Palliative Care News and Research

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Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.

The ABC of terminal hemorrhage management

To best cope with terminal hemorrhage, at-risk patients should be identified by healthcare professionals while their families and caregivers are prepared, supported, and instructed to assure, be there for, and calm and comfort the patient as the event occurs, say researchers.

26 Sep 2012

Study: 42% of patients with advanced non-malignant conditions prefer home death

Improved home care resources for people with conditions such as dementia, who would prefer to die at home, are key to providing better end of life care and reducing the strain of the UK's ageing population on the NHS, according to researchers at King's College London.

26 Sep 2012

Amcom Software launches clinical alerting middleware at St. Vincent's Melbourne

Amcom Software's Australian division today announced the launch of its Amcom Messenger clinical alerting middleware at St. Vincent's Melbourne, covering the Fitzroy, Caritas Christi, and St. George campuses.

25 Sep 2012

ESMO Designated Center of Integrated Oncology and Palliative Care accreditation for 16 new centers

The European Society for Medical Oncology has awarded ESMO Designated Center of Integrated Oncology and Palliative Care accreditation to 16 new oncology centers. The centers will receive the acknowledgment at the ESMO 2012 Congress, in Vienna, Austria, 28 September - 2 October.

24 Sep 2012

Longer looks: A 'renegade' Bill Frist?; The pharmacist's expanding role

Meet former Sen. Bill Frist, a renegade "Obamacare"-loving Republican who is in the mood for some real bipartisanship. Yes, the same Frist who as Senate majority leader led an army into the culture wars over Terri Schiavo and whose efforts in 2004 to unseat his then-rival, Minority Leader Tom Daschle, led to a nasty - and personal - Washington battle royal. Now, Frist is pushing for a national conversation on end-of-life care and dismissing "caricatured" talk of death panels.

21 Sep 2012

Abiraterone acetate confirmed to offer significant survival benefit to advanced prostate cancer patients

Results of a phase 3 trial published in The Lancet Oncology have confirmed that the drug abiraterone acetate (marketed as Zytiga®) offers a significant survival benefit to patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer, which is spreading to other parts of their body (known as metastatic prostate cancer).

18 Sep 2012

Care New England joins five other pioneering organizations to support Conversation Project

Care New England Health System has joined with five other pioneering organizations to support a new effort by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) to better prepare health care providers to receive and respect patients' wishes about end-of-life care.

13 Sep 2012

Blood pressure, oxygen saturation predict death in terminally ill

The most reliable events that predict impending death in terminally ill cancer patients being treated palliatively are decreased blood pressure and low oxygen saturation, show study results.

12 Sep 2012

Roundup: Mass. voters to consider 'right-to-die'; Texas Planned Parenthood hearing contentious; Calif. kids' palliative care

On Election Day, voters in the Bay State will consider whether to approve the "Death With Dignity Act," a measure that would make Massachusetts just the third state in the country to formally approve physician-assisted suicide. The proposal, identified as Question 2 on the ballot, is nearly identical to laws passed in Oregon in 1994 and in Washington in 2008. But the politics is very different. The looming vote has split the state's medical community and mobilized opposition from the politically powerful Catholic Church.

12 Sep 2012

DOJ joins whistle-blower case against Fla. hospice

The Department of Justice is joining a case against a hospice provider in Orlando accused by a former executive of admitting Medicare patients who did not qualify for care to collect the payments. Meanwhile, state officials announce Medicaid fraud settlements, with GlaxoSmithKline in North Carolina, and Planned Parenthood in Illinois.

7 Sep 2012

'Toolkit' for African cancer advocates to be launched on September 15

Cancer kills more than seven million people a year throughout the world. This is more than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, and African countries, which carry a large part of the burden, are the least able of all developing countries to cope with the challenges it presents, says a consortium of international cancer organizations.

7 Sep 2012

A significant proportion of breast cancer survivors have chronic fatigue

UK study results show that over a third of breast cancer survivors have cancer-related fatigue syndrome and that these women have significantly lower subjective quality of life and mood than their nonfatigued peers.

6 Sep 2012

Better recognition of rising burden of cancer in Africa needed

6 Sep 2012

More focus required on hospice care for heart failure patients

End-stage heart failure patients enter hospice care closer to the time of their death, are more often referred from acute care facilities, and are more likely to die in acute care settings compared with cancer patients, show study results.

5 Sep 2012

Accusations reflect conflicting beliefs about care, says commentary in Mayo Clinic Proceedings

In a recent survey of palliative care medicine practitioners, nearly three quarters of the sample reported having been "humorously" accused of promoting death; for example, being called "Dr. Death." Most of the remarks came from fellow physicians and other health care professionals. At the same time, the survey found that a third of investigations into accusations of murder or euthanasia against physicians are instigated by fellow members of the health care team.

4 Sep 2012

Roundup: Calif. Gov. Brown's pension plan silent on current workers' health care; Psychologists want power to prescribe drugs

Gov. Jerry Brown announced a new plan Tuesday to rein in public pension costs that would raise the retirement age, cap benefits for the highest-paid employees and eliminate "spiking" -- but lacks key parts of the bolder system overhaul he proposed months ago and would even increase some payouts. ... The plan also does not address skyrocketing health care costs for retirees, another main element of the governor's first scenario. Hundreds of thousands of government workers have been promised medical coverage for life.

30 Aug 2012

Physicians’ emotional, institutional barriers prolong medical futility at end of life

The most common reasons that clinicians give to explain medically futile treatment at the end of life are emotional difficulties, such as a fear of talking about death, and institutional barriers, such as hospital departments expecting them to “do everything possible,” report German researchers.

29 Aug 2012

Fizzy tablet is best method to receive fentanyl for cancer pain

Results of a mixed treatment comparison show that fentanyl in the form of an effervescent buccal tablet can better relieve the intensity of breakthrough cancer pain in the first 60 minutes after dosing compared with other fentanyl formulations.

23 Aug 2012

‘Sitting service’ at end of life may improve chances of dying at home

Individuals at the end of their life who use a sitting service to avoid being alone while dying or to give respite to family members who are caring for them, are significantly more likely to die at home than those who do not use such a service, report researchers.

22 Aug 2012

Targets to improve palliative patients’ wellbeing identified

Pain, depression, drowsiness, fatigue, and appetite loss are the symptoms that most affect the wellbeing of cancer patients being treated palliatively, report Canadian researchers.

16 Aug 2012