Karen E. Hoffman, MD, MHSc, MPH and Paul L. Nguyen, MD
Guidelines require interpretation and should not be mindlessly applied as a template of care for all patients, particularly when there are inconsistencies between clinical practice guidelines developed by medical groups.
Comparative effectiveness research (CER) may become an important factor in Medicare coverage decisions, and the new health care law may make it more easily available to the public to help in medical decision making.
An evidence-based, patient-centered approach is the best way to convince colleagues accustomed to older practice methods of the value of instituting cost-effective screening practices.
An argument that the concept of judicious dissent can resolve the debate over a physician’s conscience-based right to refuse to provide lawful services.
An argument that an individual physician’s conscience-based decision not to offer specific, lawful medical services should not restrict patients’ access to those services.
How hepatitis C is diagnosed and treated and why treatment of most prisoners with the virus may be safely postponed until after their release from prison.
Posthumous fatherhood and postmenopausal motherhood raise a multitude of legal, ethical, and social concerns that the law and regulatory agencies have not been able to adequately address to date.