Literature Review

Palliative and psycho-oncology care: Dr. Ramy Sedhom on patient distress signs Oncology Nursing News; by Alex Biese; 9/21/26Ramy Sedhom, MD, of Penn Medicine Princeton Health discusses blending palliative care with psycho-oncology to treat patient distress in oncology care. ... In this Q&A with Oncology Nursing News, Sedhom discusses strategies for bridging historical silos between palliative care and psycho-oncology, debunks persistent misconceptions surrounding supportive interventions in curative settings, and identifies clinical red flags for unseen distress. 

CMS cracks down on fraud, waste, and abuse in the Federal Health Insurance Marketplace® CMS Newsroom; Press Release; 9/22/26 As part of the ongoing efforts of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud to crush fraud in the healthcare system and protect taxpayer dollars, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking aggressive, sweeping actions within the Federal Marketplace — canceling approximately 315,000 unauthorized enrollments covering more than 760,000 individuals, which is expected to result in a return of roughly $2.2 billion in taxpayer-funded subsidies.  

CMS expands the ACCESS Model: new tracks for heart failure, COPD, substance use disorders, tobacco cessation, and extended MSK support Foley Hoag; 9/21/26 Key Takeaways:

Homecare Homebase announces 2026 Customer Award Winners and Home Care Aide Scholarship recipients PR Newswire, Dallas, TX; by Homecare Homebase; 9/22/26 Homecare HomebaseSM (HCHB) today announced the winners of its 2026 Customer Awards and the recipients of its Home Care Aide Scholarships. The annual programs recognize organizations and individuals demonstrating excellence across clinical quality, operational performance, industry leadership, innovation, and professional development. This year's honorees reflect the breadth of work underway across home-based care to strengthen patient outcomes, improve performance, and support the professionals who deliver care in homes and communities nationwide.

Finger Lakes Nurse Honor Guard gives late nurses a final tribute Democrat and Chronicle; by Mike Murphy; 9/21/26 As Ruth Benjamin was getting ready to retire after more than 50 years in nursing, two of her colleagues passed away. ... Nursing is a calling and a way of life, Benjamin said by way of explanation, and many like her and her colleague gave everything they had to their profession. ... After some research, Benjamin founded the Finger Lakes Nurse Honor Guard, which celebrates its third anniversary in October. The all-volunteer honor guard ensures that late nurses are recognized, in a similar way that honor guards pay tribute to late military or first responders. ... The service is free.Editor's Note: Though this article is behind a paywall, you can learn more about this inspirational Finger Lakes Nurse Honor Guard from their website.

Labor Day auction raises more than $1 million Hospice & Community Care, Lancaster, PA; online letter to their sponsors, volunteers, and community; retrieved from the internet 9/22/26 Thanks to your incredible generosity, we are proud to share that more than $1 million was raised to support hospice and palliative care, bereavement services, and grief support programs for the thousands of patients and families served by Hospice & Community Care each year. This remarkable achievement reflects the compassion and commitment of our community. Because of you, we can continue our mission of helping patients and families live better with serious illness through end of life. From all of us at Hospice & Community Care, thank you for making a difference.

We are all ignorant. We are just ignorant about different things. ~ Will Rogers

Sen. Baldwin demands investigation into veteran care failures at Tomah VAWXOW-19 ABC, Tomah, WI; by Terry Bell; 9/21/26 U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is calling for an immediate investigation into serious allegations about the failure to care for veterans and unacceptable conditions at the Tomah VA Medical Center. Baldwin is asking Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins to conduct a full review of staffing levels, provider coverage, medication delays, hospice care and patient safety at the Tomah VA Hospital. She's also requesting the VA Office of the Inspector General conduct an independent investigation. Baldwin's office heard from several Tomah VA employees who outlined severe lapses in patient care at the hospital. The allegations include inadequate staffing contributing to falls, injuries, food choking incidents and other adverse patient outcomes. [View recent incident:  Former VA nurse charged with intentionally abusing hospice patient]

[United Kingdom] Somerset MPs split as Parliament votes down assisted dying bill centraljersey.com, United Kingdom; by Josh King; 9/20/26 The UK House of Commons rejected the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on Friday, September 11, by 286 votes to 270, according to the Somerset County Gazette. The margin was just 16 votes. More than four hours of debate preceded it, over legislation that would have let terminally ill adults in England and Wales seek a medically assisted death. Somerset's own MPs were divided on the question, the Gazette reported, with most backing the bill and one voting firmly against it.

Chinese woman in her 70s wakes up in coffin before dying for good 2 days laterSouth China Morning Post; by Zoey Zhang; 9/21/26 A woman in her 70s in northern China briefly exhibited signs of life after being placed in a coffin, but ultimately died two days later. The woman, from Hebei province, had been suffering from cerebral thrombosis for decades and was also battling cancer, according to reports from mainland sources. After doctors concluded that her cancer was no longer treatable, her family brought her home for end-of-life care. On September 8, relatives found no apparent signs of life and placed her in a refrigerated coffin to preserve her body while awaiting the return of family members from out of town for a final farewell. However, the following evening, her daughter-in-law heard faint “humming” sounds coming from inside the coffin. ...

AI can detect cancer years before symptoms appear. Health policy has not caught upHealth Affairs; by Matt Hasan; 9/14/26Unless health policy evolves alongside the science, the gap between what AI can predict and what health care is prepared to do with that knowledge will keep widening. Consider an artificial intelligence (AI) model developed at the Mayo Clinic that analyzes routine abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans for subtle changes associated with pancreatic cancer before a tumor is visible to a radiologist. In retrospective validation, the model identified 73 percent of cancers a median of about 16 months before diagnosis, with detection possible more than two years earlier in some cases. The technology remains investigational, but it makes the emerging clinical dilemma concrete. If an AI system flags a patient as being at substantially elevated risk when conventional imaging shows no visible tumor, what should the physician do?

HPNF awarded Spanish-language access grant Hospice & Palliative Nurses Foundation; Press Release; 9/18/26 The Hospice and Palliative Nurses Foundation (HPNF) has received a $107,000 grant from Elea Institute for a new project titled the Spanish-Language Access to Hospice and Palliative Nursing Certification Initiative. Elea Institute is committed to ensuring all persons have access to high-quality hospice and palliative care and has awarded numerous grants supporting enhanced community access and educational resources. This grant project will address a critical barrier to equitable hospice and palliative care training: language access. Spanish-speaking nursing assistants are an essential part of the healthcare workforce, yet limited access to Spanish-language certification and educational resources creates barriers to professional advancement and equitable care delivery.

We should not be the same person the day after Yom Kippur that we were the day before Yom Kippur. We should be moving ahead, raising our lives to a higher level. ~ Rabbi Marc D. Angel