T-wave. This makes the base of the T-wave look very narrow. A narrow-based T-wave is nearly pathognomonic for hyperkalemia. My diagnosis was hyperkalemia.The resident I showed it to saw nothing. I explained all this to the resident, then went to see the patient.Turns out he is a dialysis patient.Later, the ECG computer interpretation was overread by another physician, and that physi...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - June 14, 2019 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs
Magnum, P.I.
An 11-year-old boy with cerebral palsy presented to the emergency department unresponsive. His mother said the child was in his normal state earlier that morning, but was blue and unresponsive when she tried to wake him from his morning nap. A home pulse oximeter reported an oxygen level of 55%.The mother placed the child on oxygen and called 911. He was still unresponsive on arrival, and his physical examination demonstrated flaccid paralysis and a GCS score of 3 with fixed dilated pupils. He was tachycardic with shallow respirations. His initial vital signs were a temperature of 36.9°C, a heart rate of 136 bpm, a res...
Source: The Tox Cave - June 1, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
MAID, VSED, PSU, Dialysis, and More End of Life Role & Responsibilities
Join me in Seattle, on September 13-14, 2019, for "At the End of Life: Agency, Role and Responsibilities of the Physician/Advanced Practitioner."
Day 1 (with Randy Curtis, Haider Warraich, and many more) covers:
Discontinuation of Ventilatory ... (Source: blog.bioethics.net)
Source: blog.bioethics.net - May 29, 2019 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Thaddeus Mason Pope, JD, PhD Tags: Health Care syndicated Source Type: blogs
Diabetes: What price comfort and habit?
I was in suburban Chicago recently one morning, hoping to get something to eat for breakfast. I’d heard that the Panera chain was now serving breakfast that you could order any way you wanted. It’s called “Panera Bread,” but I thought I’d give it a try, as I’ve safely consumed their salads in past.
At the counter, I placed my order for 3 eggs over easy, sausage, and bacon—not perfect, given our inability to scrutinize foods and ingredients in such places, but I was willing to try. Obviously, I turned down the breads/toasts that were included. The middle-aged Hispanic woman behind t...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - May 15, 2019 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat Belly diabetes grain-free grains Inflammation sugar undoctored Source Type: blogs
Dipstick Technology Approved by FDA for Urinalysis at Home
I seem to have lost track of advancements in dipstick technology understanding that it is well established in such areas as pregnancy testing. Home glucose testing for diabetics, of course, is growing increasingly sophisticated with the test strips beingread by a meter. A recent article indicated that this meter technology can be replaced by the camera in a smartphone for recording and analyzing dipstick color changes when screening for kidney disease (see:FDA approves smartphone camera –based dipstick product). Below is an excerpt from the article: Healthy.io, based in Tel Aviv, Israel, has obtained U....
Source: Lab Soft News - May 6, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Industry News Clinical Lab Testing Diagnostics Food and Drug Administration Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Innovations Lab Industry Trends Lab Processes and Procedures Medical Consumerism Medical Research Poi Source Type: blogs
Baby boomers and hepatitis C: What ’s the connection?
Hepatitis C is a viral infection that is spread through contact with infected blood. Hepatitis C infection can be short-term (acute) or long-term (chronic). Most people with acute hepatitis C eventually develop chronic hepatitis C.
Hepatitis C usually does not cause symptoms, which is why most people with hepatitis C don’t know that they are infected. Left untreated, hepatitis C can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer, and liver failure.
Why screen baby boomers for hepatitis C?
Why are we recommending screening of adults in the baby boomer generation? To understand this, it’s worth reviewing how we got here.
In 1998, t...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - May 1, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Raymond Chung, MD Tags: Health Healthy Aging Infectious diseases Screening Source Type: blogs
New Device Cleans Blood to Treat Preeclampsia
Preeclampsia is one of the most common serious maladies that pregnant women encounter. It is a poorly understood condition with symptoms such as high blood pressure, proteinuria, and headaches, potentially even leading to seizures.
The treatment options for preeclampsia are still very limited, mostly confined to hypertension medications, bed rest, and birthing the baby, which is essentially a cure for the disease.
A new option from Advanced Prenatal Therapeutics, a Laguna Hills, California company, has just been given Breakthrough Device Designation by the FDA for its Targeted Apheresis Column for Preeclampsia (TAC-PE), a...
Source: Medgadget - April 23, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Editors Tags: Ob/Gyn Pathology Source Type: blogs
MedPAC ’s Latest Bad Idea: Forcing Doctors to Join ACOs
By KIP SULLIVAN, JD
At its April 4, 2019 meeting, the staff of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) asked the commission to discuss a very strange proposal: Doctors who treat patients enrolled in Medicare’s traditional fee-for-service (FFS) program must join an “accountable care organization” (ACO) or give up their FFS Medicare practice. (The staff may have meant to give hospitals the same Hobbesian choice, but that is not clear from the transcript of the meeting.) Here is how MedPAC staffer Eric Rollins laid out the proposal:
Here is how MedPAC staffer Eric Rollins laid out the proposal:
R...
Source: The Health Care Blog - April 22, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, April 22nd 2019
Fight Aging! provides a weekly digest of news and commentary for thousands of subscribers interested in the latest longevity science: progress towards the medical control of aging in order to prevent age-related frailty, suffering, and disease, as well as improvements in the present understanding of what works and what doesn't work when it comes to extending healthy life. Expect to see summaries of recent advances in medical research, news from the scientific community, advocacy and fundraising initiatives to help speed work on the repair and reversal of aging, links to online resources, and much more.
This content is...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 21, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Even Early Stage Kidney Disease Causes Cognitive Impairment
The link between age-related kidney dysfunction and cognitive impairment is an interesting one, particularly in the context of research into klotho, which has functions in both the kidney and the brain, and has been shown to extend life and improve cognitive function in animal studies. It isn't completely clear as to which of these areas of the body is most important to the noted benefits to cognitive function in animal models, produced via various strategies for klotho overexpression. The most recent research on this topic tends to suggest that the mechanisms are indirect, involving many organ systems, rather than being a...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 16, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
ClearGuard HD Caps Cleared in Europe to Prevent Dialysis Infections
Catheter-related bloodstream infections are one of the biggest fears for people receiving hemodialysis, as these can cause serious systemic reactions in patients. When catheters are used, the hubs through which blood is drawn and returned, are often the pathways that start bacteremia. Disenfection methods help, but they are not perfect since catheter-based infections continue to happen at alarming rates.
The ClearGuard HD caps from Pursuit Vascular, a company based outside of Minneapolis, Minnesotta, provide an unique solution and they’ve just received European regulatory approval.
The caps, which already have FDA cl...
Source: Medgadget - April 9, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Editors Tags: Medicine Vascular Surgery Source Type: blogs
Interview with Tom Reeves, CEO of Interface Biologics
Interface Biologics Inc (IBI) is a company from Toronto, Ontario, Canada that develops medtech and pharmaceutical materials. Their surface modification technology is called Endexo, which involves fluorine-based additives that migrate to a material’s surface during polymerization. This non-stick fluorination prevents platelets and bacteria from sticking, keeping the biomaterial clot-free and clean. The Endexo additive technology has significant advantages over competitive offerings, including heparin coatings. It’s easier to manufacture (no change in the manufacturing, low cost, wide compatibility) and easier to use (pe...
Source: Medgadget - March 20, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Ben Ouyang Tags: Anesthesiology Cardiology Critical Care Exclusive Materials Source Type: blogs
Happy 14th birthday to the Health Business Blog
Happy 14th!
My main job is president of Health Business Group, a boutique healthcare strategy consulting firm I founded in 2003. As a sideline, I write the Health Business Blog, where I provide a behind the scenes look at the business of healthcare, featuring my spin on healthcare topics in the news, interviews with entrepreneurs, and policy prescriptions.
The blog is turning 14 years old this month! Continuing a tradition I established with birthdays one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, and thirteen I have picked out a favorite post from each month. ...
Source: Health Business Blog - March 12, 2019 Category: Health Management Authors: dewe67 Tags: Announcements Blogs Source Type: blogs
