Newswise — Nearly one in 10 obstetricians in a new study has considered giving up obstetric practice because of the emotional toll of stillbirths and infant deaths.
Three-quarters of the 804 obstetricians who responded to a survey by researchers at the University of Michigan Health System reported that the experience took a large emotional toll on [...]

A decision to forcibly impose chemotherapy on an 11-year-old Hamilton boy who didn’t want to go through another round of painful treatment was “heavy-handed” and “worrisome” considering how often similar conflicts arise, several bioethicists said Monday.The boy, who cannot be named because he is now in the care of the Children’s Aid Society, has been [...]

Providing proportionate medical care is crucial – a balance between overtreating and undertreating patients – but I worry that ’slow medicine’ may be linked more with saving money than providing quality patient care, per the below NYT article.
Edie Gieg, 85, strides ahead of people half her age and plays a fast-paced game of tennis. But when [...]

How will the world look in the year 2058? Sixty thinkers from around the world rise to that challenge in “The Way We Will Be 50 Years From Today,” a collection of essays edited by longtime journalist Mike Wallace.

The consensus view is that we’ll muddle through many of the issues that vex us today – [...]

Millions of baby boomers are about to enter a health care system for seniors that not only isn’t ready for them, but may even discourage them from getting quality care.
“We face an impending crisis as the growing number of older patients, who are living longer with more complex health needs, increasingly outpaces the number of [...]

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) released an ethics statement that a clinician must perform requested abortion-related services or refer patients to someone who will, potentially violating federal laws preventing “abortion-related discrimination and protecting a doctor’s conscience rights.” 
The ethics statement has been met with opposition and concern by many including Michael Leavitt, Health [...]

If there is a right to die there will be a duty to end life: Bioethics and Euthanasia. 
A French teacher suffering from a rare case of cancer that has left her disfigured lost a request Monday that she had lodged in a court to be allowed to die by euthanasia. Chantal Sébire, 52, suffers from [...]

Financially strapped states are looking to take away government health insurance and benefits from millions of Americans already struggling with a souring economy.An Associated Press review of the budgets in all 50 states reveals coverage would be eliminated for hundreds of thousands of poor children, disabled and the elderly. More than 10 million people would [...]

WHEN IS A person dead — or dead enough?
The question has long influenced decisions about when it’s appropriate to end medical treatment for people who are hopelessly ill. However, a quieter debate has simmered for years about how the concept of death informs the practice of organ transplantation. Transplant surgeons rely on strict definitions of [...]

Older, sicker patients could be allowed to die in order to save the lives of patients more likely to survive a massive disaster, bioterror attack or influenza pandemic in California.
It’s not how nurses and doctors are accustomed to doing things, nor how Californians expect to be treated. But it is part of a sweeping statewide [...]