Category: Ethics
UW Medicine to “affiliate” with PeaceHealth – Seattle Times
And Seattle Times staff columnist Danny Westneat questions the growing role of the Catholic church in healthcare in Washington state.
Cloning, stem cells long mired In legislative gridlock
The news that U.S. scientists have successfully cloned a human embryo seems almost certain to rekindle a political fight that has raged, on and off, since the announcement of the creation of Dolly the sheep in 1997. “The issue of legislation on human cloning is about to get hot again,” says Hank Greely, director of the Center for Law and the Biosciences at Stanford Law School.
Oklahoma’s “life-preserving” law raises questions for doctors
“There are situations where we cannot take that person to surgery because we think it’s certain death, but under this law, we’d have no choice . . . It asks us to violate our primary oath which is first to do no harm.”
Beginning end-of-life care at the dinner table
Michael Hebb wants Americans to engage in a conversation about how they want to die, a conversation that could change the high cost of caring for the terminally ill and grant patients their ultimate requests.
Dollars for Doctors: How industry money reaches physicians
New data show drugmakers’ payments to hundreds of thousands of doctors, and some have made well over $500,000.
Sequestration spares Medicaid and Medicare but cuts many health programs for low-income Americans
The sequestration’s automatic cuts will make it more difficult for low-income Americans to get maternal and infant care, vaccinate their children, and receive treatment for mental illness.
How mom’s death changed my thinking about end-of-life care
Veteran health reporter Charles Ornstein writes about how his mother’s death has changed how he thinks about end-of-life care.
Aggressive care still the norm for dying seniors
“The good news is that we are referring to hospice. The bad news is we’re referring to hospice in the last hours of life.”
State disciplines health-care providers
Washington State Department of Health takes disciplinary actions against health care providers, including suspensions and revocations of licenses, certifications, or registrations of providers in the state — August 27th update.
Many people would like to know their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease can’t be prevented or cured, and it ranks second only to cancer among diseases that people fear. Still, about two-thirds of us say we would want to know if we are destined to get the disease.
King County naturopaths charged in medical marijuana cases
Charges allege the naturopaths examined and treated more than 200 patients seeking medical marijuana authorization at a “Hempfest” event in Seattle but failed to conduct an adequate review of the patients’ medical histories; to adequately document their examinations and diagnoses; and to establish an ongoing patient care relationship.
Weekend Reading: Good reads on health from the web this week
How do you want your doctor to talk to you? Should women freeze their eggs until they find “Mr. Right”? And why, if all the doctors could offer was “comfort care” did a patient’s last hospitalization before death cost $33,382?
Women and minorities face barriers to clinical trials
Many physicians engage in a form of “triage,” in which they offer study participation to some patients but not to others. They may base this selection process — perhaps unintentionally — on their beliefs regarding the patient’s preferences, anticipated logistical problems, or assumptions about the patient’s ability to understand or comply with study requirements.
Good Reads on the Web: From womb to tomb and other stories.
Long weekend reading: How long should we live? Surgery in the womb. And why are medical students learning the names of their cadavers? — and other best-of-the-web stories selected by KHN’s Shefali S. Kulkarni
Doctors prescribed lethal prescriptions for 103 last year under state’s Death With Dignity Act
Of the 103 who received prescriptions last year, 94 are known to have died. Seventy of these died after taking the medication. Nineteen died without taking the medication. In five deaths, it is not known whether or not they took the medication.
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