Showing posts with label ethics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ethics. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Guidelines for Epidemics: Who Gets a Ventilator?

From NYTimes...

It may sound unthinkable — the idea of denying life support to some people in a public health disaster like an epidemic. But a new report says doctors, health care workers and the public need to start thinking about it.

The report, by New York State health officials, grows out of the work of a group formed in 2006 to plan for the possibility of an influenza pandemic. The group focused on the breathing machines called ventilators.

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Stolen laptop contains personal info of 2,500 patients

From CNN...

A government laptop computer stolen last month held unencrypted medical records of 2,500 participants in a government study, Susan Shirin, deputy director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) told CNN Monday.

The incident prompted the NHLBI to issue a statement saying it would no longer store patient medical information on laptops.

The lack of encryption violated federal guidelines dating back to 2006. Shurin told CNN the stolen laptop "fell through the cracks" and should have been encrypted. A thorough review of other laptops containing sensitive information is under way, she said.

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Lawmakers Question NIH Handling of Data Loss

Therapeutic Cloning Works in Mice With Parkinson's

From HealthDay News...

Therapeutic cloning successfully treated Parkinson's disease in mice, researchers report.

Using the process to develop dopamine-producing neurons with an identical genetic profile to each mouse being treated allowed scientists to significantly improve the neurological performance of the diseased animals, without provoking any evidence of immune system rejection.

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