Evaluation & the health professions
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In Belgium and the Netherlands, consultation of a second independent physician by the attending physician is mandatory in euthanasia cases. In both countries, specialized consultation services have been established to provide physicians trained for that purpose. ⋯ Over 90% of attending physicians in both countries evaluated the consultant's knowledge of palliative care, patient's disease, and judicial procedure, and their communication skills, as sufficient. Consultation with specialized consultation services seems to promote quality of euthanasia consultations.
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This article reports a study evaluating the effects of implementing smoking bans among drug-using prisoners in Taiwan. Seventy-seven new entrants were recruited in May 2008. ⋯ Three general reactions to the ban were identified across all focus groups: (a) unfair/hypocritical policy; (b) being forced to stop smoking; and (c) finding ways to smoke anyway. Future studies should compare the effects of total versus partial smoking bans among drug abusers in prison to better explore policy options.