Annals of internal medicine
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Editorial Comment
Colloid use for fluid resuscitation: evidence and spin.
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Meta Analysis
Patient survival after human albumin administration. A meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials.
To test the hypothesis that albumin administration is not associated with excess mortality. ⋯ Overall, no effect of albumin on mortality was detected; any such effect may therefore be small. This finding supports the safety of albumin. The influence of methodologic quality on relative risk for death suggests the need for further well-designed clinical trials.
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Medical professional codes have long prohibited physician involvement in assisting a patient's suicide. However, despite ethical and legal prohibitions, calls for the liberalization of this ban have grown in recent years. The medical profession should articulate its views on the arguments for and against changes in public policy and decide whether changes are prudent. ⋯ The routine practice of physician-assisted suicide raises serious ethical and other concerns. Legalization would undermine the patient-physician relationship and the trust necessary to sustain it; alter the medical profession's role in society; and endanger the value our society places on life, especially on the lives of disabled, incompetent, and vulnerable individuals. The ACP-ASIM remains thoroughly committed to improving care for patients at the end of life.