Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration has given a landmark approval to the very first digital pill with a sensor embedded in the inside. These are complex systems that include a drug and an electronic tracker that is activated when the patient takes the pill. Accordingly, they might be an excellent tool for monitoring and potentially improving patients' adherence to prescriptions. This would serve well to avoid unnecessary healthcare costs and reduce the anxiety of patients and their relatives. However, digital pills might also diminish patient autonomy, reduce privacy, or promote inadequate use of pharmaceutical resources. This article is aimed at contributing to adequate use of this new tool by showing the main ethical and social issues they involve and proposing measures meant to address them. Finally, we conclude by defending the idea that these new systems should be seen as means of complementing traditional strategies to promote adherence to treatment, and not as substitutes.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsaa040 | DOI Listing |
J West Afr Coll Surg
August 2024
Department of Plastic Surgery, National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria.
Background: Hand injuries sometimes cause significant loss of function with psychological and functional consequences. The national status on dedicated specialised hand surgery units, hand surgery fellowship programmes, and outcome of operative hand surgery cases is generally lacking.
Aims: To determine the current state of hand surgery practice in south eastern Nigeria and identify the major challenges to its practice and proffer realistic solutions.
Front Public Health
December 2024
Nuffield Centre for International Health and Development, Leeds Institute for Health Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom.
Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global problem and is especially threatening for low-and-middle income countries like Bangladesh. The COSTAR (Community-led Solutions to Antimicrobial Resistance) project includes a Randomised Control Trial (RCT) which aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the Community Dialog Approach (CDA) to improve levels of correct and appropriate knowledge and reported practice about antibiotics, antibiotic use, and antibiotic resistance (ABR) from a One Health perspective, among adult community members in 5 selected sub-districts of Cumilla. The CDA is a community engagement approach involving community members in active discussions also known as Community Dialogs (CD), run by local facilitators.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRes Publica
February 2024
Department of Philosophy, University of Basel, Steinengraben 5, 4051 Basel, Switzerland.
The literature on the epistemology of ignorance already discusses how certain forms of discrimination, such as racism and sexism, are perpetuated by the ignorance of individuals and groups. However, little attention has been given to how speciesism-a form of discrimination on the basis of species membership-is sustained through ignorance Of the few animal ethicists who explicitly discuss ignorance, none have related this concept to speciesism as a form of discrimination. However, it is crucial to explore this connection, I argue, as ignorance is both an integral part of the injustice done to animals as well as an obstacle to improving their treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCureus
November 2024
Urology, Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Burla, Sambalpur, IND.
Background Multimorbidity and polypharmacy are common in older adults and pose a considerable challenge to the health and social care system. They are complex and interrelated concepts in geriatric care that require early detection and patient-centered shared decision-making by multidisciplinary, team-led comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) across all health and social care settings. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the economic burden of multimorbidity and polypharmacy among geriatric patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCureus
November 2024
Physiology, Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore, PAK.
Introduction: Medical student dropout is characterized by the early exit from the medical college prior to graduation. The dropout ratio fluctuates globally and is influenced by factors, such as academic demands, individual characteristics, and insufficient work-life balance, which contribute to thoughts of dropping out. This study sought to evaluate the frequency of dropout ideation and influencing factors among medical students at Lahore Medical and Dental College (LMDC).
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