LifeEthics
medical ethics
WHO(se) life is it anyway? (Or “We meant well”)
The Miami Herald (with a HatTip to Drug Wonks) reports on the Lancet’s report on the World Health Organization’s lack of evidence for its “evidence based” recommendations and guidelines. I like this part (From the The Miami Herald) the best: One unnamed WHO director was quoted in the study as saying: “I would have liked … Continue reading
AMA on Texas Advance Directive (Futile Treatment)
The AMANews magazine, a weekly print newspaper for the members of the American Medical Association, has an article in the May 14 edition, available on line now. The excerpt is free here, but full content is only available to members and paid subscribers. Since LifeEthics readers have been following the progress of the legislation and … Continue reading
End of Life Compromise Texas
According to the Houston Chronicle, the Senate Health and Human Services passed a compromise bill to amend the Texas Advance Directive Act to extend the time lines for end of life care when the doctor believes that technological intervention is inappropriate. The new committee substitute for Senator Dr. Duell’s bill 439 was introduced by the … Continue reading
Do No Harm 101 (Wesley Smith, Catholic Bishops and Futile Care)
Wesley Smith is covering Texas’ legislature’s debate over our Advance Directive Act. Yesterday, he accused the 24 Bishops of Texas of practicing “Futile Care Theory,” which he defines as the decision to limit care by anyone other than a family member or patient. (In other words, here, he says that Terri Schiavo was not a … Continue reading
>Economists Discuss Bioethics (healthcare, neuro-economics)
>There’s no answers, just more intelligent and informed questions, but here’s an interesting discussion on “Money Driven Medicine” at the blog, Marginal Revolution. One of the blog owners, Tyler Cowen, has a piece in the business section of today’s New York Times, “Enter the Neuro-economists: Why do investors do what they do?:
>Vaginal approach to gallbladder removal
>Or removal of the appendix through the mouth? I finished my residency training in 1993, and was privileged to witness some of the first “laparoscopic” gallbladder removals on one of my rotations with some private surgeons. After 5 years or so of observing and assisting with the old technique that required a 7 to 10 … Continue reading
Explaining
This is a re-write of a post I made as part of the conversation about Emilio Gonzales’s treatment at Wesley Smith’s Second Hand Smoke. I’m a family doctor because I have always seen the patient as part of the family and (ideally and sometimes not so ideally) the family as integral to the patient’s condition … Continue reading
“Living Life’s End”
The title is from a 2005 essay by Gilbert Meilaender in First Things. Not surprisingly, Dr. Meilaender speaks with much more clarity than I ever could in discussing the sort of dilemma that we face when considering the baby, Emilio Gonzales, and the treatment vs. the care he is to receive from his doctors, his … Continue reading
More on Texas end of life case
A reader, unfortunately, shows us the other extreme of the end of life debate. However, she missed the point entirely. Our discussion about the end of Emilio’s life is a debate about conscience, laws, and whether because doctors are licensed by the State, they abdicate their duty to act in the patient’s best interest. It … Continue reading
Leigh’s Disease (Long post on end of life and baby Emilio Gonzales)
(EDIT, May 31, 2014: It has come to my attention that this post is referenced in a book on bioethics. If you have come from that book, remember that (although I’ve done my best to be accurate) this is a blog, not a peer-reviewed scientific article. Be sure and read all the comments at the … Continue reading
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- “American Fiction,” the movie – and life
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- Counterintuitive abortion report
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- Comprehensive review of Texas’ Heartbeat Act
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