The guidelines for patients’ eligibility for bariatric surgery have not changed since 1991, although recent data suggest there may be indications for broadening application of the surgery.
Do some pernicious patient safety problems remain unresolved, even after systems changes, because health care professionals are not personally held accountable for their failure to meet standards?
A discussion of the ethical issues raised by a patient’s request for off-label, prophylactic bariatric surgery to prevent diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM type 2).
A discussion of the ethical issues raised by a patient’s request for off-label, prophylactic bariatric surgery to prevent diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM type 2).
Does a surgeon’s complication rate in a randomized controlled trial constitute a “significant new finding” that must be reported to patients during the consent process?
The pharmaceutical industry's influence on the process of defining illness can be positive, as when drug companies increase public awareness of disease and develop effective therapies, or negative, if it pushes the boundaries of illness too far in pursuit of profit.
Acknowledging errors and the manner in which they occur both enables doctors to hold themselves accountable and promotes understanding that can lead to error prevention.
Research on emergency room patients with life-threatening illness, conducted under the FDA-approved Exception From Informed Consent (EFIC) policy, does not further reduce the autonomy of such patients and offers potential benefit to those patients as well as others.