Exosomes in urine: who would have thought...?

Normal urine contains thousands of proteins, largely due to the presence of 'exosomes,' tiny vesicles secreted into the urine by renal epithelial cells. These exosomes, demonstrated by Keller and colleagues to be also retrievable from amniotic fluid, offer great promise for future disease biomarker discovery studies.     

Who should answer the question: “Can I drive with this plaster cast?”

IntroductionThe application of a plaster cast is known to affect driving ability, but patients continue to drive. The individuals and authorities involved in assessing driving safely include doctors, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), police, insurance companies, and patients, but it is unclear who should take responsibility for the advice given, especially in the event of an accident.MethodsWe contacted senior plaster technicians in 348 hospitals in the UK. We recorded their responses regarding advice given to patients on driving in specific casts. Sixteen motor insurance companies and 40 police forces were also contacted in order to canvass their opinions.Results188 technician interviews (response rate 54%) were conducted. Only 10% of respondents offered advice unprompted; an average of 48% of patients asked for advice. 88% of respondents referred patients to their motor insurance companies, and also to the DVLA (11.7%), doctor (10.6%), or police (5.9%). Only 20.2% of plaster rooms provided written information. All insurance companies would insure patients provided the doctor had not explicitly objected to driving, but there was no consensus amongst the responses received from police. In the event of an accident after the treating doctor had advised against driving, insurance companies were likely to invalidate the policy, and the police would seek penalty punishment or prosecution.ConclusionsAlthough doctors are not specifically trained to assess the ability of patients to drive, insurance companies and police forces place the responsibility on doctors to advise patients. Since current evidence suggests plaster casts can impair driving ability, we suggest patients should be advised not to drive. Patients accept all responsibility if they continue to drive after receiving this specific advice and understanding its implications.     

Ethical issues in surgical palliative care: am I killing the patient by "letting him go"?

Recent medical advances have complicated decisions regarding terminal care. Surgeons should be familiar with the ethical issues that contribute to end-of-life decision-making. Four clusters of ethical principles (autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and justice)are used commonly in ethical deliberations. Artificial ethical distinctions between withholding versus withdrawing care or ordinary versus extraordinary treatments can confuse clinical decision-making at the end of life. An ethics of death and dying requires that the intent and the action of the moral agent be considered.