Study: doctors often don't tell patients the end is near Sun, 15 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EDT - A study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference reports that only about a third of terminally ill cancer patients had discussions with their doctors about end-of-life care.
Everyone dies, but not necessarily the same way Sun, 01 Jun 2008 11:14:59 EDT - An analysis of hospital rankings reveals that end-of-life care in New York City varies greatly between patients in elite private hospitals and those in municipal hospitals.
States taking lead in regulating genetic testing Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:33:58 EDT - California and New York are leading the charge. Observers say states are taking on the role because the federal government has not gotten involved.
California to at home genetic tests: wait just a second Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:00:54 EDT - The state Department of Public Health sent cease and desist letters to 13 companies selling over-the-counter tests. The state says the companies must prove they've met quality and reliability standards.
Dying alone in the ER Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:19:25 EDT - Officials at a Brooklyn psychiatric hospital have agreed to new guidelines after video surfaced of a woman dying in the hospital's emergency room. The woman had been there for 24 hours, the last hour of which she laid on the floor as hospital staff did nothing.
The costs of a heart CT scan Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:21:27 EDT - Many cardiologists are directing their patients to get CT angiograms even though studies haven't yet indicated that the scans are any better than older technology. But many practices and hospitals have spent millions to buy the machines, creating a financial incentive to push to the scans.
Getting consent ahead of time for "suboptimal" organs Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:39:22 EDT - Writing in NEJM, a group from Penn is calling for the transplant system to ask recipients at the time of their enrollment whether they would accept higher-risk organs. A member of the UNOS ethics committee says the plan is a "solution in search of a problem."
The twin state Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EDT - Massachusetts leads the nation in birth rate for multiples, thanks in part to relatively easy access to assisted reproductive technologies. The high number of multiples sometimes makes things difficult for schools and NICUs.
Sperm bank industry opens up Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:36:16 EDT - The industry is moving toward more "open" donations, in which the identity of donors is made available to the children created.
How Germany keeps health care costs down Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:58:40 EDT - It pays its doctors a fixed amount per quarter. When the budget for that quarter runs out, the doctors don't get paid.
UK gives go-ahead to human-pig embryos Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:03:54 EDT - Researchers plan to use the human-pig embryos to create stem cells which they in turn will use to study the molecular mechanisms at work in certain heart diseases.
Research on therapeutic use of stem cells moving forward Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:32:11 EDT - Potential stem cell therapies are moving from the lab into clinical testing. Most of the trials to this point have used patients' own stem cells, but a small of group of privately-funded studies is looking to use embryonic cells.
