{"title":"Access to Cancer Medicines in Türkiye Through Legal Avenues: An Analysis from the Perspective of Medical Ethics.","authors":"Canan Ersoy, Müge Demir","doi":"10.1007/s10728-026-00580-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10728-026-00580-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cancer remains a leading cause of disease-related mortality worldwide. Advances in oncology have enabled the development of novel therapies, including targeted therapies and immunotherapies, that act more selectively on cancer cells than conventional treatments. In Türkiye, medicine reimbursement is administered by the Social Security Institution (SSI) through the national health insurance system. However, some newly developed and high-cost cancer medicines are not reimbursed, leading some patients to seek public coverage through litigation. This practice raises ethical concerns by creating tension between individual claims to the right to health and the fair allocation of scarce resources, while also drawing attention to inequities in access to healthcare. This article analyzes litigation-based access to cancer medicines in Türkiye through the four principles of biomedical ethics and discusses key ethical challenges, with a focus on fair, transparent, and sustainable reimbursement processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":46740,"journal":{"name":"Health Care Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148273316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Epistemic Adequacy: A Ground for Human Rights in Psychiatry : Towards a Functional Framework for Clinical and Legal Alignment.","authors":"Vladimir Zaichenko","doi":"10.1007/s10728-026-00578-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10728-026-00578-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Recent debates in global mental health reveal a persistent gap between normative commitments and clinical reality. This commentary engages with two recent contributions in International Journal of Law and Psychiatry-on CRPD indicators and on institutionalized ignorance in court-alongside parallel discussions in global health governance and artificial intelligence in psychiatry. It is argued that the limited progress in implementing human rights is not primarily due to insufficient ethical commitment, but to a structural misalignment between legal, clinical, and administrative modes of judgment. The paper proposes a shift from indicator-based compliance toward criteria of functional adequacy and cross-context consistency. Without restoring epistemic adequacy, both human rights frameworks and AI-driven tools risk reinforcing the institutional patterns they are intended to improve.</p>","PeriodicalId":46740,"journal":{"name":"Health Care Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148253879","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nicolas Rincon-Garcia, Santiago Aguirre, Rafael Guillermo García-Cáceres
{"title":"Evidence-Based Planning of High-Complexity Healthcare Networks at National Level: Integrating Mortality Records, Accessibility Metrics, and Facility Location Optimization Models.","authors":"Nicolas Rincon-Garcia, Santiago Aguirre, Rafael Guillermo García-Cáceres","doi":"10.1007/s10728-026-00572-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10728-026-00572-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study presents a four-step methodology to analyze and improve the provision of high-complexity healthcare services (HCHS) at national level: (i) data analysis and identification of municipalities with a concentration of HCHS provision, referred to as supplier municipalities; (ii) measurement of accessibility to supplier municipalities; (iii) identification of new facility locations through optimization techniques; and (iv) determination of the level of service provision required at the new locations. The proposed methodology is applied to the case of Colombia, where 65.25% of deaths occur in medical facilities. An analysis of the national database shows that in supplier municipalities, 92.8% of residents die in the same municipality, whereas in other municipalities this proportion decreases to 55.2%, indicating travel patterns among critically ill patients to supplier municipalities. Optimization methods are then used to identify locations for new HCHS facilities; the addition of 10 new locations improves coverage for 3,842,920 inhabitants within a 120 km range of HCHS.</p>","PeriodicalId":46740,"journal":{"name":"Health Care Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148253825","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Correction: Metaphors of Health System Resilience as Tools for Preparedness Imagination.","authors":"Kristiina Janhonen, Aino Rantamäki","doi":"10.1007/s10728-026-00579-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10728-026-00579-w","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46740,"journal":{"name":"Health Care Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148253895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Clashing Perspectives? Two Approaches to the Desirability of Biological Aging.","authors":"Joan Llorca Albareda, Pablo García-Barranquero","doi":"10.1007/s10728-026-00576-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10728-026-00576-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Biotechnological interventions in biological aging could provide substantial opportunities to reduce, mitigate, or even eliminate this process, and could create better conditions for the pursuit of meaningful life projects. In this article, we contrast two (allegedly) opposing ethical perspectives on these interventions: on the one hand, individual welfarist approaches; and on the other, those rooted in social-structural considerations. After providing an overview of the current state of the literature on the ethics of aging, we show why it is generally believed that both perspectives offer distinct assessments of biotechnological interventions in biological aging, relying on arguments that seem a priori irreconcilable. However, in the second and third section, we argue that this idea is misguided and that both perspectives are intertwined and complement each other. First, we argue that the concepts of well-being, disability, and aging encompass both individual and social dimensions. Second, we critically discuss how both perspectives are essential for assessing the desirability of these biotechnological interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":46740,"journal":{"name":"Health Care Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148206659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rethinking Health System Readiness for Frailty Management: Frontline Perspectives from Indonesia and Malaysia.","authors":"Rista Fauziningtyas, Retno Indarwati, Nuzul Qur'aniati, Latifah Jehloh, Trihaningsih Puji Astuti, Rani Dwi Sulistiawati, Atsir Alma Dinisa, Roshaslina Rosli, Khailesh Bushan Balakrishnan, Maw Pin Tan","doi":"10.1007/s10728-026-00575-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10728-026-00575-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Frailty is a major concern for healthy ageing, reflecting declining functional capacity and increased vulnerability. Beyond clinical implications, frailty raises questions about how health systems recognise vulnerability, allocate responsibilities, and ensure equitable care. These challenges align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Health system readiness refers to the capacity of health systems to adapt policies, infrastructure, and operational processes to integrate frailty care into routine service delivery. In low- and middle-income contexts, frailty remains insufficiently embedded within health system frameworks, limiting coordinated responses. This study examines how readiness for frailty care is understood and enacted by frontline healthcare professionals. Using a qualitative design, five focus group discussions were conducted (March-July 2024) across healthcare settings in Indonesia and Malaysia. Nineteen participants, representing nursing, medicine, physiotherapy, and pharmacy, were purposively recruited. Data were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using inductive thematic analysis supported by NVivo. Analytical rigour was enhanced through investigator triangulation, team-based coding, and member checking. Four interrelated themes reveal systemic gaps. Frailty remains largely invisible in policy and clinical frameworks; professional roles are fragmented and weakly coordinated; care responsibilities are displaced to families and communities; and structural resource constraints limit implementation. These findings indicate uneven readiness. Strengthening readiness requires alignment across governance, service delivery, and workforce capacity to address inequities in the distribution of care responsibilities. Frailty thus emerges as a critical lens for evaluating health system governance in ageing societies.</p>","PeriodicalId":46740,"journal":{"name":"Health Care Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148206568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Care in Dispute: Medical Work Between Moral and Market Logics.","authors":"Raquel Yamada, Guilherme Wendt, Miguel Perondi","doi":"10.1007/s10728-026-00574-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10728-026-00574-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article examines how the platformization of medical work has been reconfiguring the ethical, relational, and subjective dimensions of healthcare in the Brazilian context. Drawing on contributions from economic sociology, it argues that the growing mediation of medical practice by digital platforms, managerial protocols, and market-oriented rationalities exceeds strictly technological or organizational changes, constituting a sociotechnical reorganization of care. Based on the concepts of disembedding, contested markets, and emotional labor, the article examines how the fragmentation of labor ties, the intensification of emotional demands, and contractual instability affect professional autonomy, therapeutic continuity, and the construction of trust between physicians and patients. In Brazil, these transformations become particularly relevant given the accelerated expansion of the medical workforce, regional inequalities, and the increasing incorporation of managerial mechanisms and digitally mediated infrastructures in both the private sector and the Unified Health System (SUS). It is argued that the contemporary precarization of medical work affects not only labor conditions but also weakens the ethical and relational foundations that guide healthcare. Finally, the article argues for strengthening stable institutional ties, conditions for attentive listening, and forms of work organization capable of preserving the relational, collective, and ethical character of medical practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":46740,"journal":{"name":"Health Care Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148164652","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From School-Based Immunization to Family Health Centers: the Impact of a 2020 Policy Change on 13-Year-Old Tetanus-Diphtheria Vaccine Coverage in Turkey.","authors":"Ufuk Acar, Burcu Beyazgül, Feyyaz Barlas, Harun Mesut Atmacaoğlu, İbrahim Koruk","doi":"10.1007/s10728-025-00557-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10728-025-00557-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study evaluated the impact of transferring the thirteen‑year tetanus-diphtheria booster from schools to Family Health Centers on vaccination coverage after 1 July 2020. In a two‑component descriptive cross‑sectional design conducted in the central districts of Şanlıurfa Province, annual non‑vaccination from 2018 to 2022 was tracked using administrative records; in addition, reasons for non‑vaccination were classified through face‑to‑face interviews with family physicians and on‑screen verification in nineteen Family Medicine Units selected by two‑stage stratified sampling. The primary outcome was non‑vaccination for the tetanus-diphtheria dose at age thirteen. In the research group, non‑vaccination was 23.5% in 2018, 27.2% in 2019, 22.2% in 2020 (annual total), 13.2% in 2021 and 12.3% in 2022; within 2020, rates were 32.4% before July and 11.9% after July. The absolute pre‑ versus post‑policy difference was 14.4% points and the relative risk was 0.47; the three districts likewise showed consistent declines in 2021-2022 compared with 2018-2019. Leading reasons for non‑vaccination were failure to attend after expressing intent (49.1%), outright refusal (20.9%), migration‑related mobility (13.5%), and doses administered elsewhere that were not visible in the records (8.6%). Relocating delivery to Family Health Centers strengthened access and follow‑up and was associated with improved coverage; yet intention-behaviour gaps, mobility and data fragmentation still limit attainment of the national threshold. A hybrid model combining school‑based visits with targeted completion at Family Health Centers may provide a pragmatic, low‑cost route to reach remaining groups.</p>","PeriodicalId":46740,"journal":{"name":"Health Care Analysis","volume":" ","pages":"149-161"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13212385/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146031155","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health Care AnalysisPub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-01-22DOI: 10.1007/s10728-026-00559-0
Katherine F Raymond, Twanna Hodge, Beth St Jean, Brooke Fisher Liu
{"title":"Barriers to Long COVID Care in the U.S.: An Application of Levesque et al.'s Access Framework.","authors":"Katherine F Raymond, Twanna Hodge, Beth St Jean, Brooke Fisher Liu","doi":"10.1007/s10728-026-00559-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10728-026-00559-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Long COVID is a condition that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic in individuals who developed the multi-system chronic condition after a COVID-19 infection. During the pandemic in the United States (U.S.), these \"COVID long-haulers\" navigated a complex and overburdened health care system in pursuit of diagnoses and treatments. This qualitative secondary analysis used the 2013 Levesque et al. Conceptual Model of Healthcare Access to examine multidimensional health care access issues faced by 29 COVID long-haulers in the U.S. Our analysis showed that long-haulers faced complementary issues from both individual and health systems perspectives related to the inability to get diagnoses or treatments, long waiting times for providers and difficulty reaching services, underinformed providers and biased interpersonal experiences, and struggles with the financial costs of treating the condition, which impacted care decisions. Interviewees also described relying on alternative medicine to provide symptom relief. Overall, this study extends international research by offering a comprehensive examination of Long COVID health care access issues in the U.S. and identifying specific insights related to health care access that made obtaining Long COVID care difficult, such as the mismatch between individual expectations of what health care should look like and how it actually operates. Our use of the full Conceptual Model of Healthcare Access provides new insights into the overlap across layers of access issues and offers suggestions for how public health and clinical health practitioners can collaborate to meet the needs of vulnerable populations such as these in future health emergencies.</p>","PeriodicalId":46740,"journal":{"name":"Health Care Analysis","volume":" ","pages":"162-186"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13212712/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146019949","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health Care AnalysisPub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-04-07DOI: 10.1007/s10728-026-00563-4
Steve Matthews
{"title":"Compassionate Understanding in Dementia Care.","authors":"Steve Matthews","doi":"10.1007/s10728-026-00563-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10728-026-00563-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Practitioners of person-centred care (PCC) for people living with dementia aspire to preserve and honour personhood through respect, relational care, and the promotion of agency and interests; yet its practical realisation often falters. This paper isolates an important moral-psychological element required for PCC’s fulfilment: the professional stance of compassionate understanding. Drawing upon philosophical analysis and empirical literature, the paper conceives this stance as a capacity combining enlightened compassion with four aspects of ethically informed care: forbearance, moral perception, skilled virtue, and empowerment. Compassionate understanding reconciles emotional attunement with the disciplined detachment required for professional endurance, thereby mitigating burnout while sustaining moral sensitivity and integrity. Grounded in an examination of dementia care practices, the paper argues that compassionate understanding constitutes an ethically desirable framework through which person-centred norms are realised.</p>","PeriodicalId":46740,"journal":{"name":"Health Care Analysis","volume":" ","pages":"118-134"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13212755/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147628896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}