Managing pain: The Challenge in Underserved Populations: Appropriate Use Versus Abuse and Diversion

ISSUE: Inadequate pain management is a serious public health problem that affects a wide cross-section of Americans. Patients are often denied sufficient medication, because physicians lack training and fear scrutiny from federal and state regulatory agencies. In addition, even the state-financed system of care, Medicaid, has been increasingly denying payment for the best treatment for pain management. These factors are complicated by physician bias about various subgroups and poor physician-patient communication. Comprehensive patient assessment plays a crucial role in determining appropriate treatment and identifying potential abuse problems. Physicians must routinely document medications analgesic effects and screen for potential ill effects and drug abuse. OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence of the undertreatment of pain, particularly among African Americans, and to recommend relevant proactive policy and practice changes to aid in eliminating this health problem. CONSENSUS PROCESS: In July 2002, the NMA convened the "Managing Pain: The Challenge in Underserved Populations: Appropriate Use versus Abuse and Diversion" Consensus Meeting in Washington, DC. The country's most renowned experts in the area of pain management and substance abuse reviewed substantial information regarding pain management and substance abuse including the following: --A draft summary paper on pain management and substance abuse that served as briefing material for consensus members; --Annotated bibliographies; --Articles on pain management and substance abuse; and --Key presentations on pain management and substance abuse.     

Chromosomal factors of infertility in candidate couples for ICSI: an equal risk of constitutional aberrations in women and men

To assess the frequency of chromosomal aberrations in French candidates for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and to explore the existence of a female chromosomal factor in some cases of couple infertility, a collaborative retrospective clinical and cytogenetic study was performed, launched by the Association des Cytogénéticiens de Langue Franciaise (ACLF). The karyotypes of 3208 patients [2196 men (68.4%), 1012 (31.6%) women] included in ICSI programmes over a 3-year period in France were collected. A total of 183 aberrant karyotypes was diagnosed, corresponding to an abnormality frequency of 6.1% (134/2196) for men and 4.84% (49/1012) for women. The following frequencies of abnormalities were observed respectively for men and women: 1.23% (n = 27) and 0.69% (n = 7) for reciprocal translocations, 0.82% (n = 18) and 0.69% (n = 7) for Robertsonian translocations, 0.13% (n = 3) and 0.69% (n = 7) for inversions, 3.32% (n = 73) and 2.77% (n = 28) for numerical sex chromosome aberrations, and 0.59% (n = 13) and 0% for other structural aberrations. Among the male patients of this latter group, 0.40% (n = 9) had a Y chromosome abnormality. Among the male patients with numerical sex chromosome abnormalities, 2.23% (n = 49) were 47,XXY, 0.32% (n = 7) were 47,XYY, and 0.77% (n = 17) had a mosaicism for numerical sex chromosome anomalies. All the female patients with sex chromosome abnormalities (2.77%, n = 28) had mosaicism for numerical sex chromosome anomalies. Even if these cases-the significance of which was sometimes questioned-were disregarded in the analysis, 2.08% (21/1012) of abnormal karyotypes remained in women. An overall increased frequency of chromosomal aberrations was found, and this confirmed that in some cases of poor reproductive outcome there may be a contribution of maternal chromosome aberrations. Indeed, the existence of a chromosome abnormality in the female partner was associated with the group of infertile men in which there was no apparent cause of infertility.     

Involvement of doctors in torture: conclusions and recommendations

In 1984 the Council of the British Medical Association set up a working party, chaired by J.P. Quillam, to investigate claims that doctors in some countries were cooperating with the use of torture as a routine instrument of repression. The conclusions and recommendations of the working party's recently published report are reproduced here, along with a list of the members of the working party. Among the report's conclusions [which are reproduced also in the British Medical Journal 1986 Mar 15; 292(6522): 781-782] are that doctors have a responsibility to support any practitioner who refuses to keep silent about abuses of human rights, to check for signs of physical abuse of prisoners, and to publicize any violations of the Declaration of Tokyo. Physicians are also encouraged to offer their services to organizations such as the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture.     

Annual report of Council, 1983-1984: medical ethics

The medical ethics section of the 1983-1984 annual report of the British Medical Association Council describes the Council's successes and continuing campaign against certain clauses in the pending Police and Criminal Evidence Bill and in the re-introduced Data Protection Bill that might require physicians to violate professional standards on informed consent and confidentiality. Other issues touched upon in the report include surrogate motherhood, in vitro fertilization, ethics committees, living wills, advertising, torture, consent to treatment, and the prescribing of contraceptives for minors.     

中国儿童维生素A、维生素D临床应用专家共识

维生素A和维生素D是与儿童健康密切相关的两种脂溶性维生素,充足的维生素A、维生素D营养对儿童早期发展及疾病的防治具有积极的作用,缺乏和不足均会影响儿童健康。针对儿童保健医生和儿童家长对维生素A、维生素D的营养现状、缺乏原因及危害、防治措施、安全性等方面所存在的一些疑虑,中华预防医学会儿童保健分会组织国内相关专家,就上述问题结合国内外相关研究展开了充分讨论,基于现有研究成果,达成如下共识,希望对我国儿童维生素A、维生素D的临床应用提供参考.     

The Liver Retransplantation Risk Score: a prognostic model for survival after adult liver retransplantation

High-risk combinations of recipient and graft characteristics are poorly defined for liver retransplantation (reLT) in the current era. We aimed to develop a risk model for survival after reLT using data from the European Liver Transplantation Registry, followed by internal and external validation. From 2006 to 2016, 85 067 liver transplants were recorded, including 5581 reLTs (6.6%). The final model included seven predictors of graft survival: recipient age, model for end-stage liver disease score, indication for reLT, recipient hospitalization, time between primary liver transplantation and reLT, donor age, and cold ischemia time. By assigning points to each variable in proportion to their hazard ratio, a simplified risk score was created ranging 0–10. Low-risk (0–3), medium-risk (4–5), and high-risk (6–10) groups were identified with significantly different 5-year survival rates ranging 56.9% (95% CI 52.8–60.7%), 46.3% (95% CI 41.1–51.4%), and 32.1% (95% CI 23.5–41.0%), respectively (P < 0.001). External validation showed that the expected survival rates were closely aligned with the observed mortality probabilities. The Retransplantation Risk Score identifies high-risk combinations of recipient- and graft-related factors prognostic for long-term graft survival after reLT. This tool may serve as a guidance for clinical decision-making on liver acceptance for reLT.     

British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) consensus document: management of bladder and ureteric injury

Injuries to the bladder and ureter are uncommon but usually require prompt urological management. Due to their infrequent nature, Urologists maybe unfamiliar with managing these acute problems and may not work in specialist centres with readily available expertise in open and abdominal surgery. We aim to provide advice in the form of a consensus statement led by the Female, Neurological and Urodynamic Urology (FNUU) Section of the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS), in consultation with BAUS members and consultants working in units throughout the UK, to create a comprehensive management pathway and a series of statements to aid clinicians.     

出生队列技术规范 第1部分:现场调查

正前言本文件按照GB/T 1.1—2020《标准化工作导则第1部分:标准化文件的结构和起草规则》的规定起草。本文件是T/CPMA 015—2020《出生队列技术规范》的第1部分。T/CPMA 015已经发布了以下部分:——第1部分:出生队列现场调查;——第2部分:出生队列长期随访;——第3部分:出生队列成员信息系统。本文件由中华预防医学会归口。本文件起草单位:南京医科大学、北京大学第三医院、山东大学。