[25 Years from Di Bella affair: what ethical lessons does it leave us?] / 25 Años del asunto Di Bella: ¿qué enseñanzas éticas nos deja?

Twenty-five years ago, in 1998, the Italian Parliament approved to implement clinical trials in patients with advanced cancer to know the efficacy of an alternative cancer treatment that associated hormones, vitamins and, occasionally, chemotherapy proposed by Professor Luigi Di Bella. It was the answer to people demanding Public Health assume the cost of this therapy. Although parallel phase II trials in various tumors demonstrated the lack of activity, some professionals have continued to use this method since then and have published apparently promising results a few various scientific journals. This real example raises three interesting ethical scenarios. The first one is the ethics of alternative treatments proposed by medical professionals or from the academic field. In these cases, the difficulty in differentiating between hypothesis and real efficacy. This problem impacts on patients and relatives' expectations who must face a potentially fatal disease with little or no hope of a cure with traditional treatments. The second scenario is the design and good practice in the development of clinical trials, which was also the subject of debate in relation to the Di Bella method. And the last one, the ethics of scientific publications. Di Bella's followers published since 2000 12 papers with limited quality on series of patients treated with his method, the majority in a pay-per-publication journal of which Giuseppe Di Bella, son of Professor Di Bella, is included in the board of editors.

Analysis of Regional Palliative Care Strategies: Do Health Policies Influence the Development of Assistance Coverage?

In Spain, health competencies are decentralized, and each autonomous community implements its own plans. Our aim is to determine if the existence of regional palliative care plans implies an improvement in health care coverage. We reviewed regional palliative care plans published in Spain and analyzed the following variables: number and profile of palliative care resources, guidelines and objectives of implementation of resources of these plans, and compliance with European standards. The publication of regional plans is associated with an increase in specific resources in the following years. From 2004 to 2009, the implementation of plans in 6 autonomous communities was associated with an increase in palliative care resources compared to those without a strategy (odds ratio: 1.58, P = .02) or with a settled plan (odds ratio: 1.40, P = .07). The same phenomenon was observed between 2009 and 2015 in 4 autonomous communities and 2 autonomous cities compared with those without a strategy (odds ratio: 2.49, P = .001) and those that implemented a plan before 2009 (odds ratio: 2.62, P < .001). Updating and evaluating these regional plans are also associated with the growth of palliative care resources.

The Use of Humor in Palliative Care: A Systematic Literature Review.

BACKGROUND: Humor has its own place in the context of medicine. Nevertheless, its acceptance by terminal stage patients and health-care professionals has not been studied in depth and is not free from controversy. OBJECTIVES: To understand the significance, appropriateness, and pertinence of the use of humor in palliative care and to analyze its applicability. DESIGN: A narrative systematic review was undertaken and included in PROSPERO. DATA SOURCES: Online searches were carried out on PUBMED, PSYCINFO, EBSCO (CINHAL), EMBASE, SCIELO, SCOPUS, TESEO, WEB of SCIENCE, and COCHRANE between their launch date and December 31, 2015, complemented with manual searches with queries to experts. A total of 156 studies were identified, which were then filtered in pairs by means of an established hierarchy, selecting studies that discussed the use of humor specifically in palliative care from all perspectives and designs, and finally published in Spanish, English, French, or Portuguese. Critical reading of all the selected studies took place, with no exclusions due to quality evaluation. RESULTS: Thirty-four studies were included. Five main topics were identified: (1) definition of humor, (2) use and functions of humor in palliative care, (3) how to use humor, (4) when not to use humor, and (5) humor before and after the diagnosis of terminal illness. CONCLUSIONS: Humor plays an unquestionable role in palliative care, but its use needs training and appropriate use.

Comentario sobre "Reflexiones acerca de la eutanasia en Colombia" / Commentary on "Reflections about euthanasia in Colombia"

We have read with great interest the Reflections about euthanasia in Colombia. It has reminded us that the support to decriminalize euthanasia is usually based on ordinary arguments: an emotional appeal of someone else's pain, rejection of disproportionate therapies, and praise to the autonomy of the individual. All of the above are mentioned in the text. With the emotional argument of mitigating pain and suffering to accomplish a smooth and easy transit or the idea of love and feelings of human solidarity with the sufferer, empathy is the logical consequence ("I wouldn't want to go through that") and presume that what is appropriate and piety-deserving is giving the patient an efficient and immediate exit. The rejection we all have against therapeutic obstinacy (cause useless suffering because of failure to adapt the therapy to the patient's situation, prognosis and values) leads to extreme positions that present euthanasia as the only option to avoid and prevent such disproportionate treatments. Finally, this autonomist and individualistic argument, transforms the respect for the right to refuse therapy or choose among several options inherent to lex artis into submission to the patient's wish, imposing his/her will as the only healthcare criterion. Beyond these arguments, when the debate turns into radical positions, the rejection of euthanasia is frequently presented as a religious issue, a Jewish-Christian cultural atavism or a moral imposition in the name of beliefs alien to a secular society.

[Do we need a more precise definition of what sedation is?]. / ¿Es Necesario Precisar el Concepto de Sedación?

Palliative sedation in defined as the deliberate reduction in the level of consciousness of the patient by administering the appropriate drugs in order to avoid intense suffering caused by one or more refractory symptoms; sedation in the patient who is in his last days or hours of life is assumed to be continuous and as deep as needed. Clinical experience shows specific situations where it is likely that there is some confusion of terms. We could erroneously understand as palliative sedation the cases of symptomatic treatment of hyperactive delirium in a patient in its last days (a situation that sometimes is presented as the first cause of palliative sedation) or those in which it is carried out a progressive increase in the palliative treatment that often have a sedative effect, parallel to the increased severity of symptoms because of disease progression in severe ill patients. In both scenarios, sedating drugs are used to relieve end-of-life clinical complications and suffering but the circumstances of the patient, the goal of these treatments, and the way they are used do not match the definition of sedation.

[Ethical questions in the Spanish journal "Medicina Paliativa": 1994 - 2013]. / Cuestiones éticas en la revista medicina paliativa: 1994 - 2013.

OBJECTIVE: "Medicina Paliativa" is the official journal of the Spanish Society of Palliative Care ("Sociedad Española de Cuidados Paliativos"; SECPAL) and it reflects the interests, also on bioethics, of the professionals caring terminal people. We want to know what the bioethical questions they discuss and their approaches are. METHODS: From all the published articles in "Medicina Paliativa" from 1994 to 2013 we selected those referred to bioethics topics. We analysed: number of publications, author, subtype of article, year of publication, topic, philosophic approach, and the presence of answers and discussion. Qualitative topics were reviewed and agreed by at least two authors. RESULTS: There were 60 (9%) publications with bioethics profile from a total of 672 analyzed articles. A majority were signed by only one author. 31 (51%) were published as letter. The most relevant topics were: euthanasia, dignity, proportionality of treatment and care, sedation, principles of bioethics, and information. The orientation of these papers was, in a majority, according to principles of palliative care. Most bioethics topics have been answered and even answered back. CONCLUSION: Bioethics is an interesting topic in palliative care. The arguments usually fit the principles of palliative care.

The Spanish version of the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System-revised (ESAS-r): first psychometric analysis involving patients with advanced cancer.

CONTEXT: The Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) is a measure widely used in palliative care for the assessment of symptoms in patients with advanced cancer. The tool has been validated in different languages, including Spanish. A revised version (ESAS-r) was developed by Watanabe et al. in 2010. OBJECTIVES: To develop the Spanish version of the ESAS-r and examine its psychometric properties. METHODS: Based on the original English version, a group of experts created a Spanish version of the ESAS-r and administered it to a group of advanced cancer patients. Patients completed the ESAS and ESAS-r and were asked for their perceptions of the tool. The psychometric properties of the ESAS-r that were analyzed were equivalence, internal consistency, and discriminant validity. RESULTS: Sixty-six patients from Spain and Guatemala participated in the survey. Patients perceived the ESAS-r to be significantly easier to understand and easier to complete than the ESAS. Significantly, patients preferred the ESAS-r (47%) to the ESAS (15%; P<0.0007). As to reliability, we found good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.86), and the equivalence of the two versions was between 0.71 and 0.94. The ESAS-r discriminates between inpatients and outpatients (Mann-Whitney U test; P=0.02) and among those with different palliative performance status (Spearman's rho for pain, tiredness, drowsiness, lack of appetite, well-being; P<0.01). CONCLUSION: The ESAS-r is a valid instrument with adequate psychometric characteristics. This version is preferred by patients with advanced cancer. The Spanish version of the ESAS-r can, therefore, replace the use of the ESAS.