July 26, 2008
Medical tourism is a growing trend in the United States, where some patients are going to other countries for their medical care. The idea is perhaps understandable in a medical system overburdened with waiting lists, third-party payer denials, and high … Read More
December 19, 2007
The latest edition of the CedarEthics Podcast, a production of the Center for Bioethics at Cedarville University, deals with the sticky ethical question of using the medical research data obtained during the Holocaust. Should we make use of the data … Read More
July 19, 2007
Professor Alvin Plantinga has a great sense of humor, perhaps surprising since he has been called “the most important philosopher of religion now writing.†Now filling the John A. O’Brien Chair at the University of Notre Dame, he opened his … Read More
April 23, 2007
The latest edition of the CedarEthics Podcast is entitled “Personhood: The View From the Womb,†and presents biblical arguments for human value before the time of birth. How close can we get to the actual moment of conception in the … Read More
February 28, 2007
The CedarEthics Podcast is a new audio program by the Center for Bioethics at Cedarville University. The latest is entitled “How to Have an Argument,” and features an over-the-top debate on abortion where we deliberately break all the rules. We … Read More
February 26, 2007
A recent article in the National Psychologist (November, 2006) raises some excellent questions about beneficence, the idea of always acting in the best interests of patients/clients. Author Martin Williams, a clinical and forensic psychologist, points out that beneficence is sometimes … Read More
February 10, 2007
Note the advance Web publication of an article in Archives of Diseases of Childhood. The paper is entitled “Relationship of neonatologists’ end of life decisions to their personal fear of death.” According to a new study, docs who fear their … Read More
January 10, 2007
In an ironic twist, Dr. Michael DeBakey, the 97 year-old heart surgery pioneer, suddenly developed a dissecting aortic aneurysm last year. Using techniques that DeBakey himself had developed, doctors resuscitated him, against his express written request, and performed a grueling … Read More
December 12, 2006
If the British Health Minister has her way, embryology laws in the U.K. will be changed to make them “fit for purpose in the early 21st century.” Some of the proposed changes: Research will be permitted on embryos that are … Read More
December 5, 2006
Remember the recent revelation that Advanced Cell Technology had been less than honest in reporting a “breakthrough” on stem cell research? As reported in a Nov. 6th post (Journal Clarifies Stem-Cell Report), ACT had misrepresented its claim to extract a … Read More
December 5, 2006
19 people infected with HIV in 2004 from illegal blood-sellers have been awarded the equivalent of $2.5 million in damages. This is significant in a country that has not always acknowledged its AIDS problem. There are an estimated 650,000 currently … Read More
November 7, 2006
Hippocratic principles have guided medical practice for 2400 years, beginning with the maxim: “First Do No Harm.” Apparently, this all may change in the U.K., if the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecology has its way. The medical society has … Read More
October 16, 2006
A good result can never justify intrinsically unlawful means. That was the gist of the statement by Pope Benedict XVI on September 16 to participants in a symposium on stem cell research organized in Rome by the Pontifical Academy for … Read More
October 10, 2006
The project known as “Evangelicals and Catholics Together,” supported by Charles Colson, Richard John Neuhaus, and other notables, has generated controversy. Less controversial is their latest statement, “That They May Have Life,” a joint declaration of solidarity on the sanctity … Read More
October 10, 2006
The Nazi’s so-called euthanasia program is still claiming victims, now more than 60 years after the Holocaust. The remains of another 50 people, many of them children, were recently uncovered in a mass grave in Germany. Many of the skulls … Read More