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Biomedical subjects

D E Vawter

Publications and source records attributed to D E Vawter.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

A model for improving coverage policy decisions.

Reasoned and defensible coverage decisions are essential for a fairer and more efficient healthcare system. Because healthcare resources are finite, coverage decisions should be informed by economic evaluations and made from a perspective that attends to the interests of both individuals and the population enrolled in a plan as a whole. Coverage decisions for all healthcare interventions should follow a 2-step procedure that consists of (1) the relatively impartial and objective assessment of an intervention's eligibility for coverage and (2) the distinctively value-laden determination (for which the enrolled population's values and preferences should take priority) to cover, conditionally cover, or not cover an intervention.

Decision Making↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ethical and policy issues in human fetal tissue transplants.

A review of human fetal tissue policies over the past 40 years reveals an increasing awareness that the use of this tissue raises unique ethical and policy issues. Initially it was believed that the use of fetal tissue was no different from using any other abandoned surgical waste specimen. Then state laws were passed requiring fetal tissue to be treated with the same respect and protection as tissue obtained from cadaver donors generally. Most recently, a few state and federal policies suggest that the use of fetal tissue requires a unique set of provisions, that it is unlike either the use of tissue from a routine cadaver donor or the use of tissue from abandoned waste specimens. In this paper we identify four central features of fetal tissue donation that make it a unique type of tissue donation requiring its own framework of respect and protection for the parties involved. We then critically review the most important current state and federal fetal tissue policies, including the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993.

Ethics, Medical↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Fetal tissue research and the misread compromise.

The bill to restore federal funding for human fetal tissue research has been passed by the House and awaits Senate approval. But it requires women who are willing to donate fetal tissue to certify that they did not have an abortion with the intent to donate. It further requires researchers to keep the certifications on file and available for government audit. Both requirements spell trouble.

Aborted Fetus↗