Tag Archives: Ethics

More SUPPORT controversy

Posted on 16 July 2013 by Keith Barrington

The BMJ has just published an ‘Observations’ piece, with the tag line ‘The Washington Brief’ which would make you think that it is a news item. It is, in contrast, a very biased recounting of some of the controversy raised … Continue reading →

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‘Why were they in such a hurry to see her die?’

Posted on 7 June 2013 by Keith Barrington

That quotation is the title of a touching and thought provoking article just published (Berg SF, Paulsen OG, Carter BS. Why Were They in Such a Hurry to See Her Die? American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. 2013;30(4):406-8.) It … Continue reading →

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Probiotics in the NICU: a ‘how-to’ guide

Posted on 22 May 2013 by Keith Barrington

I have had several communications from people interested in starting the use of probiotics in their nurseries. There are often roadblocks, and some reluctance from either infection control, or pharmacy and therapeutics committees (or both). I will recount what we … Continue reading →

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Predicting outcomes in preterm infants: is it time to throw away the ultrasound machine?

Posted on 16 May 2013 by Keith Barrington

It is common practice, nearly universal, I would guess, to perform head ultrasounds in the 1st week of life as a way to predict which very preterm babies will have very poor outcomes, and then to consider redirection of care … Continue reading →

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SUPPORT: even better than originally thought

Posted on 14 May 2013 by Keith Barrington

Public Citizen are at it again, repeating and expanding their idiotic criticisms of the SUPPORT trial. And stating that the trial was ‘even worse than originally thought’. They are now focusing on the ‘problem’ that the NICUs used ‘intentionally inaccurate’ … Continue reading →

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How much oxygen?

Posted on 9 May 2013 by Keith Barrington

At the PAS meeting in Washington DC, that has just finished, the COT trial results were presented, as well as the short term outcomes of the BOOST trials. These are a series of clinical trials which have compared higher saturations … Continue reading →

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‘Creating’ impairment?

Posted on 1 May 2013 by Keith Barrington

A new publication by Annie Janvier and Marc Mercurio, which tries to explain why newborn infants, and especially preterm infants, are treated differently to older children and adults. (Janvier A, Mercurio MR: Saving vs creating: perceptions of intensive care at different ages … Continue reading →

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More support for SUPPORT

Posted on 25 April 2013 by Keith Barrington

A new editorial in the PNEJM from 2 PhD ethicists. I specify that as they are not neonatologists, nor pediatricians nor yet medical researchers, and have no conflict of interest of any kind as far as I can see. Yet … Continue reading →

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Even more SUPPORTive

Posted on 20 April 2013 by Keith Barrington

Another devastating critique of the OHRP ruling regarding the SUPPORT trial is now available. John Lantos, a world leader in pediatric bioethics (and a good friend) has an article  which seems to be open access: ‘OHRP and Public Citizen Are … Continue reading →

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No ethical breakdown here

Posted on 16 April 2013 by Keith Barrington

As I mentioned at the end of my first post about this, the New York Times have jumped into the fray with an editorial entitled ‘An ethical breakdown‘ published today. They take as ‘gospel’ the OHRP findings concerning the study, and show … Continue reading →

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