Advance directives do not always resolve questions about the best care for patients who no longer have decision-making capacity; physicians and patient surrogates can take alternative approaches to arrive at the best care decision.
The open-access journal movement seeks to make medical research and treatment articles available free of charge to health professionals around the globe.
Virtual Mentor spoke with Dr. David Classen about the current state of patient safety in the United States. Dr Classen discussed the goals and challenges of improving patient safety in inpatient and ambulatory settings and how health care reform will impact future efforts to improve patient safety.
It is difficult to argue that consumers are maximizing their welfare by consuming trans fats, particularly because the production and taste costs of replacing them do not outweigh the health benefits.
A consensus has emerged that the paternalism behind use of the provocative saline infusion test for nonepileptic seizures cannot be justified because the harms to the patient, the physician, and their relationship exceed the benefits.
People with mental illness or a degenerative mental disease have special protections under the law when entering into contracts or other binding documents.