Listen Now: The Etherist Podcast – Episode 1: We Have A Problem. Featuring, among others, our Yoram Unguru discussing drug shortages in pediatric oncology

listen now ‘The Etherist – Episode 1: We have a problem’

Be the first to like.

Like

Unlike

…More: ‘New Books Network: In Pain’

Be the first to like.

Like

Unlike

On Jan. 1, 2020, a new Medicare policy is scheduled to go into effect that will eventually require doctors to use a computer algorithm to vet imaging tests to determine “appropriateness.” If the tests, such as CT scans and M.R.I.s, do not meet certain “appropriate-use criteria,” Medicare may not reimburse the cost. Intended to reduce unnecessary imaging, the policy may penalize doctors who don’t comply by requiring them to get “prior authorization” before ordering imaging tests in the future — in other words, to follow another regulation.

Predictably, many doctors want the policy reversed or at least delayed so that they can come up with an alternative. They say that there is little evidence that the regulation will achieve its intended aim. They have concerns about how the computer algorithm will interact with existing electronic medical records. More generally, they complain of burdensome regulations, created largely without physician input, that doctors already must follow. The new policy, they say, is another intrusion on physicians’ decision-making authority — an authority gained over many years of difficult training.

…continue reading ‘Physician, Regulate Yourself’

Thumb image via article -Shapecharge/E+, via Getty Images Plus

Be the first to like.

Like

Unlike

LONDON — A court in the Netherlands on Wednesday acquitted a doctor who had been accused of unlawful euthanasia for administering a lethal injection to a patient with dementia, a case that raised questions about the clarity of the country’s law in such circumstances.

The patient, 74, who has not been publicly identified, had asked in writing for doctors to end her life if she had to be admitted to a nursing home, and if she thought the time was right. But, when she entered the home, incapacitated, she appeared to have changed her mind, giving “mixed signals,” about her intentions, prosecutors said.

A doctor at the home, now retired and also unidentified, decided to go through with the euthanasia, in close consultation with the family, in the spring of 2016.

… continue reading ‘Dutch Court Clears Doctor in Euthanasia of Dementia Patient’

Thumb image via article – Credit: Aleks Furtula/Associated Press

Be the first to like.

Like

Unlike