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Aging and Elder Law

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Elder Law: An excellent, thorough collection of sites on elder law.
Health Care Advance Directives: "A joint project with the American Association of Retired Persons and the American Bar Association Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly, this document gives general information about advance directives (commonly referred to as 'living wills') and includes a form for creating your own advance directive."
National Aging Information Center: "The National Aging Information Center (NAIC), a service of the Administration on Aging (AoA), is the central source for a wide variety of program- and policy-related materials and demographic and other statistical data on the health, economic, and social status of older Americans. Established under the Older Americans Act, NAIC opened in September 1995. Most of NAIC's services are free of charge."
National Center on Elder Abuse: "The objectives of the Center are to perform clearinghouse functions, develop and disseminate information, provide training and technical assistance, and conduct research and demonstration projects of national significance. The Center manages a Clearinghouse on Abuse and Neglect of the Elderly CANE), the nation's only automated, elder abuse literature search and retrieval system; publishes the quarterly newsletter NCEA EXCHANGE; compiles and disseminates "best practice" information; trains professionals and conerned citizens on elder abuse; distributes technical assistance memoranda on issues of importance to adult protective service (APS) and aging agencies; collects elder abuse statistics; performs research studies using data collected from agencies; analyzes state laws addressing elder abuse; provides agencies with assistance in improving their elder abuse information systems; and responds to inquires about elder abuse from the public."
National Senior Citizens Law Center: "The National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC) was established in 1972 to help older Americans live their lives in dignity and freedom from poverty, through legal work in support of elderly poor clients , client groups, and Elder Law Attorneys. NSCLC attorneys are knowledgeable in a broad range of legal issues and practice areas that affect the security and welfare of older persons of limited income."

AIDS

AIDS Resource List: A collection of links to AIDS information resources compiled by web designer Celine Chamberlin, and described by the author as "[an] extensive list of HIV/AIDS related web links, ranging from the clinical to the supportive. Rated 3 stars by Magellan, and mentioned in The Net magazine.
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network: "The Network is based in Montréal. It is the only national, community-based, charitable organization in Canada working in the area of policy and legal issues raised by HIV/AIDS. It was formed in November 1992 with the mandate to advance education and knowledge about legal, ethical, and policy issues raised by HIV/AIDS, and to promote responses to HIV infection and AIDS that respect human rights."
Marty Howard's HIV/AIDS HomePage: "This page is designed to help you find as much HIV/AIDS related information as possible from one starting place. The links will take you all over the U.S. and the world to many additional links where information in English can be found. Please excuse the duplication found in different areas. A little background.... I am 54 years old and HIV+. Debbie, a first grade teacher, and I have been married for 26+ years. We have 3 children. They are Shauna, Greg, and Shellye. They range from College Freshman to Second Year Masters Student."
UNAIDS: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS: "The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), based in Geneva, Switzerland, is an unprecedented joint venture in the United Nations family. It strives to maximize the United Nations's efficiency and impact in the field of HIV/AIDS by pooling the experience, efforts and resources of six organizations.UNAIDS is co-sponsored by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank. It thus brings together expertise in sectors ranging from health to economic development."

Associations

American Academy of Healthcare Attorneys: "The American Academy of Healthcare Attorneys promotes excellence in the practice of healthcare law nationally with timely, indepth health law information, analysis, practice support, education, communication resources, and advocacy support." The quarterly Journal of Health and Hospital Law is published by the AAHA and Saint Louis University Center for Health Law Studies.
American Academy of Pain Management: See below.
American Academy of Pediatrics: See below.
American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law: See below.
American Association of Bioethics: See below.
American Association of Nurse Anesthetists: See below.
American Hospital Association: Description forthcoming.
American Medical Association: "Mission Statement: We are the Voice of the American Medical Profession. We are the partnership of physicians and their professional associations dedicated to promoting the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health. We serve the physicians and their patients by establishing and promoting ethical, educational, and clinical standards for the medical profession and by advocating for the highest principle of all--the integrity of the physician/patient relationship."
American Pain Society: See below.
American Psychiatric Association: Description forthcoming.
American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics: "The American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics (ASLME) is a multidisciplinary educational association whose mission is to provide high-quality debate, scholarship, and critical thought for the community of professionals at the intersection of law, health care, policy, and ethics. For more than two decades, the Society has fulfilled that mission by providing extensive opportunities for multidisciplinary education to its international membership of attorneys, physicians, ethicists, nurses, allied health professionals, hospital administrators, risk managers, social workers, academics, students, and others. "
Catholic Health Association of the United States: "The Catholic Health Association of the United States is the national leadership organization of more than 1,200 Catholic healthcare sponsors, systems, facilities, and related organizations and services. The members make up the largest group of not-for-profit facilities under a single form of sponsorship. Founded in 1915, CHA participates in the life of the Roman Catholic Church by advancing the healthcare ministry through advocacy, education, facilitation, and research and development."
Commission on Professional and Hospital Activities: "The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research and The Department of Health Policy and Administration, both of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have administrative responsibilities for the management of the Commission on Professional and Hospital Activities, formerly of Ann Arbor, Michigan. In its managerial role, the UNC-CH staff of CPHA serves as the primary conduit through which researchers, nonprofit organizations and public sector agencies may gain access to the vast datasets maintained by CPHA in conjunction with Health Care Information Analysts (HCIA), a for-profit corporation that is a major national source of public and proprietary databases in the health care field."
International Association for the Study of Pain: See below.
International Association of Bioethics: See below.
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations: "The mission of the Joint Commission is to improve the quality of care provided to the public by providing health care accreditation and related services that support performance improvement in health care organizations. The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits more than 15,000 health care organizations in the United States, including hospitals, health care networks and health care organizations that provide home care, long term care, behavioral health care, laboratory, and ambulatory care services. An independent, not-for-profit organization, the Joint Commission is the nation's oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care."
National Chronic Pain Outreach Association: See below.
National Committee for Quality Assurance: See below.
National Health Lawyers Association: "The mission of the National Health Lawyers Association is to provide a forum for interaction and information exchange to enable its lawyer members to serve their clients more effectively; to produce the highest quality non-partisan educational programs, products and services concerning health law issues; and to serve as a public resource on selected healthcare legal issues."
Society for Health and Human Values: "The Society for Health and Human Values [b]rings together health care professionals with teachers and scholars with an interest in health care from disciplines such as ethics, health policy, history, law, literature, and religion. The diversity of the membership permits individuals to share the richness of their knowledge, insights, and experience to further professional and personal development."

Bioethics

American Association of Bioethics: "The AAB seeks to advance public understanding, free inquiry and debate about bioethics issues by bringing together clinicians, scholars, policymakers and policy analysts, interest groups, and others with responsibilities and interests in the field. A broad range of expertise is found in the membership on topics such as:
Center for Medical Ethics and Mediation: "The Center is an educational association dedicated to providing quality training, research, consultations and mediations for healthcare professionals and organizations. The focus of our mission is to enhance skill development in conflict resolution and ethical decision-making in today’s diverse and rapidly changing healthcare environment."
Consortium Ethics Program, University of Pittsburgh Center for Medical Ethics: "The Consortium Ethics Program (CEP) is an ongoing program designed to train staff from hospitals and health care facilities in the Western Pennsylvania region as "primary care" medical ethicists. The program also provides individualized resources to help these professionals meet the ethics needs of their institution. The CEP is a collaborative effort of the University of Pittsburgh Center for Medical Ethics and the Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania." Publishes a newsletter, Community Ethics.
Ethics Updates: "Ethics Updates is designed primarily to be used by ethics instructors and their students. It is intended to provide updates on current literature, both popular and professional, that relate to ethics." Edited by Lawrence M. Hinman, Professor of Philosophy at the University of San Diego.
Eubios Ethics Institute: "The Eubios Ethics Institute was founded by Darryl Macer in 1990, in Christchurch, New Zealand and in Tsukuba Science City, Japan.... The Eubios Ethics Institute is a nonprofit group that aims to stimulate the international discussion of ethical issues, and how we may use technology in ways consistent with 'good life' (eu-bios). It aims at an integrated and cross-cultural approach to bioethics, and at building up an international network."
International Association of Bioethics: "The International Association of Bioethics aims to be truly international, linking all those working in bioethics and related fields, facilitating mutual contact, and encouraging the discussion of cross-cultural aspects in bioethics."
The Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation: See below.
MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, University of Chicago: The MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago consists of an interdisciplinary group of professionals who study and teach about practical ethical concerns confronting patients and health professionals. The Center's core faculty of physicians, nurses, legal scholars, philosophers, and social scientists, direct medical ethics education at the University of Chicago, and provide ethics consultation to the University of Chicago Hospitals, area hospitals, and the media." Includes an extensive collection of "Ethics Policies and Codes."
Medical College of Wisconsin Bioethics Online Service: "The Bioethics Online Service is an information resource of the Center for the Study of Bioethics and the Office of Research, Technology and Information (ORTI) of the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW).... The Bioethics Database is an update service which provides abstracts of pertinent bioethics journal articles, legislative actions and court decisions. It also provides an intermittent commentary about current bioethics issues. Online information is updated every week and the database is searchable by key words."
National Bioethics Advisory Commission: "The NBAC provides advice and make recommendations to the National Science and Technology Council and to other appropriate government entities regarding the appropriateness of departmental, agency, or other governmental programs, policies, assignments, missions, guidelines, and regulations as they relate to bioethical issues arising from research on human biology and behavior. The NBAC also identifies broad principles to govern the ethical conduct of research, citing specific projects only as illustrations for such principles."
State University of New York at Buffalo, Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Health Care: "The Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Health Care is an interdisciplinary academic center of the University at Buffalo. The Center draws upon a wide range of individuals from various health care and academic institutions in the Buffalo N.Y. area."

Cancer

Community Breast Health Project: "The mission of the Community Breast Health Project is to improve the lives of people touched by breast cancer by acting as a clearinghouse for informaton and support, providing volunteer opportunities for breast cancer survivors and friends dedicated to helping others with the disease, and serving as an educational resource and a community center for all who are concerned about breast cancer and breast health. The Community Breast Health Project is grass-roots, patient-driven, and committed to providing services free of charge."
OncoLink: The University of Pennsylvania Cancer Resource: "OncoLink is the first multimedia oncology information resource placed on the Internet. OncoLink's mission is consistent with that of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, and the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center which has sanctioned its use and development. OncoLink is accessible worldwide to anyone with Internet access, and there is no charge for its use."

Children and Families

CYFER-NET (USDA Children Youth and Family Extension Research Network): The CYFERNet (Children Youth and Family Education and Research Network) Gopher Server is maintained by USDA's Office of Research, Education and Extension and the National Agricultural Library's Youth Development Information Center. Its objective is to provide full-text access to a wide array of information for both researchers, educators and practitioners at State institutions and in local communities, and to collaborate with other Federal and State agencies in managing information and establishing communications around child, youth and family issues. The server links to other national information resources that support Federal initiatives in child, youth and family programming.
American Academy of Pediatrics: "The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and its member pediatricians dedicate their efforts and resources to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. The Academy has 53,000 members in the United States, Canada and Latin America. Over 34,000 of them are board-certified and called Fellows of the American Academy of Pediatrics (FAAP). "

Death and Dying

The Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation: See below.
Last Acts Coalition: Last Acts is a call-to-action campaign dedicated to improving end-of-life care through sharing of ideas and solutions by professional care givers, institutions and individuals. The Last Acts web site includes news and updates, a resource center and reports on palliative care, family needs, service providers, education and training, financing and the workplace.

Disability

Americans with Disabilities Document Center: "This website contains copies of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), ADA regulations, technical assistance manuals prepared by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and other technical assistance documents sponsored by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) and reviewed by EEOC or DOJ.... These documents have been provided by the Great Lakes Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center, the ADA-OHIO Steering Committee, and Duncan C. Kinder, JD."
Cornucopia of Disability Information: "CODI is a gopher, intended to serve as a community resource for consumers and professionals by providing disability information in a wide variety of areas. The information addresses university (SUNY @ Buffalo), local (Buffalo & WNY), state, national and international audiences. Its contents are determined by these communities. Submissions and suggestions are always welcome."
Disability and Disease Specific Sources: From the University of Miami Biomedical Gopher.
Disability Materials on the Internet: Provided by Evan Kemp Associates, Inc.
Electronic Rehabilitation Resource Center: From the St. John's University gopher
The Open Door: Employment and Disability Network: "Our site is intended to facilitate accommodation, disability management, independent living and accessibility to all systems for those involved with employment and disability in local communities, Michigan and Nationwide."

Drugs and Medical Devices

Center for Devices and Radiological Health (U.S. Food and Drug Administration): "FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health is responsible for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of medical devices and eliminating unnecessary human exposure to man-made radiation from medical, occupational and consumer products. There are thousands of types of medical devices, from heart pacemakers to contact lenses. Radiation-emitting products regulated by FDA include microwave ovens, video display terminals, and medical ultrasound and x-ray machines. The center accomplishes its mission by:
The Medical Device Information Center: "The Medical Device Information Center is a place for medical device company management executives and venture capital investors to gain information on how to accelerate a medical device's transition from R&D to sales."
PharmInfoNet: Pharmaceutical Information Network: "The Pharmaceutical Information Network (PharmInfoNet) is a online drug information resource provided by VirSci Corporation. PharmInfoNet is a high-volume pharmaceutical information resource on the Internet World Wide Web, It serves as a recognized entry point to access high-quality independent assessments of therapeutics and advances in new drug development."

Foundations

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: "The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in Princeton, NJ, is the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care. It became a national institution in 1972 and concentrates its grantmaking in four areas: assuring access to basic health services; improving the way services are organized and provided for people with chronic health conditions; reducing the harm caused by substance abuse; and helping the nation address the problem of rising health care costs."
The Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation: "The Foundation accepts applications for grant support for programs in medical ethics, care of the dying, relief of pain; and for programs that teach reading, writing and other subjects (including the arts) to students who attend the New York City public schools."
The Mayday Fund: See below

Fraud

National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association: "Founded in 1985 by several private health insurers and federal/state law enforcement officials, the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA) is a unique, issue-based organization comprising private- and public-sector individuals and organizations responsible for the detection, investigation, and prosecution of health care fraud. "
Phillips & Cohen: "Phillips & Cohen is a law firm that specializes in bringing cases under the False Claims Act representing whistleblowers who sue companies that cheat the United States government.... We provide these pages to potential whistleblowers and anyone seeking information about the False Claims Act which says that any person who has knowledge of fraud against the federal government (or against the States of California, Illinois, or Florida which have similar laws) may bring a case against a potential defendant and be rewarded for helping recover lost funds to the Treasury. "
The Qui Tam Information Center: "Qui Tam ("who sues on behalf of the king as well as for himself") is a provision of the Federal Civil False Claims Act that allows a private citizen to file a suit in the name of the U.S. Government charging fraud by government contractors and other entities who receive or use government funds, and share in any money recovered."

General Information Resources

Achoo Internet Healthcare Directory: "The objective of our directory is to catalog, index, describe, and evaluate the mountain of healthcare information on the Internet. Achoo's comprehensive Internet healthcare directory contains over 6,500 links."
America's Housecall Network: This site, provided by United Health Care, provides a wide range of health information resources for both consumers and professionals, including drug information, disease information, and bulletin boards for group discussion on these topics.
CliniWeb: "The goal of CliniWeb is to provide quick and easy access to biomedical information on the World Wide Web (WWW). It is particularly focused on the information that would be used by health care profession students and practitioners. The information has been organized using the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) disease classification, with rapid access provided by both searching and browsing."
CHID Online: The Combined Health Information Database: "CHID is a database produced by health-related agencies of the Federal Government. This database provides titles, abstracts, and availability information for health information and health education resources. The value of this database is that it lists a wealth of health promotion and education materials and program descriptions that are not indexed elsewhere. New records are added quarterly and current listings are checked regularly to help ensure that all entries are up to date and still available from their original sources. Some older records are retained for archival purposes."
Cyberspace Hospital: This is a well-organized guide to worldwide medical information resources on the Internet, organized on the model of a real-life hospital and maintained by Dr. K.C. Lun, Department of Community, Occupational and Family Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore.
Hardin Meta Directory of Internet Health Sources: Maintained by Harding Library for the Health Sciences, University of Iowa. "'We list the sites that list the sites' ... Hardin Meta Directory pages have pointers to the most complete and frequently cited lists in each subject."
healthfinder: "healthfinder^TM is a gateway consumer health information web site from the United States government. healthfinder^TM can lead you to selected online publications, databases, web sites, and support and self-help groups, as well as the government agencies and not-for-profit organizations that produce reliable health information for the public. "
HealthNet: "Welcome to the HealthNet WWW Demonstration Project . This is a demonstration project undertaken by Health Information Infrastructure Consulting, Canadian Federal Government partners and members of the global health community to help highlight the potential of existing communications technologies that can be applied toward the development of a health information infrastructure for Canada."
HealthOnline: "Early in 1991, HealthOnline began to implement the vision of a place where healthcare leaders could exchange ideas, learn from each others experiences in a synergistic environment, and access some of the best thought leaders in the healthcare industry. Today, our philosophy of bringing people together through computer networking continues. And our Core Values guide us into the future."
HealthSeek: "HealthSeek has become the healthcare community's premier site for industry related news, information and resources. Hundreds of healthcare professionals, companies, organizations and consumers use our features each day. Our content is rich and we offer an array of services to healthcare businesses. Our goal has been to bring together, in one central resource, a place where people can come and easily locate specific information on healthcare subjects. We bring awareness to the community regarding the enormous amount of healthcare resources and business sites that are available today on the World Wide Web. Our team continues to seek out quality sites that are rich in content and offer in-depth information on specific topics, interests, products and services."
HealthWeb: The HealthWeb project was conceived in 1994, with the following expressed goals:
Hospital+Net: "Hospital+Net (sm) is a world-wide web resource for the doctors, nurses, patients, and medical students. Hospital+Net is sponsored and developed by donations from the medical and Internet communities."
Martindale's Health Science Guide - '96: Maintained by Jim Martindale. Includes "The Virtual Medical Law Center," a collectino of links to U.S. and foreign law sources.
Medical Matrix: Guide to Internet Clinical Medicine Resources: "Medical Matrix offers annotated pointers to a hierarchial, comprehensive database of global resouces that can assist in patient care. This Internet medical resource list is offerred in hard copy, as an online text document, and as an Internet hypertext, hyperlinked database accessible using World Wide Web browsers like Netcape. It is designed as a 'homepage' for a physician's or healthworker's desktop computer. The criteria for entry selection and ranking include utility for point of care clinical application, quality, currency, and unrestricted access. All resources are 'full text' unless otherwise specified."
MedWeb: Biomedical Internet Resources: Maintained by Emory University Health Sciences Center Library
The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy: "The Merck Manual is the most widely used medical text in the world. Written by over 300 experts, it covers all but the most obscure disorders. In addition to describing symptoms, common clinical procedures, laboratory tests, and virtually all the disorders that a general internist might encounter, The Manual deals with problems of pregnancy and delivery; common and serious disorders of neonates, infants, and children; genetics; drug dependency; psychiatric disorders; and many disorders covered by other specialties."
National Health Information Center: "The National Health Information Center (NHIC) is a health information referral service. NHIC puts health professionals and consumers who have health questions in touch with those organizations that are best able to provide answers. NHIC was established in 1979 by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), Office of Public Health and Science, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services."
The Virtual Hospital: University of Iowa College of Medicine: "The Virtual Hospital (VH) is a project of the Electric Differential Multimedia Laboratory, Department of Radiology, University of Iowa College of Medicine. It is a continuously updated digital health sciences library stored on computers and available over high speed networks 24 hours a day. The VH provides invaluable patient care support and distance learning to practicing physicians and other healthcare professionals. Its Iowa Health Book provides information to the general public on a variety of health issues."
The World-Wide Web Virtual Library: Biosciences: Maintained by Keith Robison, Harvard University Biological Laboratories.

Genetics

Center for Human Genome Studes: "The Center for Human Genome Studies at LANL was established in 1988. The LANL center's goals include assembly of complete high-resolution (0.1 Mb) maps of chromosome 16 and regions of chromosome 5, studies at the molecular level of chromosome structure and function, and isolation of selected genes of interest on chromosomes 5 and 16."
Electronic Genetics Newsletter: "A West Publishing On-line Service."
Epilepsy Gene Project: Sponsored by the Epilepsy Foundation of America (EFA). "This is an international search on the World Wide Web for families with epilepsy in order to:
Ethics & Genetics: A Global Conversation: "What do you think about genetic testing, genetic enhancement, gene therapy, genetic engineering? This "electric conversation" lets you post your comments INSTANTLY and engage in LIVE CONVERSATION with any of the hundreds who visit our site every week. FEEL FREE to talk about your concerns as a parent, researcher, clergy member, student." Maintained by Glenn McGee, of the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics.
The Gene Letter: "[A]n electronic newsletter about genetics and public policy.... Regular columns include one or more on: Science, Medicine, Ethics, Law, International Developments, a Student Corner, and a list of Resources. The Gene Letter operates an uncensored chatroom. The major purpose of The Gene Letter is to inform consumers and professionals about advances in genetics and to encourage discourse about emerging policy dilemmas." Published by The Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center.
Genentech, Inc.: "Genentech, Inc. is a pioneer biotechnology company using human genetic information to discover, develop, manufacture and market pharmaceuticals that address significant unmet medical needs. Genentech commits itself to high standards of behavior in contributing to the best interests of patients and the medical profession, and makes it products available to all patients who need them, regardless of their ability to pay."
Genetic Modifications, by Anders Sandberg: A speculative article on the possibilities of genetic engineering for achieving the goals of "transhumanism," i.e., "[p]hilosophies of life (such as extropian perspectives) that seek the continuation and acceleration of the evolution of intelligent life beyond its currently human form and human limitations by means of science and technology, guided by life-promoting principles and values."
Genetic Testing and Gene Therapy: What They Mean To You and Your Family: Sponsored by The March of Dimes; a service of NOAH: New York Online Access to Health.
Genetics and Ethics: Compiled by Bryn William-Jones, Faculty of Religious Studies and the Biomedical Ethics Unit, McGill University.
Genetics & IVF Institute: "The Genetics & IVF Institute is the world's largest, fully integrated, specialized provider of infertility treatment and genetics services."
Genetics & Public Issues: Maintained by the National Center for Genome Research, "a non-profit bioinformatics company."
The Hereditary Hearing Impairment Resource Registry: "The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) established the Hereditary Hearing Impairment Resource Registry (hereafter referred to as the HHIRR) on September 30, 1993, under a contract awarded to the Boys Town National Research Hospital, a division of Father Flanagan's Boys' Home, in Omaha, Nebraska. The purpose of the HHIRR is to be a national resource for the biomedical research community in the study of genetic hearing impairment and deafness." Includes useful fact sheets on basic genetic concepts.
Human Genome Diversity Project: ""The Human Genome Diversity Project is an international project that seeks to understand the diversity and unity of the entire human species. The HGD Project is still largely in its planning stages, but three documents are particularly helpful at this stage:
Human Genome Program (U.S. Dept. of Energy): "The Human Genome Program of the Department of Energy is a focused effort to reach the goals of the U.S. Human Genome Project in cooperation with the extramural division of the National Center for Human Genome Research of the National Institutes of Health. The U.S. project is part of a larger international effort to characterize the genomes of humans and several model organisms. (Other genome programs include the DOE microbial genome program, a project to characterize microbes of environmental or industrial interest.)"
Human Genome Project: Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues: "Serious study is now under way on the ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) related to increasingly rapid progress in understanding human genetics. Four areas were identified by advisers to the ELSI program for initial emphasis: privacy of genetic information, safe and effective introduction of genetic information in the clinical setting, fairness in the use of genetic information, and professional and public education. The program gives strong emphasis to understanding the ethnic, cultural, social, and psychological influences that must inform policy development and service delivery."
National Center for Genome Resources: "The National Center for Genome Resources is a not-for-profit organization created to design, develop, support, and deliver resources in support of public and private genome research."
National Center for Human Genome Research: "The National Center for Human Genome Research (NCHGR) was established in 1989 to head the Human Genome Project for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NCHGR is one of 24 institutes, centers, or divisions that make up the NIH, the federal government's primary agency for the support of biomedical research. The collective research components of the NIH make up the largest biomedical research facility in the world. NIH is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. To carry out these diverse duties, NCHGR is organized into several administrative units including: the Office of the Director, the Division of Extramural Research, and the Division of Intramural Research."
Understanding Gene Testing: An excellent introduction to the topic, provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute.
Wisdom in the Eye of the Frog: This web site is based on Wisdom in the Eye of the Frog, a book by Robert Vermeulen. "Wisdom in the Eye of the Frog uses the analogy of a frog to explain how free we really are, and why we develop the way we do. It employs first principles, as it answers age-old questions about nature vs. nurture, free will, the possibility of immortality, and how our temperament can be genetically determined at birth."

Government Agencies

Federal

HealthLinks: Health Agencies: Maintained by University of Washington Health Sciences Center
Centers for Disease Control: "As the Nation's prevention agency, we accomplish our mission by working with partners throughout the nation and the world to:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: "THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES is the United States government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves."
U.S. Federal Trade Commission: See above.

State

Intergovernmental Health Policy Project: "Since 1977, the Intergovernmental Health Policy Project has been devoted to conducting research and reporting on health care policy in the states."

Health Law

The Health Law Resource: Maintained by William Manning, Dechert Price & Rhoads. "This page is for those interested in health care law. Primarily, this page is intended as a resource for health care practitioners, professionals or anyone interested in learning more about the dynamic field of health care law, and more specifically, the regulatory and transactional aspects of health care law practice."
Health Policy Sites

Hospitals and Medical Centers

HospitalWeb: "Welcome to HospitalWeb, a small but growing list of Hospitals on the Web. This list is being compiled with the hope that more hospitals will take advantage of the amazing potential of the World Wide Web. Providing a simple and globally accessible way for patients, medical researchers, and physicians to get information on any hospital in the world is the goal."

International Projects

Global Health Network: "The Global Health Network (GHNet) is an alliance of experts in health and telecommunications who are actively developing the architecture for a health information structure for the prevention of disease in the 21st century. The professionals involved in GHNet bring together expertise from the essential areas of government, international organizations, business, and academia."

Managed Care

American Medical Specialty Organization, Inc.: "AMSO provides the provider community with management services that facilitate the health care professionals role and sophistication in the managed health care marketplace.... The purpose of the AMSO web page is to provide a forum for the healthcare professional and consumers of healthcare to learn and expound about the everchanging managed healthcare industry."
Health Administration Responsibility Project: "HARP is a resource for patients and attorneys seeking to establish the liability of Managed Health Care Organizations and Nursing Facilities for the consequences of their decisions.... However, many obstacles protect corporate providers from being held responsible for their acts. ERISA drastically limits the remedies available to injured workers, as well as preempting State regulations designed to control the more egregious problems. Rigged Mandatory Arbitration gives injured patients the illusion of justice. Strict application of state Tort laws holds doctors responsible for actions forced on them by Managed Care Organizations, which themselves escape liability.... We have collected here some aids for the plaintiff and his attorney attempting to surmount these barriers. We have links to pertinent sections of the Federal and California Codes, relevant Cases, other helpful sites, and musings on theories of liability. "
Kaiser Permanente: "Kaiser Permanente is a not-for-profit group model health maintenance organization, providing health care services to 6.8 million enrollees across 16 states and the District of Columbia. Founded in 1945, it is a partnership between Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals and the 12 Permanente Medical Groups and is both the oldest and the largest organization of its kind in the world. National headquarters are in Oakland, California; Regions include Northern California, Southern California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas City, Mid-Atlantic States, North Carolina, Northeast, Northwest, Ohio and Texas. All told, Kaiser Permanente encompasses more than 70,000 employees and 9,000 physicians."
National Committee for Quality Assurance: "The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to assessing and reporting on the quality of managed care plans, including health maintenance organizations (HMOs). We are governed by a Board of Directors that includes employers, consumer and labor representatives, health plans, quality experts, regulators, and representatives from organized medicine. NCQA's mission is to provide information that enables purchasers and consumers of managed health care to distinguish among plans based on quality, thereby allowing them to make more informed decisions. Our efforts are organized around two activities, accreditation and performance measurement (report cards), which are complementary strategies for producing information to guide choice. In the future, these activities will be integrated."
United HealthCare: "United HealthCare is a national leader in offering health care coverage and related services, serving purchasers, consumers, managers and providers of health care since 1974. The company serves over 40 million individuals through a broad continuum of health care products and services, including Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), Point-of-Service (POS), Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs) and health insurance products, as well as managed behavioral health services; utilization management; workers' compensation and disability management services; specialized provider networks; third-party administration (TPA) services; employee assistance services; Medicare and managed health care programs for the aged; managed Medicaid services; managed pharmacy; health care evaluation services; information systems; and administrative services."

Medicare

U.S. Health Care Financing Administration: "The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) is a federal agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. It was created in 1977 to administer the Medicare and Medicaid programs -- two national health care programs that benefit more that 72 million beneficiaries.... While HCFA mainly acts as a purchaser of health care services for the Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, it also:

Mental Health

HyperGuide: Mental Health Act: "This HyperGUIDE is designed to be used, subject to the Conditions below, both as an introduction to the [U.K.] Mental Health Act, and as a reference source for people with mental health needs, professional workers and others who come into contact with the Act. The Mental Health Act 1983 governs the admission of people to psychiatric hospital against their will, their rights while detained, discharge from hospital, and aftercare. The Act applies in England and Wales."
Internet Mental Health: "[A] free encyclopedia of mental health information." Designed by Canadian psychiatrist Dr. Philip Long and programmed by Brian Chow, Internet Mental health is designed to provide mental health information to professionals, students, patients, and families throughout the world.
Perspectives: A Mental Health Magazine: A quarterly online magazine provided by Mental Health Net, a project of CMHC Systems, "the leading provider of comprehensive information systems to the mental health community and have been a pioneer in developing computer technology for mental health organizations since 1978."

Minorities

Documenting the African American Health Care Experience in Michigan: A Guide to Sources: "Created by Renee McKinney and Nicholas Scalera for the University of Michigan Historical Center for the Health Sciences and funded by University of Michigan Hospitals.... Until the 1950s Detroit-area African Americans were systematically excluded from health care facilities on the basis of race. This page documents the African American health care experience in Southeastern Michigan from the early 20th Century through the present from the perspective of both the health care provider and the patient. It includes manuscript and archival resources associated with African American doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health care professionals. We have also made an attempt to document the institutions which trained African American health care providers and served the African American population of Southeastern Michigan."

News and Opinion

American Health Line: "American Health Line is a daily health care briefing on politics and policy at the state and national levels. Delivered Monday through Friday, this comprehensive briefing synthesizes the coverage of more than 100 newspapers, radio and TV broadcasts to help you keep abreast of the most important news in the last 24 hours."
Health Policy (Idea Central): The Health Policy Page is part of Idea Central, a "virtual magazine" from the Electronic Policy Network, a coalition of liberal organizations and think tanks.
NewsPage: Healthcare: "With thousands of categorized news stories updated daily, NewsPage™ is the web's leading source of daily business news."

Nursing

American Association of Nurse Anesthetists: "Founded in 1931, the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) is the professional association representing CRNAs [Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists] nationwide. The AANA has produced educational and practice standards, implemented a certification process for nurse anesthetists in 1945, and developed an accreditation program for nurse anesthesia education in 1952."
American Journal of Nursing Company: Includes full text of American Journal of Nursing, MCN: The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, Nursing Research, as well as the AJN Career Guide and a catalog of multimedia resources.
Nursing World: Sponsored by the American Nursing Association. "The American Nurses Association is a full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.2 million Registered Nurses through its fifty-three constituent state associations and thirteen organizational affiliate members. ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public."

Organ Transplantation

UNOS: United Network for Organ Sharing Transplantation Information Site: "UNOS administers the national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) and U.S. Scientific Registry on Organ Transplantation under contracts with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.... As such, UNOS is committed to:

Pain Management

Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) Guidelines: Includes Acute Pain Management: Operative or Medical Procedures and Trauma; also AHCPR Quick Reference Guides for Clinicians, Acute Pain Management in Adults: Operative Procedures and Acute Pain Management in Infants, Children, and Adolescents: Operative Procedures; and Clinical Practice Guideline 9: Management of Cancer Pain. Provided by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, Health Services/Technology Assessment Text.
American Academy of Pain Management: "The American Academy of Pain Management is the largest multidisciplinary pain society and largest physician based pain society in the United States. The Academy is a nonprofit multidisciplinary credentialing society providing Board Certification to practitioners in the area of pain management."
American Pain Society: "The American Pain Society (APS) is a multidisciplinary educational and scientific organization dedicated to serving people in pain. The society was founded in 1978 as a national chapter of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), and now includes more than 3,200 physicians, nurses, psychologists, dentists, scientists, pharmacologists, therapists and social workers who research and treat pain and advocate for patients with pain."
American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics: Project on Legal Constraints on Access to Effective Pain Relief: "A major component of the Project has been the development of the model Pain Relief Act, which is intended to remove one significant barrier to effective pain relief—fear of legal sanctions.... The next major phase of the Project is the preparation for a special issue of the Society's publication, the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, that will focus on legal, ethical, and institutional issues in providing effective pain relief."
The Costs of Unrelieved Pain: By Wendy Stein, M.D. "In a recent study, 81% of physicians and nurses felt that the most common form of narcotic abuse in the care of the dying is the undertreatment of pain."
International Association for the Study of Pain: "We are an international, multidisciplinary, non-profit professional association dedicated to furthering research on pain and improving the care of patients with pain. Membership in IASP is open to scientists, physicians, dentists, psychologists, nurses, physical therapists, and other health professionals actively engaged in pain research and to those who have special interest in the diagnosis and treatment of pain. Currently IASP has 5600 individual members from 83 countries. We are a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) affiliate of the World Health Organization (WHO)."
International Neuromodulation Society: "The Internation Neuromodulation Society (INS) was founded in Groningen, The Netherlands in 1989 by a group of clinicians and scientists which encompassed neurologists, cardiologists, neurosurgeons, vascular surgeons, angiologists, anesthesiologists and neurophysiologists. The INS is comprised of an international board representing various disciplines assuring a diversified representation of interests and a broad international appeal.... The goal of neuromodulation is not to cure a disease or to remove an abnormal structure, but to enhance normal function or to reduce dysfunction by modulating the chemical and electrical properties of the nervous system."
The Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation: See above.
Last Acts Coalition: See above.
The Mayday Fund: "Dedicated to reducing the profound human problems associated with pain and its consequences."
Mayday Pain Resource Center: "The purpose of the MPRC is to serve as a clearinghouse to disseminate information and resources that will enable other individuals and institutions to improve the quality of pain management. The MPRC is a central source for collecting a variety of materials related to pain including pain assessment tools, patient education materials, quality assurance materials related to pain, research instruments used in pain research and other resources. The MPRC is a compilation of materials in use and disseminated by the City of Hope professionals and materials contributed by other individuals and organizations."
National Chronic Pain Outreach Association: "NCPOA publishes the quarterly (more or less) newsletter, Lifeline, and serves as a clearinghouse of information on any kind of chronic pain They also maintain a list of support groups in many areas, have reprints of materials on all aspects of chronic pain, and can help in setting up a local support group."
Pain Centers, P.C.: "Pain Centers, P.C. provides an individualized therapeutic program which will result in reduction or elimination of the chronic pain condition, enhancing the quality of life and maximizing functional restoration."
The Pain Institute in Chicago: "The Pain Institute in Chicago was formed in June 1994 as a center for management and research in chronic pain. The Institute's principal doctors ... arrived at a number of similar techniques which lead to long term remission for many - even those labeled intractable in later stages of the disease. These techniques integrate conventional medicine, neuromuscular retraining and psychotherapy. The cornerstone of therapy is activation of the patient's own innate, natural healing resources. This is achieved by using specialized visualization, guided imagery and progressive relaxation exercises in conjunction with standard medical and physical treatment."
PAIN-L (Pain Forum discussion list): A discussion list for physicians, patients, and other interested parties. To subscribe to PAIN-L, send a subscription message to listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu. In the body of the message, type:
PainLink: "PainLink, a community of healthcare leaders committed to alleviating pain, is an initiative of Education Development Center, Inc. made possible through the guidance and financial support of The Mayday Fund of New York City."
Pain Management Online: "This web site is designed for the pain professional as well as chronic pain sufferers. The only part of the site that is restricted is the Forum, to participate you need to be a pain professional and to fill out a form to verify that. I recommend chronic pain news groups for chronic pain patients." Maintained by Eugene Lipov, M.D.. Director, Pain Management Center.
Pain Research Group, Department of Oncology, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center: "The Pain Research Group (PRG) was formed in 1979 by Charles Cleeland to be a center for implementing research and training to address the multiple factors leading to poor pain management and to promote pain relief. The sustaining purpose of the PRG is to improve the quality of cancer pain management, both in the United States and internationally, through a program of research, education, demonstration projects, policy development and communication."
Roxane Pain Institute: A variety of information resources on pain management for AIDS and cancer patients. Materials are included both for healthcare professionals and patients.

Patient Care and Rights

emtala.com: "A service of Andrews Fosmire Solka & Stenton, P.C., Attorneys at Law. A resource for current information about the Federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, also known as COBRA or the Patient Anti-Dumping Law. "
Medical Record Privacy: A collection of links and original material provided by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).

Physicians

AMA Physician Select: Provided by the American Medical Association, this database "provides information on virtually every licensed physiciain in the United States and its possessions, including more than 650,000 doctors of medicine (MD) and doctors of osteopathy or osteopathic medicine."
American Medical Forensic Specialists, Inc.: "American Medical Forensic Specialists is a leader in the field of medical malpractice case review and expert witness testimony. AMFS will identify meritorious cases whether your client is a possible plaintiff or defendant. If the case has merit AMFS will provide the ideal fit between our physician experts and your client."

Public Health

The Medical and Public Health Law Site: Maintained by Professor Edward P. Richards, Director, The Public Health Law Project, UMKC School of Law, this site features an electronic casebook, Law and the Physician: A Practical Guide, by Edward P. Richards and Katharine C. Rathbun.

Telemedicine

Telemedicine Information Exchange: "Telemedicine can be defined as the use of electronic signals to transfer medical information from one site to another. The technology used to perform telemedicine can range from a simple telephone, to satellites, to state of the art video-conferencing equipment. Although the definition is broad, telemedicine is increasingly being used as shorthand for remote electronic clinical consultation." Maintained by the Telemedicine Research Center (TRC), a not-for-profit public service research corporation based in Portland, Oregon.

Trauma

The Neurotrauma Law Nexus: This web site is intended to serve as a resource for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) survivors, family members, health care providers, social workers, and all other interested individuals whose lives and experiences are affected by Traumatic Brain Injury and Spinal Cord Injury.

Search Engines

HealthAtoZ: The Search Engine for Health and Medicine: "HealthAtoZ has been exclusively catalogued by medical professionals who have a greater understanding and strong background in health and medicine.... HealthAtoZ provides format and search capabilities for both medical professionals and consumers that save time, are comprehensive, and consistently maintained and updated. Our vision is to be the starting point for all your health and medical searches on the Information Superhighway."
MedExplorer: "The sole purpose of Med Explorer is to bring medically related sites to one search engine for your convenience. All sites listed on the MedExplorer search engine must have some bearing to medical information or interest. Only medically related sites will be returned to you, with no more sorting through other unrelated sites that happen to come up."
Medscape: The Online Resource for Better Patient Care

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