-
Some lawmakers in Massachusetts have introduced legislation that would make the state the first in the nation to impose an outright ban on all pharmaceutical marketing gifts to physicians. The bill also seeks statewide adoption of electronic medical records.
-
The life cycle of a vaccine from discovery and production through distribution, rationing, and replacement can span a quarter-century, involve health professionals worldwide, and raise ethical issues every step of the way. But there was no centralized effort to promote policy and ethics around vaccine discovery, use, and global public health and so the Center for Vaccine Ethics and Policy was created.
-
When the first psychiatric advance directives (PADs) began to appear in state legislation more than 20 years ago, they were largely considered to be an end-of-life tool, much like general advance directives. But as more states have passed PAD laws 25 states now have laws specifically providing for PADs their usefulness has expanded.
-
'Dr. Death' seeks to become Rep. Kevorkian, Antibiotics and end-of-life in dementia patients
-
Nearly 47 million Americans lack health insurance, leaving them without regular access to health care and making them a potentially vulnerable population in health care research.
-
The availability of genetic testing is expanding rapidly so rapidly that information is available before there are safeguards in place concerning how it can be used. In recent months, home test kits, with which users are told they can determine genetic predisposition to bipolar disorders or determine paternity, have come on the market.
-
A paper reporting the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) association's position on how far doctors can go in conscientious refusal to perform abortions and prescribe emergency contraception is an attack on "pro-life" physicians, according to two medical associations.
-
Placebos have been a part of medicine since ancient times, and remain both clinically relevant and philosophically interesting, according to a University of Chicago medical student whose research has shown that 45% of Chicago-area internists use placebos in their practice.
-
Lots has been written about physicians' unwillingness to report medical errors, but findings from the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) suggest it's not a lack of honesty and ethics at work it's a lack of confidence in current reporting systems.
-
Calls to legalize marijuana for medical use have come from an assortment of groups, but none with the status and influence of the American College of Physicians (ACP), the country's second-largest medical association, until now.
