[medscape] As healthcare reform legislation grinds its way through Congress, 2 articles published online January 6 in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) advocate for one of its touchiest provisions — comparative-effectiveness research (CER).
In theory, CER sounds like a calm, academic subject: evaluate different treatment options for a given illness — drug A vs [...]

 
“If they had just paid for the pills, I’d still have my kidney,” Melissa J. Whitaker said of Medicare, which covers just three years’ worth of anti-rejection drugs for transplant patients under 65. Ms. Whitaker and her boyfriend, Joe Jamieson, in their San Diego condo.
[nytimes]  Melissa J. Whitaker has one very compelling reason to keep [...]

[NPR] In a widely watched case in Florida this week, a jury ruled that a hospital acted “reasonably” when it sent an undocumented immigrant who had no health insurance back to his native Guatemala. The case highlights a rare but growing problem, and it could affect how hospitals treat such patients in the future.
The case [...]

[NYT] PETER SINGER – You have advanced kidney cancer. It will kill you, probably in the next year or two. A drug called Sutent slows the spread of the cancer and may give you an extra six months, but at a cost of $54,000. Is a few more months worth that much?
The costs of the current [...]

In countries without comprehensive national health care systems and in resource-limited set-tings, clinical trial participants may lack access to medications and medical care after trials conclude. [1] Since approximately 2000, investigators, research participants, and ethicists have engaged in a vigorous debate regarding whether participants in clinical trials are entitled to receive post-trial medications and medical [...]

[WSJ Health Blog] Can a sperm bank be sued for selling sperm that causes a child to be born with a genetic disease? Yes, a federal judge has ruled. Here’s the opinion.
The case was brought on behalf of a 13-year-old girl with fragile X syndrome, a common inherited form of mental retardation.
While the judge dismissed [...]

[Monterey Herald] At 82, retired engineer Leonard Thompson is out to show he still has a few good years left. Years? What’s this bunk about mere years, sonny? More like decades. Why the heck not?
Thompson, after all, exercises body and mind daily, even developing his own workout program for seniors that emphasizes stretching, deep breathing, [...]

Bioethics International’s Executive Director, Jennifer Miller, will be a panelist for Fordham University’s Conference ADVANCING CLIMATE JUSTICE: TRANSFORMING THE ECONOMY, PUBLIC HEALTH, & OUR ENVIRONMENT organized by WeAct.
Ms. Miller’s panel entitled, “Climate Justice Adaptation: Public Health and Emergency Preparedness,” is schedule for this Thursday January 29th at 1:15pm.  We look forward to seeing you Thursday. 

Panel [...]

The below BBC article highlights the increasingly prominent and beneficial role of the hospital ethicist, albeit for interesting reasons. It focuses more on how ethics improves the bottom line and prevents lawsuits than on how it improves the quality of care.  There is no specific mention that ethics and quality care are inseparable, but there is a connection [...]

The Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) is calling for provinces and territories to legally recognize advance care directives for minors who are very sick or dying.  In a position paper published last week the CPS states that: 
Medical and technological advances have resulted in higher survival rates in… children with complex health conditions, many of whom would not [...]