In “Allocating Scare Resources in a Pandemic,” Martin Strosberg calls attention to the need for preparedness planning including methods for rationing vaccines, antiviral medications, and intensive care unit beds and staff.
The Epidemic Intelligence Service, by Douglas H. Hamilton, traces the history of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, with details about the service’s response to actual and potential epidemic outbreaks.
Allison Bickford, a science student, discusses multidrug-resistant tuberculosis epidemics in New York and Russia in the 1990s. On the verge of global eradication 20 years ago, TB is now one of the leading infectious causes of death in the world.
Physicians should understand and be sensitive to all of the issues that affect patients when they prescribe the tertogenic medication isotretinoin for treatment of acne vulgaris.
Clinical case and commentary on how physicians should respond when confronted by medication requests from parents of children with mood and concentration disorders.
Parents' ability to make medical decisions for their children can be limited by state law if it is determined that the child's best interest is not being met.
A physician defends her position that children should only participate in clinical trials when they have child assent and the parents also have been educated about the purpose of the research when there is no direct benefit to the child.
Two physicians offer commentaries about the use of prenatal predictive testing for a late-onset disease like Huntington's and question whether the pregnant woman should ultimately have the decisional autonomy to determine the quality of life of the unborn child.