Medical Ethics Advisor – January 1, 2005
January 1, 2005
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Research says living wills won’t guarantee patients’ wishes
Since passage of the Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) in 1990, the living will a form of advance directive that spells out the signers wishes for end-of-life care and termination of care has become an almost automatic subject in any discussion of death or resuscitative medicine. But is the living will the useful tool that polls indicate most Americans believe it is? -
Living Wills and Advance Directives
Living Will, Health care power of attorney, and Health care advance directive are defined. -
‘Wealthcare’, or a return to basics of health care?
Critics call his practice boutique medicine or wealthcare, but the way Michigan physician John Blanchard, MD sees it, he and his partners at Premier Private Physicians are putting control of health care back in the hands of their patients. -
Poorest to reap most from Medicare Part D drug plan
Low-income people with Medicare who sign up for new Part D drug plans and receive the additional subsidies an estimated 8.7 million people are projected to pay 83% less for prescription drugs in 2006 than they would have spent if the Medicare drug law had not been enacted, according to a recent report by the Kaiser Family Foundation. -
UNOS condemns deceased donor solicitation
In a move the transplant medicine community anticipated for several months, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the entity designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate organ transplants and donations in the United States, has adopted a position statement opposing private efforts to solicit deceased organ donors for transplant candidates when no personal bond exists between the patient and donor or donor family. -
Center for Pediatric Bioethics set for Seattle
Should a terminally ill 10-year-old have a say in determining her end-of-life care? Can a teenager make an informed consent to treatment? Questions of this type will be the mainstay of the Center for Pediatric Bioethics, the nation first center for bioethics solely dedicated to pediatrics, which will be located at Childrens Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle. -
Clarification