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Biomedical subjects

Alan R Fleischman

Publications and source records attributed to Alan R Fleischman.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

New and lingering controversies in pediatric end-of-life care.

OBJECTIVES: Professional societies, ethics institutes, and the courts have recommended principles to guide the care of children with life-threatening conditions; however, little is known about the degree to which pediatric care providers are aware of or in agreement with these guidelines. The study's objectives were to determine the extent to which physicians and nurses in critical care, hematology/oncology, and other subspecialties are in agreement with one another and with widely published ethical recommendations regarding the withholding and withdrawing of life support, the provision of adequate analgesia, and the role of parents in end-of-life decision-making. METHODS: Three children's hospitals and 4 general hospitals with PICUs in eastern, southwestern, and southern parts of the United States were surveyed. This population-based sample was composed of attending physicians, house officers, and nurses who cared for children (age: 1 month to 18 years) with life-threatening conditions in PICUs or in medical, surgical, or hematology/oncology units, floors, or departments. Main outcome measures included concerns of conscience, knowledge and beliefs, awareness of published guidelines, and agreement or disagreement with guidelines. RESULTS: A total of 781 clinicians were sampled, including 209 attending physicians, 116 house officers, and 456 nurses. The overall response rate was 64%. Fifty-four percent of house officers and substantial proportions of attending physicians and nurses reported, "At times, I have acted against my conscience in providing treatment to children in my care." For example, 38% of critical care attending physicians and 25% of hematology/oncology attending physicians expressed these concerns, whereas 48% of critical care nurses and 38% of hematology/oncology nurses did so. Across specialties, approximately 20 times as many nurses, 15 times as many house officers, and 10 times as many attending physicians agreed with the statement, "Sometimes I feel we are saving children who should not be saved," as agreed with the statement, "Sometimes I feel we give up on children too soon." However, hematology/oncology attending physicians (31%) were less likely than critical care (56%) and other subspecialty (66%) attending physicians to report, "Sometimes I feel the treatments I offer children are overly burdensome." Many respondents held views that diverged widely from published recommendations. Despite a lack of awareness of key guidelines, across subspecialties the vast majority of attending physicians (range: 92-98%, depending on specialty) and nurses (range: 83-85%) rated themselves as somewhat to very knowledgeable regarding ethical issues. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need for more hospital-based ethics education and more interdisciplinary and cross-subspecialty discussion of inherently complex and stressful pediatric end-of-life cases. Education should focus on establishing appropriate goals of care, as well as on pain management, medically supplied nutrition and hydration, and the appropriate use of paralytic agents. More research is needed on clinicians' regard for the dead-donor rule.

Analgesics, Opioid↗
PubMed2005

Regulating research with human subjects--is the system broken?

There has been a great deal of criticism of the system to regulate research and protect the interests of research participants. Structural problems in the system result from the nature of current research and the regulatory process that was created over thirty years ago. Procedural problems exist because local IRBs show wide variation in practices, resources, quality and experience. Assessment of performance is perhaps the most important problem facing the system since there are no standard measures of outcome or performance for the system as a whole or to assess local IRBs. Is the system broken? No, but it is straining under the weight of a changed research environment and inadequate resources. It has the capacity to respond to the concerns of both the research community and the public by the thoughtful application of present regulations and the creation of performance assessment strategies.

Biomedical Research↗
PubMed2004

Ethical issues pertaining to research in the aftermath of disaster.

In January 2003, The New York Academy of Medicine and the National Institute of Mental Health sponsored a meeting entitled "Ethical Issues Pertaining to Research in the Aftermath of Disaster." The purpose of the meeting was to bring together various experts to examine evidence concerning the impact of research on trauma-exposed participants, review the applicable ethical principles and policies concerning protection of human subjects, and offer guidance to investigators, IRBs, public health and local officials, and others interested in assuring that research in the aftermath of a disaster is conducted in a safe and ethical manner. This article summarizes the group's key findings and outlines potential considerations for those working in this field.

Disasters↗
PubMed2004

The Junior Fellows Program: motivating urban youth toward careers in health, science, and medicine.

Lack of diversity in the health, science, and medical professions has been documented as a contributor to health disparities in the United States, and early intervention is essential for the recruitment of underrepresented students into the health professions. The Junior Fellows Program, a partnership between the New York Academy of Medicine, New York City public schools, and regional academic medical centers, is designed to stimulate students' interest in health, science, medicine, and research. From seminars designed to advance Junior Fellows' skills in identifying concrete strategies for improving health and preventing illness, to understanding the research process and the nature of scientific inquiry, the program engages Junior Fellows in project-based learning, works to enhance their critical thinking skills, and helps them to foster positive interactions with practicing physicians and health professionals. Surveys of program graduates indicate the program has been influential in creating a high level of motivation to pursue careers related to health, science, and medicine. The program continues to work on enhancing educational opportunities for urban public school students and promoting career awareness for the health professions, with a special emphasis on improving the proportion of minorities and women who enter these fields.

Academies and Institutes↗
PubMed2004

Urban health: a look out our windows.

Approximately 80% of Americans live in cities or immediately adjacent communities. Such urban environments are complex amalgams of people of disparate backgrounds, economic status, and expectations, with extraordinary disparities in health status and outcomes between groups just blocks apart. Urban health as a framing paradigm is of recent vintage and offers a perspective on health and disease that integrates clinical medicine and public health and draws on the social and political sciences to seek understanding of the impact of cities on the health of populations and individuals. Ironically, disparate outcomes and increased mortality among poor minority populations in cities are not primarily related to the consequences of the urban epidemics of drugs and violence but rather are due to the increased prevalence and severity of common diseases such as asthma, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and kidney disease. Several factors may be responsible for such disparities, including stress, racism, perceptions of deprivation, economic inequalities, and lack of access to quality health care. It is time for leaders in medical education and health care delivery to focus on the populations that surround their institutions in order to study urban health and meet the challenge of caring for all the residents of our cities.

Catchment Area, Health↗
PubMed2004

Urban bioethics: adapting bioethics to the urban context.

Urban bioethics is an area of inquiry within the discipline of bioethics that focuses on ethical issues, problems, and conflicts relating to medicine, science, health care, and the environment that typically arise in urban settings. Urban bioethics challenges traditional bioethics (1) to examine value concerns in a multicultural context, including issues related to equity and disparity, and public health concerns that may highlight conflict between individual rights and the public good, and (2) to broaden its primary focus on individual self-determination and respect for autonomy to include examination of the interests of family, community, and society. Three features associated with urban life-density, diversity, and disparity-affect the health of urban populations and provide the substrate for identifying ethical concerns and value conflicts and creating interventions to affect population health outcomes. The field of urban bioethics can be helpful in creating ethical foundations and principles for public health practice, developing strategies to respect diversity in health policy in a pluralistic society, and fostering collaborative work among educators, social scientists, and others to eliminate bias among health professionals and health care institutions to enhance patients' satisfaction with their care and ultimately affect health outcomes. Educational programs at all levels and encompassing all health professions are needed as a first step to address the perplexing and important problem of eliminating health disparities. Urban bioethics is both contributing to the social science literature in this area and helping educators to craft interventions to affect professional attitudes and behaviors.

Bioethics↗
PubMed2004

Adverse reactions associated with studying persons recently exposed to mass urban disaster.

This study assesses the psychological consequences of participation in a mental health study among people recently exposed to the September 11 attacks. Using cross-sectional telephone surveys, we interviewed random samples of English-speaking or Spanish-speaking adults living in New York City during the attacks 1 year after this event. Altogether, 2,368 people completed the surveys, including a random sample of 1,173 respondents who received mental health services after the attacks. Results indicated that 15% of New Yorkers found some of the survey questions stressful, whereas 28% of those who sought treatment found this to be the case. However, less than 2% reported being upset at survey completion, and among these persons, only four people consented to speak to the study's mental health consultant. Although the majority of those expressing adverse reactions had sought postdisaster treatment, even among these subjects, only 3% were still upset at survey completion, and 2% wanted more information about counseling services. In addition, more than 70% of participants expressed positive sentiments about survey participation. Predictive models indicated that respondents who met study criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, or anxiety were more likely to find questions stressful, with people having posttraumatic stress disorder or depression the most likely to be upset and to consent to psychiatric consultation at completion. We suggest that, with the proper safeguards, research with persons exposed to a resent mass urban disaster generally can be conducted safely and effectively.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Unmet need for counseling services by children in New York City after the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center: implications for pediatricians.

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to describe the prevalence of counseling services, contrasted with the need after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the types of counseling received, and the predictors of receipt of counseling services. METHODS: A cross-sectional, random-digit-dial survey was conducted in New York City (NYC) of parents (N = 434) of children who were 4 to 17 years of age 4 months after the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. RESULTS: Overall, 10% of NYC children received some type of counseling after the September 11th attacks, according to parental report. Among these, 44% received counseling in schools, 36% received counseling from medical or professional providers, and 20% received counseling from other sources. However, only 27% of the children who had severe/very severe posttraumatic stress reactions (PTSR) after the attacks received counseling services. In a multivariate model, receipt of counseling before the September 11th attacks (odds ratio: 4.44) and having severe/very severe PTSR (odds ratio: 3.59) were the most important predictors of use of counseling services after the September 11th attacks. Minority status and having a parent who experienced the loss of a friend or a relative were also associated with receipt of services. CONCLUSIONS: There was substantial disparity between apparent need (as indicated by severe/very severe PTSR) for and receipt of mental health services for children after the September 11th attacks. There is need for intensified efforts to identify, refer, and treat children in need, especially for children who are not already in a therapeutic relationship. An enhanced role for pediatricians is indicated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Addressing ethical issues in everyday practice.

In primary-care practice, just as in critical care, ethical dilemmas challenge pediatricians to make choices in the best interests of their patients. Parents are important to the growth and development of children and have broad responsibility for making virtually all decisions regarding nutrition, clothing, housing, education, religion, and medical care. Society's deference to parental choice promotes the value of family integrity, ensures the availability of an identifiable decision maker, and acknowledges the legitimate role parents play in shaping their child's development. However, pediatricians have obligations to assess and advocate for the best interests of their patients. This requires that physicians reach out to their patients and take the time to listen to children and to involve them in their own care. The proper role of a child in planning care depends less on chronologic age than on developmental and personal capacity. Even young children have a keen awareness of their own clinical situations and options and should be involved as best as is possible in decision making. All decision making for children should be collaborative among patients, parents, and professionals. A situation including an involved child, an informed parent, and a caring and compassionate caregiver working collaboratively is most likely to result in optimal decisions for pediatric patients. Bartholome concluded in 1995 that pediatricians should respect children for the persons they are in the process of becoming by being willing to assist them to participate to the extent of their capacity in making decisions about their health. Combining that view with fostering respect for the strongly held beliefs and values of parents is the direction pediatricians should travel to make decisions in the best interests of children.

Bioethical Issues↗
PubMed2002

Ethical issues in research involving victims of terror.

Although research after an episode of terror can provide important information to improve the health and well-being of present and future victims, there are unique ethical challenges that need to be addressed. Man-made disasters have profound effects on victims, rescue workers, and their families and on others in the community; this may impair their ability to provide voluntary and uncoerced decisions about research participation. Because such potential participants in research may be vulnerable and also subject to being overburdened with redundant research, they deserve special consideration. We propose specific recommendations to assist investigators, institutional review boards (IRBs), public health officials, and political leaders to help serve the interests of future participants in terror-related research.

Crime Victims↗
PubMed2002

Enhancing palliative care education in medical school curricula: implementation of the palliative education assessment tool.

The authors report the results of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded project that catalyzed New York State medical schools to develop and implement strategic plans for curricular change to enhance palliative care education. The project used the Palliative Education Assessment Tool for curricular mapping of palliative care education throughout each school's four-year curriculum and used site visits to facilitate strategic planning within each institution. Of the 14 New York State medical schools, 13 participated in the project. Ten provided strategic plans for change, with a total of 71 specific goals (median = 5 per school). Of these goals, 67 (94.4%) had been implemented or were in the active-planning process one year after the plans were created. Overall, palliative care content was enhanced in four curricular areas: basic science courses, ethics and humanities courses, clerkship rotations, and faculty development in palliative care. The process of self-assessment, curriculum mapping of a specific thematic area, and strategic planning for change appears to have successfully enhanced the palliative care content in the medical schools' curricula.

Curriculum↗
PubMed2002

Clinical research in the private office setting--ethical issues.

A new model for performing clinical investigations has emerged in the United States which utilizes networks of physicians practicing in private office settings. This arrangement has sparked much controversy because of the potential conflicts of interest inherent in the dual roles of physician as clinician and investigator as well as the significant direct financial gains reported by some physicians which might impact on the interests of research subjects. We describe some of the ethical concerns and propose some procedural guidelines to safeguard the interests of research subjects participating in clinical trials in private physician offices. These safeguards include: requiring education of all investigators in research ethics, limiting financial incentives, disclosure to subjects of potential conflicts and financial arrangements, creation of an independent resource available to subjects to discuss concerns and answer questions, and development of educational materials to inform all potential subjects about important issues related to clinical research.

Biomedical Research↗
PubMed2000

Urban bioethics.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Bioethical Issues↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Posttraumatic stress reactions in new York City children after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of posttraumatic stress reactions (PTSR) in New York City (NYC) children following the September 11, 2001, attacks and determine the key predictors of PTSR. METHODS: Cross-sectional random digit-dial survey in NYC of parents of children 4-17 years old 4 months after the attacks. PTSR in children was measured using the 20-item Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index-Child Revision, with parents as respondents. RESULTS: Overall, 18% of NYC children had "severe" or "very severe" PTSR, and 66% had "moderate" PTSR. In a multivariate model, parental posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; odds ratio [OR] = 4.50; P <.01), the parent crying in front of the child (OR = 3.19; P <.001), seeing 3 or more graphic images of the disaster on television (OR = 3.18; P <.01), and living in Manhattan were associated with severe or very severe PTSR in children. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of NYC children had severe or very severe PTSR after September 11, and most children exhibited at least moderate PTSR. These findings suggest an enhanced role for primary care physicians, particularly pediatricians, for screening, treatment, and referral (coupled with appropriate training and reimbursement), especially in light of continued terrorist threats. These findings also have implications for advice that pediatricians can give to parents about limiting disaster-related television exposure and children's need for emotional support.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The private practicing physician-investigator: ethical implications of clinical research in the office setting.

Drug companies are moving their research from academic medical centers to physicians' private offices. The shift brings in more subjects, and could mean faster and better results. It also changes the physician's relationship to patients, dangles monetary lures in front of physicians, and could produce subjects who don't understand what they're participating in and results that are unreliable.

Academic Medical Centers↗