The author concludes that: (1) financing medical care is uncomfortable but doctors should agonize over it as much as patients; (2) the preference for or against fee for service financing is related to hidden feelings about students, fees, and competition with other doctors; and (3) fee for service deserves a bigger place in the financing picture…

Discusses the history of health care in Latin America in the twentieth century. Indicates that nurses provide most of the health care and that there is a need to enhance the nursing education programs in Latin America. (JOW)

Ethical issues are examined that involve withholding medical treatment from severely handicapped infants. Although current laws do not sanction euthanasia, severely handicapped infants are often assisted in dying. Discussion includes society's apparent acceptance of this practice and several solutions to the problems. (Author)

Points out that while health problems often contribute to the problem behavior that causes juveniles to be taken into detention, institutions rarely treat these problems adequately. Summarizes common health problems among delinquent adolescents and calls for increased provision of comprehensive health services to institutionalized juveniles.…

The Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome, affecting 0.3 percent of congenitally deaf persons, consists of severe cardiac arrhythmias and sensorineural hearing loss. The authors recommend that every congenitally deaf child with suspicious symptoms receive an electrocardiogram and that professionals who work with deaf children not only inform…

Health care utilization patterns, health needs, and health behaviors of low-income Puerto Rican women in East Harlem were examined through questionnaires and interviews. Problems were found in access to care, communication with health personnel, and treatment related to contraception and childbearing. (GC)

Total Medical Record (TMR) is an automated, ambulatory medical record keeping system for patients at Duke University. (JD)

One-hundred and thirty-eight undergraduate students ranked the acceptability of common disabilities. (Author/CL)

Considers acupuncture as an increasingly popular alternative medical therapy, but difficult to describe in technical communication. Notes that traditional Chinese medical explanations of acupuncture are unscientific, and that scientific explanations of acupuncture are inconclusive. Finds that technical communicators must translate acupuncture for…

After a brief discussion of legal perspectives on informed consent, the present review examines the developmental literature on children and adolescents' capacities to make medical decisions that are informed, voluntary, and rational. The purposes and benefits of assent are identified. Remaining questions of how to evaluate capacity and balance…

Reports on the commonalities and differences in the status of older women in the member states of the European Community. The report is a timely reminder that the needs of this population group, as well as the risks they take, must be addressed by European policymakers and social planners. (Author/JOW)

Describes final weeks of dying child's life. Attempts to tell child's story, explore ethical and humanistic concerns involved, propose model of hospital care to improve lives of dying children, and engender thought and debate on the issue of quality of hospital care for irreversibly ill children. (Author/NB)

This article discusses reasons for the increase in basketball-related injuries, describes common injuries, outlines steps for diagnosis and treatment, and offers recovery and prevention strategies. (IAH)