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PubMed1993

Addressing the public's concerns about human immunodeficiency virus transmission in health-care settings.

BACKGROUND: The 1990 report of a cluster of patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) associated with a Florida dentist with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome attracted considerable media coverage and legislative attention. A number of polls found that the public favored mandatory HIV-antibody testing of health-care workers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga, conducted a two-phase study to understand how public concerns regarding potential HIV transmission in health-care settings can be addressed by the medical and public health communities. METHODS: Sixteen focus group discussions in nine US cities were conducted to explore the public's perceptions, concerns, and behavioral responses regarding HIV transmission in health-care settings. Using this information, a questionnaire was developed and administered to a nationwide probability telephone sample of 1150 adults. RESULTS: Concern about contracting HIV in health-care settings was highest for emergency department treatment and lowest for treatment by a personal physician. Two factors directly related to patient care, ie, the health-care professional's willingness to discuss acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and the presence of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome educational materials in the waiting room, were considered useful factors for determining potential risk of transmission of HIV in a health-care setting. CONCLUSIONS: Public concern about the potential for HIV transmission in health-care settings remains high. Active steps on the part of health-care professionals, such as providing educational materials and initiating discussions about infection control procedures and about HIV and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, could likely have positive effects in terms of alleviating these concerns.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Health of the public: The private-sector challenge.

The rapid growth of managed care poses challenges and opportunities for the health of the public. The fundamental risk is that both mission and accountability will be defined too narrowly; the opportunity lies in broadening both. What would a socially responsible managed care system look like? Such a system would provide excellent individual care to its enrollees, yet it would also include programs and activities that address broader populations and policies. We propose 8 attributes of such a system that can be used as a guide by managed care systems and to judge whether a managed care system is a responsible, accountable, and responsive contributor to the health of its community. As the role of the public sector shrinks, the private sector must expand its responsibility. It is both prudent and reasonable for managed care systems to seize their unique opportunity to improve the health of the public.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed1994

Point and counterpoint. Should HECs make de facto binding decisions?

It is evident that HEC decisions are de facto binding. Our challenge is to recognize the implications of these decisions for patient care. As a result of the passage of the Patient Self-Determination Act and the recent JCAHO rules mandating dispute resolving mechanisms for ethical issues, case review by ethics committees will undoubtedly have an even greater influence on patient care. Therefore, health care institutions and their medical staffs must strive to find the best way to use the inherent powers of hospital ethics committees to enhance patient care decisionmaking.

Decision Making, Organizational↗
PubMed1992

Ethical and legal implications of the new genetics: issues for discussion.

The so-called 'new genetics,' a phrase sometimes associated with The Human Genome Initiative, poses no really new ethical problems, but exacerbates old ones. The issues of most concern to geneticists and their patients are summarized under the eleven headings below. These issues emerged from a 19-nation study of ethics and genetics in 1985-86 and from preliminary work on a forthcoming 36-nation study by the same authors.

Abortion, Legal↗
PubMed1998

Protecting fetuses from certain harm.

Deborah Mathieu's proposal for state intervention in the lives of pregnant substance abusers in order to prevent serious harm to their future children sparked a lively debate in this journal. The present discussion characterizes the three main arguments offered against her proposal as (a) the "uncertainty principle"--the inability to predict which fetuses will be affected, (b) the "father factor"--gender bias with respect to prenatal damage, and (c) "critical periods"--the vulnerability of the embryo/fetus at different times of pregnancy. Each of these arguments is examined in the specific context of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Since the birth of a child with FAS is a virtual certainty if a woman has previously given birth to a child with FAS, since no father has ever sired a child with FAS unless his spouse is an alcoholic, and since the most damaging effects are those associated with exposure throughout and especially late in pregnancy, none of the arguments offered against Mathieu's proposal are relevant in this particularly narrow set of circumstances. While Mathieu's proposal seems pertinent in this situation, her proposal would be even more effective if modified as suggested here.

Child↗