Bioethics (OnlineEarly Articles) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:
“THE MORAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN KILLING AND LETTING DIE IN MEDICAL CASES” by JOACHIM ASSCHER, 25-Jan-2008
“MASS-VACCINATION PROGRAMMES AND THE VALUE OF RESPECT FOR AUTONOMY” by LOTTE ASVELD, 25-Jan-2008
“‘FAIR BENEFITS’ ACCOUNTS OF EXPLOITATION REQUIRE A NORMATIVE PRINCIPLE OF FAIRNESS: RESPONSE TO GBADEGESIN AND WENDLER, AND EMANUEL ET AL.” by ANGELA BALLANTYNE, 23-Jan-2008
“OUTLINING ETHICAL ISSUES IN NANOTECHNOLOGIES” by ANTONIO G. SPAGNOLO AND VIVIANA DALOISO, 23-Jan-2008

Sociology of Health & Illness (Vol. 30 Issue 1, January 2008, Page 1-166) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:
“‘Ordinary people only’: knowledge, representativeness, and the publics of public participation in healthcare” by Graham P. Martin, 35–54
“Autism and social movements: French parents’ associations and international autistic individuals’ organisations” by Brigitte Chamak, 76–96
“Jumping off and being careful: children’s strategies of risk management in everyday life” by Pia Christensen and Miguel Romero Mikkelsen, 112–130
“Producing genetic knowledge and citizenship through the Internet: mothers, pediatric genetics, and cybermedicine” by Rebecca Schaffer, Kristine Kuczynski and Debra Skinner, 145–159

Book reviews
“Knowledge to Action: Evidence-based Healthcare in Context” by Dopson, S. and Fitzgerald
L., reviewed by Jane Sandall, 161–161
“Compassionate Cities. Public Health and End of Life Care” by Kellehear, A., reviewed by Karen Lowton, 163–164

I have seen cases like this before: Husband kills sick wife, claims she wanted to die. Facts later disclose he was getting some nookie on the side or wished to pursue other agendas. Classic example: George Delury who “assisted” the suicide of his wife Myrna Lebov, who was not terminally ill with MS. As I wrote in Forced Exit, when Delury claimed it was a merciful act, the right to die crowd loudly clamored to his side. Then, it turned out that Delury pushed his wife to kill herself. From my book:

Delury became an instant “victim-celebrity.” He made numerous television appearances, a speech in front of the American Psychiatric Association, and signed a book deal to write his story. Far and wide, he was acclaimed as a dedicated husband willing to risk jail to help his wife achieve her deeply desired end to suffering. He was allowed to quickly plead guilty to a minor crime and served only 4 months in jail…

Delury [later] admitted that he encouraged his wife to kill herself, or as he put it, “to decide to quit.” He researched her antidepressant medication to see if it could kill her, and when she took less than the prescribed amount, which in and of itself could cause depression, he used the surplus to mix the poisonous brew that ended her life. But he went further than that. He helped destroy her will to live by making her feel worthless and a burden on him.

Delury recently killed himself.

Now, the “mercy killing” in Oregon has taken a similar potential turn. From the story:

Prosecutors say a Gresham man who claims he killed his terminally ill wife to end her misery was not the loving, devoted husband he pretended to be. Court documents filed Monday after John Lyle Roberts was indicted on a charge of murder paint a dramatically different portrait of the man who claimed to be a compassionate mercy killer.

For starters, Virginia Roberts wasn’t dying of an illness when she was shot in the head as she slept Feb. 2. And she wasn’t the only woman in John Roberts’ life. Although Roberts, 51, told police and family that his 51-year-old wife was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a doctor who examined her in January told authorities she did not have the terminal disease. Dr. John Ellison determined she was in overall good health but she may have had carpal tunnel syndrome. That could have explained weakness in her hands that is also a symptom of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Previously, I worried here that this case would be the kind that would render the Oregon assisted suicide guidelines practically inoperative. But if these facts are true, obviously the mercy defense won’t fly. But here is the point: It shouldn’t matter whether Virginia had ALS: Killing her was unequivocally wrong and deserving of strong punishment. But I wonder why it has become so fashionable to help kill unwanted spouses and claim it was an act of “mercy.”

The UCLA study confirms the work first reported in late November of researcher Shinya Yamanaka at Kyoto University and James Thompson at the University of Wisconsin. (ScineceDaily)

If a human embryo were something other than a human being in the embryonic stage of development—an embryonic human being—what could it be? (National Review Online)

Democrats’ plans involve regulating insurers and offering all Americans a menu of insurance choices similar to those available to federal workers. Republicans would deregulate insurers, arguing that a free market will reduce costs and boost quality. All say savings will come from technology such as digital medical records and from disease prevention and chronic care. (Washington Post)

A Quebec man trying to hawk his diseased pancreas over the Internet has found it is a buyer’s market for hypoglycemic organs. (The Canadian Press)

The slow rate of progress serves as a reality check for Massachusetts and other states that have followed California’s lead by placing big bets on medical research. Texas voters approved a $3 billion commitment to cancer research in November. New York has set aside $600 million for stem cell work. And later this month, Massachusetts lawmakers are expected to vote on Governor Deval Patrick’s $1 billion life sciences initiative, which is primarily targeted for research. (Boston Globe)

As Parliament debates changes to the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, the Government is under pressure to include an amendment to allow the use of eggs and sperm that have been grown in the lab from stem cells. (Telegraph)