Annals of internal medicine
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In September 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the "Revised Recommendations for HIV Testing of Adults, Adolescents, and Pregnant Women in Health-care Settings" to improve screening and diagnosis. The CDC now recommends that all patients in all health care settings be offered opt-out HIV screening without separate written consent and prevention counseling. State law on HIV testing is widely assumed to be a barrier to implementing the recommendations. ⋯ In the 2 years since release of the recommendations, 9 states have passed new legislation to move from being inconsistent to consistent with the guidelines. State statutory laws are evolving toward greater compliance with the CDC recommendations. Policymakers, provider groups, consumer advocates, and other stakeholders should ensure that HIV screening practices comply with existing state law and work to amend inconsistent laws if they are interested in implementing the CDC recommendations.
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Primary care physicians are expected to coordinate care for their patients. ⋯ National Institute on Aging, American Medical Group Association, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Immediate listing for liver transplantation versus standard care for Child-Pugh stage B alcoholic cirrhosis: a randomized trial.
Liver transplantation improves survival of patients with end-stage (Child-Pugh stage C) alcoholic cirrhosis, but its benefit for patients with stage B disease is uncertain. ⋯ The French National Program for Clinical Research.
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Review
Screening for skin cancer: an update of the evidence for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States. The majority of skin cancer is nonmelanoma cancer, either basal cell cancer or squamous cell cancer. The incidence of both melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer has been increasing over the past 3 decades. In 2001, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) found insufficient evidence to recommend for or against routine screening for skin cancer by using whole-body skin examination for early detection of skin cancer. ⋯ The limited evidence prevents accurate estimation of the benefits of screening for skin cancer in the general primary care population.