About
The Center for Ethical Solutions (CES) is focused on finding practical answers to the difficult questions of medical ethics and health policy — answers that look beyond the preconceived and the usual, and that provide people with options that might otherwise be overlooked.
Our officers, advisors, and researchers are what set CES apart: We pride ourselves on placing a higher value on solving problems than on finding answers that fit neatly into any particular political framework. We don’t deny that each of us has come to this project with a well-developed sense of our own political and moral beliefs. However, when faced with issues as urgent as the organ shortage, or as personal as doctor/patient-directed pain management, or as unthinkable as the state of medical care available to our veterans, allowing politics to dictate the scope of options available to people is simply unthinkable. If such considerations limited the scope of our studies as well, we wouldn’t be able to call this endeavor, “the Center for Ethical Solutions.”
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Shock and ahh …
The Shoreview-based company makes devices that uses low-level electricity to treat chronic pain. Empi's flagship product, Select TENS Pain Management System, is a staple at physical therapy clinics across the country. Yet the technology has struggled to gain acceptance among consumers and doctors, many of whom still doubt whether TENS actually works.Depression, PTSD Prevalent Among Returning GIs
Nearly one in five, or about 300,000, soldiers who has served in Iraq or Afghanistan has post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression -- illnesses that could cost the U.S. as much as $6.2 billion over two years in care, lost productivity and lost lives through suicide, according to a RAND report released on Thursday, the Washington Post reports (Scott Tyson, Washington Post, 4/18). The study was based on telephone interviews conducted from August 2007 to January with 1,965 soldiers who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, in some cases more than once.VA Seeks Projects on Brain-Injury Diagnostics
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is requesting R&D project proposals on diagnostics for traumatic brain injury (TBI) to help soldiers wounded in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.Hong Kong patients told to go to China for kidney transplants
Kidney patients have been advised to go to China for transplants by a leading surgeon because of a shortage of donors in Hong Kong, a media report said Thursday.... Hong Kong Hospital Authority surgeon Matthew Tong said... "There are 1,400 to 1,500 people waiting for kidney transplants in Hong Kong every year. On average, they have to wait for six to seven years - and that's if they are lucky." As a result, more people were travelling to China for transplants.Suicide hot line says one in five returning soldiers has PTSD
According to a recent RAND Corp. study, roughly one in five soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan displays symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, putting them at a higher risk for suicide. Researchers at Portland State University found that male veterans are twice as likely to commit suicide than men who are not veterans.Current Projects
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Solving the Organ Shortage
In the United States, 18 people die every day waiting for an organ donation that never comes. In 2007 alone, 9,600 patients died or became too ill to undergo surgery while waiting. The sad fact is, this is how 1 out of every 5 people is removed from the 99,000-person U.S. Transplant Waiting List. Almost 90% of these people were in need of organs that could have been donated by living donors with relative safety... -
Meeting the Medical Needs of America’s Veterans
Through this project, The Center for Ethical Solutions will consider the special medical needs of America's veterans. The Organization plans to fund scholars to research and analyze veterans’ medical needs and related policies.