Death is no longer just in the hands of god or fate, but often a decision

"On 30 October 2017 I had just landed at Heathrow from Melbourne. I had the strangest feeling I should not go directly to bed. I wondered if I should visit my mother, Margaret Black, a 92 year old retired anaesthetist living very independently in a warden assisted housing complex in Kent. At midday I got a call from my sister—mum had developed abdominal pain, pressed the alarm button, and phoned her GP. Could I go?

There is much discussion about the right of an individual to die, but not enough about the role of relatives and friends"  Dr. Black's essay is powerfully resonant with our lives.

Black ME. Death is no longer just in the hands of god or fate, but often a decision.  BMJ. 2018 May 22;361:k2217.

Full BMJ article

Don’t demonise prescription opioids

It is rare that we hear from those who use prescription opioids.  Their voices are important counterpoints to the loud and self-righteous jeremiads of physicians, politicians and law enforcement professionals.

This essay was published in the BMJ in October 2017.

Our preoccupationwith opioid misuse could become the tail wagging the dog

Bob Roehr biomedical journalist.  BMJ

“I use an opioid drug, hydrocodone, every six hours, and have done so for about a decade.“Demonising prescription opioids can come to no good end."

Ask Patients "What Matters To You?"

Ask patients “What matters to you?” rather than “What’s the matter?”

by Sosena Kebede, MD 21287, USA skebede3@jhmi.edu

BMJ 2016; 354

 

This can help reframe interactions in a more patient-centered way:

Maureen Bisognano, one of the keynote speakers at this year’s International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare in Gothenburg, Sweden, told delegates that we should ask our patients, “What matters to you?” rather than, “What is the matter?”

The question “What matters to you?” tries to get to the essence of patient- centered care, which the Institute of Medicine has listed as one of the priorities for quality improvement.

Full article from the BMJ