Tag Archives: Ethics

Predicting outcomes, but not before birth

Posted on 13 September 2013 by Keith Barrington

One very important article that I failed to blog about last year when it came out is this one (Ambalavanan N, Carlo WA, Tyson JE, Langer JC, Walsh MC, Parikh NA, Das A, Van Meurs KP, Shankaran S, Stoll BJ … Continue reading →

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Pluto, not just a planet anymore.

Posted on 11 September 2013 by Keith Barrington

Or should that be, not even a planet… One other thing I wanted to mention about the PLUTO trial is the entry criterion. The main entry criterion was the presence of clear lower urinary tract obstruction in a male fetus, … Continue reading →

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Pre-SUPPORT, what did we really know?

Posted on 7 September 2013 by Keith Barrington

One of the misplaced criticisms that have been made about the SUPPORT trial and the consent forms was that we should have known before the trial that there would be a difference in mortality, and that there would be a … Continue reading →

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Does gestational age matter?

Posted on 4 September 2013 by Keith Barrington

Taking a break from the SUPPORT brouhaha for a moment, here is a great systematic review from Greg Moore and colleagues in Ottawa. (Moore GP, Lemyre B, Barrowman N, Daboval T: Neurodevelopmental outcomes at 4 to 8 years of children … Continue reading →

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Comparative Effectiveness Research: a parable

Posted on 29 August 2013 by Keith Barrington

Two neonatologists work in the same NICU. One of them routinely starts assisted ventilation of babies with volume ventilation, the other starts with pressure ventilation. There is controversy in the literature and in practice among currently active neonatologists; some preliminary … Continue reading →

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Commenting on Nature

Posted on 28 August 2013 by Keith Barrington

The editorial in Nature about the SUPPORT controversy has now been opened for comments. It wasn’t when I first mentioned it. I just left a comment, which may not be available until they have read it to make sure I … Continue reading →

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Public Citizen are a public danger: part 2

Posted on 24 August 2013 by Keith Barrington

The other part of the criticisms of Public Citizen, included in their letter to the secretary of the HSS in the USA, in which they call for the TOP (transfusion of preterms) trial to be stopped immediately, are regarding the … Continue reading →

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Public Citizen are a public danger: part 1

Posted on 24 August 2013 by Keith Barrington

They are at it again. The people in the Public Citizen health research group don’t understand evidence based practice, they don’t understand clinical research and they don’t understand neonatology. Which doesn’t stop them from making a fuss about high quality … Continue reading →

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End of Life, at Birth

Posted on 19 August 2013 by Keith Barrington

An Op-Ed piece in the NY Times a couple of weeks ago had that title. I was rather disappointed by the piece, written by an experienced neonatologist; now I suppose for a piece written for the NY Times the fact … Continue reading →

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On the Radio

Posted on 15 August 2013 by Keith Barrington

I was interviewed for an edition of the NPR Radiolab program a couple of months ago. I have only just had the chance to listen to the program, (called ’23 weeks and 6 days’) and I think the emission was … Continue reading →

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