Medical Ethics Advisor – March 1, 2024
March 1, 2024
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Is Organizational Ethics Part of Ethicists’ Role? It Varies Widely
At many hospitals and health systems, ethicists are focused narrowly on consult requests involving individual patients. However, some ethicists take a broader, systemwide approach with their work.
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Ethicists Connect Their Work with Hospital’s Mission
The work of ethics usually aligns closely with the mission of the hospital or health system.
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Patients Are Reading Ethicists’ Documentation
Patients can now view ethics documentation in real time, just as they can view the notes of other clinical providers, as a result of the “Open Notes” requirement in the 21st Century Cures Act (implemented in 2021).
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Ethical Concerns if Medical Students Struggle with Mental Health
There is a critical need to prepare medical students early in their training to recognize emerging signs of psychiatric illnesses.
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‘Ethics Liaisons’ Can Maximize Reach of Ethics Service
Some nurses and physicians are taking on a role of ethics liaison to serve as a point of contact between clinicians, patients, and ethicists.
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Physicians Share Views on Medical Aid in Dying
Ethical controversy over medical aid in dying (MAiD) persists, despite the practice being legal in some jurisdictions.
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Clinicians Need Help with Ethically Complex ICU Discharges
Clinicians are struggling with some intensive care unit (ICU) discharges that they believe potentially are unethical.
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Many Ethical Questions Still Unresolved with Xenotransplantation
A group of experts recently convened to explore ethical and legal issues involved with xenotransplantation and attempted to delineate areas of consensus and areas where there is still controversy.
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Ethics Concerns over Undisclosed Conflicts in Psychiatric Guidelines
For six years, Brian J. Piper, PhD, has conducted studies on conflict of interest disclosures in the textbooks used to train physicians, pharmacists, and other allied healthcare providers.
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Moral Distress Common in Pediatric ECMO Cases
At Boston Children’s Hospital, 4.5% of pediatric extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) cases involved ethics consults, found authors of a recent study.
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Most ED Patients Overestimate Success of CPR
Emergency physicians routinely need to ask patients about their wishes for care if they go into cardiac arrest.
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Ethical Considerations with After-the-Fact Informed Consent
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital are seeking to validate a new technology to isolate and identify bacteria in the bloodstream of very sick patients — something that takes more than 24 hours using traditional blood cultures.