The Ethics of Electronic Health Records

January 15, 2010

emrJohn J. Mercuri

Faculty peer reviewed

Introduction
The 111th Congress allocated $19 billion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 toward the creation of an electronic health record (EHR) for each person in the United States by 2014.(1) The recent…

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Posted in Ethics, Healthcare Policy

Ethics Commentary: Communication and Breaking Bad News

July 2, 2009

Commentary on Dr. Cox’s Tales of Survival by Antonella Surbone MD PhD FACP, Ethics Editor

Commenting on Dr. Cox’s honest heartfelt piece is not an easy task and even less so for me, as Ethics Editor. Why? Because before being a trained, published…

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Posted in Ethics

Commentary on Conscientious Objection in Medicine: A Moral Dilemma

June 5, 2009

aristotle_by_raphael

The following is a commentary  on last week’s post, Conscientious Objection in Medicine: A Moral Dilemma, written by Dr. Bradley.

 Commentary by Antonella Surbone, MD PhD FACP, Ethics Editor

The piece by Dr. Bradley raises a highly controversial issue in today’s medicine,…

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Posted in Ethics

Conscientious Objection in Medicine: A Moral Dilemma

May 28, 2009

aristotle_by_raphaelIshmeal Bradley MD

Faculty Peer Reviewed

Please also see the commentary by Antonella Surbone, MD PhD FACP, Ethics Editor

Consider this: what would you do if a patient with terminal pancreatic cancer told you, his primary care doctor of twenty years, that he wanted…

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Posted in Ethics

Is prescribing placebos an ethical practice?

February 18, 2009

placebo.jpgCommentary by Antonella Surbone, MD PhD FACP, NYU Department of Medicine, Clinical Correlations Ethics Section Editor

In October 2008, BMJ published a research article entitled “Prescribing placebo treatments: results of a national survey of US internists and rheumatologists.” Of 679 physicians who responded…

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Posted in Ethics

X-Ray Visions: What is your radiation risk?

January 29, 2009

xraylogo.jpgCommentary by Michael Hanley MD PGY-3 and James D. Koonce MD PGY-3, Department of Radiology, Medical University of South Carolina

www.X-rayRisk.com - A Free Online Calculator that Estimates an Individual’s Additional Risk of Cancer as a Result of Medical Imaging

An estimated 62 million CT scans…

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Posted in Ethics, Radiology

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)

October 25, 2008

images4.jpgCommentary by Bani Chander MD, PGY-3.  Reviewed by Antonella Surbone MD PhD FACP, Ethics Section Editor.

On May 21, 2008, president George W. Bush signed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) into effect. After 13 years of debate in Congress, the…

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Posted in Ethics

Ethical Responsbilities After GINA

October 25, 2008

Commentary by Antonella Surbone, MD PhD FACP, Ethics Section Editor

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), passed by the US Congress on May 1st 2008, protects individuals against discrimination by health insurers and employers on the basis of genetic information.(1-4) Genetic…

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Posted in Ethics

Ethics Q&A

September 16, 2008

Q: What is the appropriate response for an internist to the phone call from a friend….”I hate to ask you but,….I have this minor problem and could you help me over the phone or in your/my house?” Some of these friends are officially your…

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Posted in Ethics

Old age and frailty: Biology and Socio-cultural Constructs

August 21, 2008

41_01_52-elderly-people_web.jpgCommentary by Antonella Surbone MD PhD FACP, Department of Medicine, New York University Medical School, Clinical Correlations Ethics Section Editor

According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report of April 14th, 2008, the elderly comprise 12% of the U.S. population, and…

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Posted in Ethics, Geriatrics

Its okay to smoke…we’ll screen you

May 9, 2008

lungca.jpgCommentary by Shrujal Baxi MD, NYU Chief Resident

One of the first things you learn about critically analyzing a medical journal piece is to go to the end and see who sponsored the study. Corporate financing is known to have subtle…

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Posted in Ethics, Pulmonary/Critical Care

Breaking Bad News to Patients- A Challenge for Residents

March 13, 2008

bellevue.jpgCommentary by Parul Gandhi MD, PGY-2

Bad news can be defined as “Situations where there is either a feeling of no hope, a threat to a person’s mental or physical well-being, a risk of upsetting an established lifestyle, or where a…

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Posted in Ethics