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The Affordable Care Act invested significantly in comparative effectiveness research (CER), but at the same time, states that no decisions coming out of CER should determine what treatments are covered by insurers, notes Norman Daniels, PhD, professor of ethics and population health at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, MA.
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While the vast majority of gamete donations are made anonymously, a growing number of countries are enacting laws allowing children access to identifying information about their gamete donor.
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Organ donation consent rates are significantly lower among Hispanics, blacks, and Asians compared to whites, according to recent studies.
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Patients get the specific care they want at the end of life when they document their wishes using a physician orders for life-sustaining treatment (POLST) form, according to a recent study.
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Older individuals who have experience with end-of-life care of others demonstrate greater readiness to participate in advance care planning, according to a recent study.
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The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) recommended in 2013 that predictive genetic testing for adult-onset disorders should not be done in children.
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Bioethicists can advocate for improved communication with family caregivers when a patient is going to be discharged from the hospital.
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The Food and Drug Administration recently held hearings on mitochondrial manipulation to determine whether additional research is needed before proceeding to clinical trials. Ethical concerns include:
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Advance directives enabling people with advanced dementia to refuse food and water as a way of hastening death are controversial.
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Disclosure after medical errors is still not done consistently, partly due to clinicians continued concerns regarding liability exposure.