Contemporary Issues

At a national conference, a pharmaceutical representative reaches out to you and offers you an all-inclusive trip to the Bahamas to hear about their newest available preventative migraine therapy. As a resident, which is the most appropriate response:

Which of the following would not constitute or be concerning for a HIPAA violation?

A study published in 1992 indiscriminately assigned 457 patients with optic neuritis to receive either 14 days of oral prednisone, 3 days of intravenous methylprednisolone followed by 11 days of prednisone, or an oral placebo for 14 days as an acute therapy. Visual function testing was performed intermittently over a six-month follow-up period. The results showed that patients who received methylprednisolone followed by oral prednisone had a faster rate of visual recovery. What type of study design was this?

A patient with newly-diagnosed early state amyotrophic lateralized sclerosis (ALS) presents to your multidisciplinary clinic for the first time. After discussing the effectiveness and side effects of riluzole and endavarone, the patient informs you that he doesn’t want to start either medication. Which of the following basic principles of medical ethics could be best applied to this scenario?

You have recently diagnosed an asymptomatic 45-year-old man with Huntington’s disease based on genetic testing which was requested based on a family history of the disease. The patient was informed of these findings in the clinic with his wife by his side. On the following day, you receive a phone call from the patient’s 23-year-old son asking what the results of the testing were. What is the most appropriate response to this question?

Which of the following is the most accurate statement regarding driving with epilepsy?

A patient with end-stage amyotrophic lateralized sclerosis (ALS) presents to the emergency room from a nursing home alone. His vitals show hypoxemia and he appears tachypneic on examination. On examination, he is also paraplegic with significant weakness in the upper extremities and mild dysarthria. His mental status examination appears intact. Between short breaths, he says that he does not wish to be intubated. This is consistent with the end-of-life discussions documented in the outpatient clinic notes. As his hypoxemia worsens his wife arrives at the bedside and with urgency asks you to intubate the patient. What is the most appropriate response?

389 Patients who had acute unilateral optic neuritis were enrolled between 1988-1991 in a study and followed for 15 years to assess their risk for developing multiple sclerosis (MS). They found that the probability of developing MS within 15 years was 50%. What type of study was this?

An 18-year-old woman presents as a new patient to your clinic for “seizures”. On review of her medical records, you find that she has had numerous ED visits and inpatient admissions for generalized shaking spells. Several of them have been captured on video EEG recording and there was no EEG correlate with the behavior, suggesting that they are psychogenic non-epileptic attacks/spells (PNEA/PNES). She says she is seeing you today because “I need someone to refill my seizure medications.” Which of the following basic principles of medical ethics could be best applied to this scenario?

A 72-year-old man with a history of right-sided carotid stenosis was transferred from an outside hospital to your institution to have a carotid stent placed after experiencing a mild right-hemispheric ischemic stroke. The patient was sent to the angiography lab and had a carotid stent placed, however, it was done so on the unaffected (left) side. What is this an example of?

A 53-year-old Spanish-speaking woman comes to your clinic for the first time with complaints of memory loss. She is accompanied by her 16-year-old daughter who is bilingual. You quickly realize that the patient does not have a strong grasp of the English language. After proposing to use a professional translator the daughter says that she feels comfortable translating for her mother. What is the most appropriate next step?

A 68-year-old woman with no significant medical history presents in the emergency room with acute aphasia and right-sided weakness. Her wife who is in the room states the patient was last seen well one hour prior to arrival at the hospital. A CT scan of the head showed no acute hemorrhage. After screening the patient and discussing the risks and benefits of acute pharmacological therapy with her significant other the patient was given intravenous tPA. Thirty minutes later the patient had an acute neurological decline. She was sent for a repeat CT scan which showed a new 16 cc intraparenchymal hemorrhage in the left hemisphere. What is this an example of?