How Should Economic Value Be Considered in Treatment Decisions for Individual Patients?

Staphylococcus lugdunensis; a pathogen that should be considered in Iran

Background: Staphylococcus lugdunensis is Gram-positive cocci of the staphylococcaceae family. S. lugdunensis despite having a clotting factor (wall coagulase), was classified in the coagulase negative staphylococcus group (CoNS) for lack of free coagulase. Although this bacterium is part of the human normal flora, in terms of virulence, S. lugdunensis is in second place after S. aureus. S. lug...

How Should Treatment Decisions Be Made for Incapacitated Patients, and Why?

P atients have gained unprecedented levels of control over their medical care, including prospective control over what treatments they will receive if they lose the ability to make decisions. The landmark Cruzan and Quinlan cases helped to secure patients' right to prospectively refuse life-sustaining treatments [1,2], while the Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990 mandated that patients be i...

How much Tramadol should be considered lethal in overdose?

A 17-year-old female was admitted to our emergency room 30 min after suicidal ingestion of about 10 g Tramadol. The patient had several short-lived clonic seizures before admission. On arrival, she had an episode of tonic-clonic seizure, lasting for three minutes, which lead to cardiopulmonary arrest after administration of 10 mg diazepam intravenously. Endotracheal intubation and cardiopulmona...

When should surgery be considered for the treatment of epilepsy?

Should Euthanasia Be Considered Iatrogenic?

As more countries adopt laws and regulations concerning euthanasia, pediatric euthanasia has become an important topic of discussion. Conceptions of what constitutes harm to patients are fluid and highly dependent on a myriad of factors including, but not limited to, health care ethics, family values, and cultural context. Euthanasia could be viewed as iatrogenic insofar as it results in an out...