The Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form, available in Washington state, allows patients to summarize their wishes regarding life-sustaining treatment.
Advocates say change may encourage people terminal illnesses to take advantage of hospice care earlier.
Service dogs for post-traumatic stress disorder. Voice of autism: six men and women talk about living with autism-spectrum disorder. And a palliative care doctor who chose to fight on.
The politics of Rob McKenna. Gary Locke on “writedown hype.” An hour a day to keep pounds off. Should you “friend” your therapist? And help with end-of-life decisions.
“What would you do if your mother needed an expensive, painful operation that had only a one in a million chance of saving her?”
Some hospice executives say the poor economy may also be driving doctors to hold on to patients longer.
NYTs on end-of-life care and the career of UW researcher Dr. Walter Stamm
“We’re finding more and more expensive ways to keep people alive. So we have to find ways to set some limits,” ethicist says.
“…giant step forward in helping patients at the end of their lives…”
Unapproved hormone used to prevent premature births Seattle Times health reporter Kyung Song writes in today’s issue of the paper about a program in which Washington state’s largest Medicaid contractor is promoting the use of a synthetic hormone that is thought to prevent premature births. But the hormone, called 17P, has not been approved by [...]
McDermott wants to make reporting of medical errors mandatory Hearst newsgathers Eric Nalder and Cathleen Crowley report in the SeattlePI.com that U.S. Representatives Jim McDermott wants mandatory national reporting of medical errors. Nalder and Crowley’s story covers the reaction to a Hearst investigative series Dead by Mistake. The SeattlePI.com newsgathers were part of an investigative team [...]
Howard Gleckman, Senior Research Associate at the Urban Institute August 14, 2009 We live in a time when seemingly no subject is taboo. People discuss, in excruciating detail, their weight, sex lives, and bank accounts on reality TV. Kids tweet about their dates—in real time. And we happily blog away on our latest medical diagnosis. It is [...]
LocalHealthGuide is a health news and information web service for Seattle and the Puget Sound Region. We are independent and unaffiliated with any hospital, medical association or insurer. If you have questions or if your group has an upcoming event that you would like us to cover, please let us know by going to our "Contact Us" page and dropping us a note. -- Michael McCarthy, Editor
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Lost in translation: Lack of trained interpreters can lead to medical errors
Interpreter services at hospitals and other medical settings are often inadequate, forcing family members, including children, to step in, or the task falls to medical staff members who may not speak the language well.
Some insurers deny ER coverage to people who have been drinking
Laws in more than half the states permit insurers to deny payment for medical services related to alcohol or drug use. Faced with the prospect of not getting paid for care, some ER personnel sidestep the problem by simply not testing patients’ blood or urine for alcohol.
Travel insurance can protect your wallet — and your health on vacation
Think your regular health insurance policy will cover you if you get into medical trouble overseas?
Don’t bet on it.
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