Doctors could benefit from support to help them cope with the trauma of patient death, says a psychologist speaking at the Death, dying & disposal conference organised by the University of Bath today.

Should doctors be involved in the state-ordered administration of capital punishment? In the September issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, three anesthesiologists and a medical ethicist take an in-depth look at this question in a commentary and two editorials.

Physicians who score poorly on patient-physician communication skills exams are far more likely to generate patient complaints to regulatory authorities, says a new study led by McGill University's Robyn Tamblyn and published in the September 5 issue of JAMA.

Asking more questions during a visit to the doctor might help patients get care that is more satisfactory, but many patients are not sure where to start.

Last week, the government announced plans to let supermarkets and retail pharmacies provide GP services, particularly in under doctored areas. Boots the Chemist welcomed this as "good news" but doctors raised concerns that this may be "a back door way of privatising the NHS."

Accessing high-quality health information on the Internet may improve breast cancer patients' opinions about their doctors, according to a new study conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center of Excellence in Cancer Communications Research, funded by the National Cancer Institute.