Teaching Legal Ethics: Exploring the Continuum

Spaeth et al assert that the only reason to teach legal ethics, or professional responsibility, is to try to make the legal profession more worthy of its stated ideals. The University of Pennsylvania Law School Center on Professionalism\u27s efforts to achieve this are discussed

Guidelines and Best Practices for Large and Mass Tort MDLs (First Edition)

Mass-tort MDLs dominate the federal civil docket, yet they present enormous challenges to transferee judges assigned to manage them. There is little official guidance and no rules specific to the management of mass-tort MDLs, often requiring the transferee judge to develop procedures out of whole cloth. Beginning in 2013, the Bolch Judicial Institute (then the Center for Judicial Studies) sought to address this issue through a series of annual bench-bar conferences. From these conferences came the Guidelines and Best Practices for Large and Mass-Tort MDLs document, which is designed to help judges and legal practitioners understand and efficiently navigate complex MDL procedures. As with any group product of this nature, where some consensus must be reached, the drafters and other participants are not individually responsible for any particular statement or provision, and may or may not agree with any particular statement or provision. The document does not necessarily represent the views of the Duke Law faculty or the Law School or University

The influence of infertility and in vitro fertilization treatment on postpartum and long-term mental health in women

Introduction: It is estimated that about 10-15% of couples suffer from infertility, i.e. the inability to achieve a clinical pregnancy after at least one year of regular, unprotected intercourse and that between 2-5% of births are a result of in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. Infertility and its treatment can have adverse effects on psychological well-being. While previous studies on postpartum depression (PPD) in IVF women suffer some methodological issues, there are no published studies on the risk of postpartum psychosis (PPP) after IVF pregnancies. Long-term, most women adjust well emotionally after IVF treatment but some, especially the childless, still suffer negative consequences. Meanwhile, few studies have extended beyond the first decade after treatment. Some studies have found that the childless elderly have social networks of less support potential but most show that psychological well-being is not affected by parental status. None of the studies have focused on the oldest old (≥85 years) and many have excluded those who live in institutional care, thus the frailest. Objective: The overall aim of this thesis was to study postpartum mental health in women who have undergone IVF treatment, using psychiatric diagnoses as outcomes, while controlling for major PPD and PPP risk factors as well as to determine the influences of childlessness, infertility and IVF treatment on long-term mental health in women. Materials and methods: Studies I-II are register-based, case control studies of 3532 (I) and 10,412 (II) primiparous women included in the Swedish IVF register. A control group of 8,553 (I) and 18,624 (II) primiparous women with spontaneous conceptions was selected from the Medical Birth Register. The main outcomes were PPD and PPP diagnoses the 1st year postpartum collected from the National Patient Register. Studies III-IV are cross-sectional. Study III included 470 women who had undergone IVF treatment 20-23 years previously. The Symptom Checklist-90 was used to investigate self-reported mental health. The results were compared with those from a population-based study and by parental status group. Study IV included 496 85-year olds. Psychological well-being, living situation, demographics and social network was investigated through a questionnaire and an interview. Results: Study I-II: There were no differences between the IVF and control group in the risk of receiving a PPD or PPP diagnosis. Having previously been diagnosed with any psychiatric, an affective or personality disorder increased  the risk of PPD while any previous psychiatric, psychotic, bipolar, depressive, anxiety or personality disorder diagnosis increased the risk of PPP. None of the women had committed suicide. Study III: The IVF women reported symptoms of higher intensity and were at increased risk of symptoms of depression, obsessive-compulsion and somatisation compared with the reference group. Childless women, compared with parents, reported a higher level of mental health problems as well as symptoms of depression and phobic anxiety. Study IV: No differences in psychological wellbeing, living situation or having friends close by were found across parental status groups. The childless 85-year olds were less likely to have relatives close by and to receive help. Discussion: This thesis indicates that the risk of receiving a PPD or PPP diagnosis from in- or outpatient psychiatric care or of committing suicide during the first year postpartum is not increased in women who have undergone IVF treatment. Any negative effects of infertility and its treatment might have been mitigated by the “healthy patient effect”; those who choose to enter treatment are generally psychologically robust. A history of mental illness is a major risk factor for PPD and PPP. The risk of some adverse symptoms of mental illness might be increased in women who have undergone IVF treatment twenty years previously, especially in those who have remained childless. The childless elderly appear to have social networks of less support potential but are not more likely to live in institutional care and do not experience more adverse effects on psychological well-being than the elderly who are parents

Utveckling av vården genom eHälsa : En kvalitativ studie av hur ”min journal på nätet” formar framtidens vård

Today is what you could call a golden age for technological development in health care. Technology is given a bigger role in healthcare and serves not only as a support for health professionals in their daily work but also as a tool for the patient. With the help of eHealth services, patients are becoming more involved in their own care. This improves patient’s knowledge about their health, which in turn contributes to higher motivation to perform self-care. Since the autumn of 2012, health records online have been implemented in certain counties through an eHealth application named "my online health record”. This application will soon be launched nationwide in Sweden. In this study we are examining how this technological progress can be understood from a number of actors' perspectives, who have an interest in the situation. We have investigated this by performing a qualitative study in which we interviewed respondents from three different professions in order to find out their attitude towards the application. The result from the data collection shows a development towards a greater involvement of patients in their care process. Many doctors see this as a positive thing since it increases patient safety and improves the quality of the meeting between doctor and patient. There is a risk, however, of creating a digital gap between certain patients. A large group of patients have a high education, good skills within IT and therefore the ability to assimilate the information, however there’s a minority whom has no internet access or knowledge to assimilate the information in a good way. This creates a gap between these patient groups, where the first group will receive better care and the later gets left out of the system. In conclusion, the study has shown that this ongoing trend cannot be stopped, patients will demand access to more and more information in a more accessible way

Mental health in women 20-23 years after IVF treatment: a Swedish cross-sectional study

Objective To assess self-perceived mental health in women treated with in vitro fertilisation (IVF) 20-23years previously, while comparing them to a reference group, and to determine any differences in mental health between those who had given birth, those who had adopted a child, those who had given birth and adopted a child and those who remained childless. Design A cross-sectional study. Setting A Center of Reproductive Medicine (RMC) at a Swedish University hospital. Participants 520 women who had undergone at least one IVF cycle at the University Hospital in Linkoping between 1986 and 1989. 504 of 520 women (97%) were eligible for follow-up. While 34 women declined, 93 per cent (n=470) of the women agreed to participate. The reference group consisted of 150 women of the Swedish population included in a study that was used to validate the Symptom CheckList (SCL)-90. Interventions Follow-up was conducted in 2008-2009. The SCL-90 was used to measure the womens self-perceived mental health and a questionnaire specific for this study was used to retain demographic information. Outcome measures The SCL-90 assesses 9 primary dimensions; somatisation, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation and psychoticism. There is also a global index of distress. Results Women who had previously undergone IVF treatment were at increased risk of symptoms of depression (p=0.017), obsessive-compulsion (p=0.02) and somatisation (p0.001) when compared to a reference group. In addition, the women who have remained childless are at increased risk of symptoms of depression (p=0.009) and phobic anxiety (p=0.017). Conclusions The majority of the women who have been treated with IVF 20-23years previously appear to be in good mental health. However, women who remain childless and/or without partner after unsuccessful infertility treatment constitute a vulnerable group even later on in life.Funding Agencies|Health Research Council in the south east of Sweden</p

Mental health in women 20-23 years after IVF treatment: a Swedish cross-sectional study

Objective To assess self-perceived mental health in women treated with in vitro fertilisation (IVF) 20-23years previously, while comparing them to a reference group, and to determine any differences in mental health between those who had given birth, those who had adopted a child, those who had given birth and adopted a child and those who remained childless. Design A cross-sectional study. Setting A Center of Reproductive Medicine (RMC) at a Swedish University hospital. Participants 520 women who had undergone at least one IVF cycle at the University Hospital in Linkoping between 1986 and 1989. 504 of 520 women (97%) were eligible for follow-up. While 34 women declined, 93 per cent (n=470) of the women agreed to participate. The reference group consisted of 150 women of the Swedish population included in a study that was used to validate the Symptom CheckList (SCL)-90. Interventions Follow-up was conducted in 2008-2009. The SCL-90 was used to measure the womens self-perceived mental health and a questionnaire specific for this study was used to retain demographic information. Outcome measures The SCL-90 assesses 9 primary dimensions; somatisation, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation and psychoticism. There is also a global index of distress. Results Women who had previously undergone IVF treatment were at increased risk of symptoms of depression (p=0.017), obsessive-compulsion (p=0.02) and somatisation (p0.001) when compared to a reference group. In addition, the women who have remained childless are at increased risk of symptoms of depression (p=0.009) and phobic anxiety (p=0.017). Conclusions The majority of the women who have been treated with IVF 20-23years previously appear to be in good mental health. However, women who remain childless and/or without partner after unsuccessful infertility treatment constitute a vulnerable group even later on in life.Funding Agencies|Health Research Council in the south east of Sweden</p

Major depressive disorder in women and risk for future generations: population-based three-generation study

Background The well-known adverse consequences of maternal depression prompts consideration of the importance of learning more about intergenerational transmission in order to identify individuals at risk of developing depressive disorders. Aims To follow two generations of women with major depressive disorder (MDD) and to examine the risk of MDD in the third-generation children. Method A register-based, retrospective cohort study of all women born in Sweden between 1973 and 1982 who had given birth during the study period, their mothers and their children. All generations were followed until 2013. Data was stratified into two cohorts: women born between 1973 and 1977 and those born between 1978 and 1982. Results Second-generation women were twice as likely to be diagnosed with MDD if their mothers had been diagnosed with MDD. If both previous generations had been diagnosed with depression the likelihood of the third-generation child being diagnosed with MDD was markedly increased (odds ratio (OR) = 5.07, 95% CI 4.06-6.34 and OR = 7.20, 95% CI 4.41-11.77 in cohort 1 and cohort 2, respectively). Conclusions There is a strong intergenerational impact in the transmission of MDD. The risk of MDD is especially high in individuals with MDD in both previous maternal generations

Risk of postnatal depression or suicide after in vitro fertilisation treatment : a nationwide case–control study

Objective To examine whether women who undergo in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment are at greater risk of postnatal suicide or postnatal depression (PND) requiring psychiatric care, compared with women who conceive spontaneously. Design Case–control study using data from national registers. Setting Sweden during the period 2003–2009. Population Cases were 3532 primiparous women who had given birth following IVF treatment. An aged-matched control group of 8553 mothers was randomly selected from the medical birth register. Methods Logistic regression analyses were performed with PND as the outcome, and with known risk factors of PND as well as IVF/spontaneous birth as covariates. Main outcome measures Postnatal depression (PND), defined as diagnoses F32–F39 of the tenth edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD–10), within 12 months of childbirth. Results Initial analyses showed that PND was more common in the control group than in the IVF group (0.8 versus 0.4%; P = 0.04); however, these differences disappeared when confounding factors were controlled for. A history of any psychiatric illness (P = 0.000; odds ratio, OR = 25.5; 95% confidence interval, 95% CI = 11.7–55.5), any previous affective disorder (P = 0.000; OR = 26.0; 95% CI = 10.5–64.0), or specifically a personality disorder (P = 0.028; OR = 3.8; 95% CI = 1.2–12.7) increased the risk of PND. No woman in either group committed suicide during the first year after childbirth. Conclusions Whereas mothers who receive IVF treatment are not at increased risk of PND, the risk is increased among mothers with a history of mental illness. Tweetable abstract A Swedish study on 3532 women showed that IVF treatment does not increase the risk of postnatal depression

Birth characteristics in a clinical sample of women seeking infertility treatment: a case-control study

Objective To determine the distribution of low birth weight (LBW), preterm birth, small for gestational age (SGA) and large for gestational age (LGA) by main cause of infertility (female, combined, male, unexplained) in women seeking infertility treatment. Design A case-control study. Setting A Centre for Reproductive Medicine in Sweden. Participants All women (n=1293) born in Sweden in 1973 or later and who were part of heterosexual couples seeking infertility treatment at a Centre of Reproductive Medicine from 2005 to 2010 were asked to participate. Those who had not begun the diagnostic process and who declined participation in the study were excluded. In total, 1206 women (94.5%) participated in the study. Main outcome measures Main cause of infertility (female, combined, male, unexplained) collected from the patients medical charts. LBW (less than 2500 g), preterm birth (less than 37 weeks), SGA (less than-2SD of the mean weight for the gestational length) and LGA (greater than+2SD of the mean weight for the gestational length), collected from the Swedish Medical Birth Register. Results The risk of being born with LBW was increased about 2.4 times (OR=2.40, CI 1.13 to 5.07, p=0.02) in women seeking treatment for infertility due to female causes rather than for male or unexplained causes. Women with a female infertility factor were 2.7 times more likely to be born SGA (OR=2.73, CI 1.02 to 7.34, p=0.047) compared with those in whom the cause of infertility was unexplained. Conclusions Women born with LBW or SGA seem to suffer an increased risk of infertility due to a female factor. Thus, infants born with birth characteristics that deviate from the norm may be at greater risk of difficulties in childbearing later on in life. Since this study is the first of its kind, more studies are needed to verify the associations found in this study and to determine their nature

Risk of postpartum psychosis after IVF treatment: a nationwide case-control study

STUDY QUESTION: Is the risk of postpartum psychosis (PPP) increased in women who give birth after IVF treatment compared to after spontaneous conception? SUMMARY ANSWER: The risk of PPP is not higher in the group of women who give birth after IVF treatment compared with women who give birth after spontaneous conception. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Women who conceive using IVF treatment can experience higher levels of pregnancy-specific distress and are at increased risk of pre-eclampsia, an immune-related condition which in turn has been linked to PPP, as well as other pregnancy and delivery complications, which also serve as PPP risk factors. It is not known whether the risk of PPP is increased in women who have conceived using IVF treatment. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: A nationwide, register-based, case-control study of all primiparous women who had given birth after IVF treatment between 1988 and 2012. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Information about 10 412 women was collected from the Swedish IVF register. A control group of women who had given birth after spontaneous conception was selected from the Swedish Medical Birth Register (n = 18 624). PPP diagnoses, identified using ICD-10 diagnostic codes F20-31 and F531 the first year postpartum, were collected from the National Patient Register. Associations between PPP and IVF/spontaneous conception were evaluated using chi-square tests and logistic regression analyses while controlling for known risk factors of PPP. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: There were no differences in PPP prevalence between the IVF group and the control group (0.3%, n = 29 versus 0.4%, n = 77) in the chi-square analysis (P = 0.169) or the multiple logistic regression analyses (P = 0.646; odds ratio (OR): 1.178; 95% CI: 586-2.365). No associations between pregnancy or delivery complications and PPP were found. A history of any psychiatric disorder (P amp;lt; 0.001; OR = 40.7; 95% CI = 23.9-69.5), or specifically a psychotic (P amp;lt; 0.001; OR = 324.1; 95% CI = 131.3-800.0), bipolar (P amp;lt; 0.001; OR = 516.1; 95% CI = 264.3-1008.1), depressive (P amp;lt; 0.001; OR = 27.5; 95% CI = 16.2-46.5), anxiety (P amp;lt; 0.001; OR = 12.9; 95% CI = 7.4-22.6) or personality disorder (P amp;lt; 0.001; OR = 27.3; CI = 11.8-63.0), all significantly increased the risk of PPP. LIMITATIONS REASONS FOR CAUTION: PPP is a rare condition, hence the number of individuals was small. Since all women for whom information was available from all registers were included, it was not possible to further increase the power of the study using this design. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Since this study is the first to examine risk of PPP after IVF treatment, more studies are needed to verify these results. The generalizability is restricted to primiparous women in western countries. This study confirms the results of previous studies in showing a history of mental illness to be the major risk factor for PPP