British medical bulletin
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British medical bulletin · Oct 1995
ReviewRationing in the NHS: the dance of the seven veils-in reverse.
The 1991 reforms of the National Health Service set up the expectation that rationing would in future be explicit instead of, as in the past, implicit. This has not happened. Research carried out at the University of Bath shows that very few health authorities are rationing by exclusion on the Oregon model. ⋯ And it is the medical profession which controls the flow of patients through waiting lists and the way in which resources are used during treatment. Similarly, it is in the self-interest of both central Government and health authorities that their resource decisions should continue to be disguised behind the veils of clinical discretion. Despite pressures for greater transparency, Britain's opaque form of rationing may therefore survive.
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British medical bulletin · Oct 1995
ReviewChoices in health care: a contribution from The Netherlands.
In this paper it will be argued that choices in health care are necessary, desirable and just. An important choice that each society has to make, is: what basic services should be available to everybody independently of an individual's purchasing power? The Dutch Government Committee on Choices in Health Care advised the use of four criteria: basic care must be necessary, effective, efficient and cannot be left to the individual's responsibility. Because important decisions with respect to the second criterion-the effectiveness of care-are made by physicians in the consulting room or at the operating table, physicians do have a primary responsibility in making the right choices.
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Management of thrombosis in coronary heart disease comprises the management of acute coronary thrombosis presenting as myocardial infarction or as unstable angina, the use of anticoagulant therapy to prevent or treat complications of myocardial infarction, and prophylaxis in patients identified as being at increased risk. Thrombolytic therapy and aspirin independently and additively reduce mortality in evolving myocardial infarction. ⋯ Aspirin has been shown to reduce the risk of further cardiovascular events or cardiac death in patients identified as at high risk. Current research is evaluating the role of antithrombins and platelet adhesion inhibitors as adjuvant therapy after thrombolysis, in unstable angina, and as heparin substitutes during coronary angioplasty, and of low dose warfarin as long-term prophylaxis in high risk patients.
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Alcohol is a special commodity because of its dependence producing properties and the extent and severity of problems associated with its use, many of which are preventable. The elements of a comprehensive preventive policy include: controls to raise the price of alcohol; controls on the availability of alcohol, particularly minimum age limits for the purchase of alcohol and limits to the hours and days of sale of alcohol and numbers of outlets; controls on the use of alcohol, particularly restricting drinking and driving; product safety standards, particularly information on the alcohol content of beverages, controls on marketing, particularly restrictions on advertising and sponsorship and; education and information programmes, including those based at a community level to promote support for prevention policies and those based in schools and primary health care.
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Significant progress has been made since the first successful human heart-lung transplantation (HLT) for pulmonary vascular disease performed in 1981. The refinement of surgical techniques, use of cyclosporin as the main immunosuppressant, technique of distant organ procurement to expand the donor organ pool, and improved diagnosis and management of pulmonary infection and rejection have all contributed to this accomplishment. ⋯ Because of the success, consideration was given to transplantation for parenchymal pulmonary diseases, initially pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema, and then suppurative lung disease such as in cystic fibrosis (CF). However, the application of HLT to patients with CF lagged behind because of concern related to the risk of sepsis, the systemic nature of the disease, malnourishment, and fear of recurrence of the epithelial CF defect in the transplanted lungs.