Roger Herdman - Böcker

Non-heart-beating donors (individuals whose deaths are determined by cessation of heart and respiratory function rather than loss of whole brain function) could potentially be of major importance in reducing the gap between the demand for and available supply of organs for transplantation. Prompted by questions concerning the medical management of such donors--specifically, whether interventions undertaken to enhance the supply and quality of potentially transplantable organs (i.e. the use of anticoagulants and vasodilators) were in the best interests of the donor patient--the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services asked the Institute of Medicine to examine from scientific and ethical points of view "alternative medical approaches that can be used to maximize the availability of organs from [a] donor [in an end-of-life situation] without violating prevailing ethical norms..." This book examines transplantation supply and demand, historical and modern conceptions of non-heart-beating donors, and organ procurement organizations and transplant program policies, and contains recommendations concerning the principles and ethical issues surrounding the topic.

The VA National Formulary generated controversy, which motivated congressional scrutiny and a directive to the VA to commission this report reviewing the experience with the National Formulary and formulary system. This Institute of Medicine committee was pleased to assist the Congress with this review, in part because the committee saw in the VHA example an opportunity to understand and anticipate problems that all publicly funded programs are likely to encounter in this new age of pharmaceuticals. The Congress asked the committee to review the restrictiveness of the National Formulary, its impact on the costs and quality of care in the VHA, and how it compared to formularies and drug management practices in the private sector and in other public programs, especially Medicaid. Detailed in the pages that follow, the committee's findings and conclusions on these questions are, the committee believes, highly instructive, though not always in the ways that we anticipated.

In Meeting Psychosocial Needs of Women with Breast Cancer, the National Cancer Policy Board of the Institute of Medicine examines the psychosocial consequences of the cancer experience. The book focuses specifically on breast cancer in women because this group has the largest survivor population (over 2 million) and this disease is the most extensively studied cancer from the standpoint of psychosocial effects. The book characterizes the psychosocial consequences of a diagnosis of breast cancer, describes psychosocial services and how they are delivered, and evaluates their effectiveness. It assesses the status of professional education and training and applied clinical and health services research and proposes policies to improve the quality of care and quality of life for women with breast cancer and their families. Because cancer of the breast is likely a good model for cancer at other sites, recommendations for this cancer should be applicable to the psychosocial care provided generally to individuals with cancer.For breast cancer, and indeed probably for any cancer, the report finds that psychosocial services can provide significant benefits in quality of life and success in coping with serious and life-threatening disease for patients and their families.

This report is the summary of a symposium presented by the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to further disseminate the conclusions and recommendations of Fulfilling the Potential of Cancer Prevention and Early Detection. This report discusses issues including better support for tobacco and obesity campaigns; coordination of programs; joint approaches with the food industry; the need for an explicit consensus national tobacco and obesity strategy; viewpoints of payers; changing Medicare's approach to prevention; private sector payment programs; improvements in applied research and dissemination of results; better science in programs; problems in modifying medical practice; and conflict between individual choice and policy options.

In this report The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) present a one-day symposium that was held at the IOM to further disseminate the conclusions and recommendations of the joint IOM and National Research Council report, Saving Women's Lives: Strategies for Improving Breast Cancer Detection and Diagnosis. The committee assembled for this event was asked to share insights and consider ways in which the objectives of the report could be achieved from the standpoint of what women need to know, the best models of screening programs, manpower, risk stratification, basic research, and payment. This symposium seeks to provide continuing food for thought and ideas for actions in support of breast cancer detection and diagnosis and saving women's lives.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 was enacted to improve the portability and continuity of health insurance; promote medical savings accounts; improve access to long-term care services and coverage; and simplify the administration of health insurance. HIPAA's Administrative Simplification provisions focus on facilitating the electronic exchange of information for financial and administrative functions related to patient care. However, the very advances that make it easier to transmit information also present challenges to preserving the confidentiality of potentially sensitive personal information contained in medical records. In 2003, the President's Cancer Panel discovered HIPAA Privacy Rule slowed research on cancer survivors, as well as causing increased bureaucracy, informed consent problems, and complications for clinical trials. Effect of the HIPAA Privacy Rule on Health Research evaluates the impact of HIPAA provisions and provides guidance to legislators on amendments needed to make this law better serve the interests of cancer survivors and others.