TAVR: Life-prolonging and palliative or risky and costly?
August 27, 2012
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a therapy proposed “as the standard of care for symptomatic patients with aortic stenosis…
Photo of the Week – A Novel Way to Express End-of-Life Preferences
August 20, 2012
This license plate takes the concept of a DNR tattoo to the next level. My only question is, if the…
A Reluctance to Disagree with Recommendations
August 16, 2012
I remember when my son was about 2 years old he developed a very minor case of acute otitis media…
Low Does IV Haldol to Prevent Delirium in Post-Op ICU Patients
August 15, 2012
The reason that I love preparing talks to give to residents and fellows is that I always find new and…
Are you smarter than a medical intern? The why, what and how of the Medicare Hospice Benefit
August 3, 2012
The AAMC lists “presenting palliative care (including hospice) as a positive, active treatment option for a patient with advanced disease”…
Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA)
July 18, 2012
Five years ago I was given a golden ticket as a junior faculty member at UCSF. That ticket was a…
The Role for Acupuncture in COPD Management
June 12, 2012
About one in 10 adults older than 40 years of age have COPD. For these individuals dyspnea is the primary…
Emergency Departments as a Place for End-of-Life Transitions
June 6, 2012
I have always been struck by the question of where individuals would prefer to die. You know, the one where…
“He will definitely not survive” – I do not think it means what you think it means
May 30, 2012
Photo Copyright Annie Levy, 2008 Sorry, stuckon the Princess Bride references. At our most recent geriatrics journal club we discussed…
A Chance to Revise the POLST
May 24, 2012
We have written a lot about POLST (Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment) in previous GeriPal posts. Mostly, with great…