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05/17/2013

Great Writing from Charles C. Mann in the Atlantic Monthly

Followers of this blog, and I mean both of you, know by now that I am a fan of getting the word out about good writing. Here’s a nice example from the May issue of the Atlantic Monthly. It is from the cover article, titled “We Will Never Run Out Of…

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This entry was posted in Health Care and tagged , , , . Posted by Peter Ubel. Bookmark the permalink.

05/17/2013

The SUPPORT Study and the Standard of Care

Lois Shepherd

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This entry was posted in Health Care and tagged , . Posted by Susan Gilbert. Bookmark the permalink.

05/16/2013

Vermont Passes Physician-Assisted-Suicide

Craig Klugman, Ph.D.

Awaiting the governor’s signature, Vermont is poised to become the fourth state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. While Oregon and Washington legalized physician-aid-in-dying through public referendum and Montana through a court decision, Vermont’s is occurring through the legislative process.

The first U.S. aid-in-dying law was the Oregon 1994 Death with Dignity Act. The law faced a referendum to appeal it in 1997 and a Bush administration court challenge was ruled on in 2006.

The Vermont law mirrors those of Oregon and Washington. The patient must be at least 18 years of age, have a life-threatening condition and be a state resident.…

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This entry was posted in End of Life Care, Featured Posts, Politics and tagged . Posted by Craig Klugman. Bookmark the permalink.

05/16/2013

What Does It Mean to Be an Organism?

In a tremendous article in The Smithsonian Magazine, Richard Conniff writes about the largely unexplored oodles of microorganisms that make us what we are. The article overflows with wonderful facts: for instance, that there are 150 microbial species, …

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This entry was posted in Health Care and tagged , , , . Posted by Peter Ubel. Bookmark the permalink.

05/16/2013

Public Citizen and Misinformed Consent in Neonatal Intensive Care

John D. Lantos

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This entry was posted in Health Care and tagged , . Posted by Susan Gilbert. Bookmark the permalink.

05/15/2013

Patients Wins Lawsuit against VA for Terminal Misdiagnosis

Sometimes, one is delighted to find out that one’s physician has made an error.  That is what happened to Mark Templin.  Clinicians at the Montana VA misdiagnosed him with brain cancer.  They prescribed two drugs and ordered hospice…

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This entry was posted in Health Care and tagged , . Posted by Thaddeus Mason Pope. Bookmark the permalink.

05/15/2013

Nurses Use Extreme Treatments For Patients; Less Agressive Options on Themselves

A new study in the International
Nursing Review compares
nurses’ end-of-life treatment preferences in Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy
and the USA.  Nurses in every country consistently chose a more aggressive
option for patients than …

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This entry was posted in Health Care and tagged , . Posted by Thaddeus Mason Pope. Bookmark the permalink.

05/15/2013

Informed Consent: Cool PEG tube video edition

Here’s a great Youtube video on PEG tube placement; it seems to be up as a marketing move by the company that made it. Is there any reason why patients and their families shouldn’t always watch something like this in connection with informed consent fo…

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05/15/2013

Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Used to Create Human Embryonic Stem Cells

A international team including scientists from Oregon Health & Science University and the Oregon National Primate Research Center have just announced in Cell that they have successfully used somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) to develop human emb…

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05/15/2013

Vermont Legislature Passes Physician-Assisted Suicide Law

The Vermont legislature has passed a new physician-assisted suicide law and is sending it to Governor Shumlin, who supports it and is expected to sign. The Oregon-style legislation will be the third such state law in the country and the first adopted b…

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