Personal genomics services are becoming popular for genealogical or ancestry-tracing purposes. But this direct-to-consumer practice undermines promises of sperm-donor anonymity, which is still common in clinics in many countries. (Nature, by subscription only)

A series of recent scientific results suggest that, in the not-too-distant future, it will be possible to create viable human gametes from human stem cells. This paper discusses the potential of this technology to make possible what I call ‘in vitro eugenics’: the deliberate breeding of human beings in vitro by fusing sperm and egg derived from different stem-cell lines to create an embryo and then deriving new gametes from stem cells derived from that embryo. (J. Med. Ethics)

A new issue of Nurses Philosophy (Vol 14, No 2, April 2013) is now available online and in print.

Articles of interest include:

• Doctor? Who? Nurses, patient’s best interests and treatment withdrawal: when no doctor is available, should nurses withdraw treatment from patients? by Giles Birchley
• An internal morality of nursing: what it can and cannot do by Roger A Newham
• Nurses as ‘guests’– a study of a concept in light of Jacques Derrida’s philosophy of hospitality by Stina Oresland et al.

Special issue of Translational Research is devoted to the topic of the gene therapy. (Eurekalert)

Viewing patients as consumers may be detrimental to the doctor-patient relationship. While it facilitates an emphasis on respect for patient autonomy, it inadvertently results in the commodification of health care. The new legislative environment in South Africa promotes the protection of patient rights. It may, however, contribute to increased medical litigation. (BMC Medical Ethics)

Placebo use is common in primary care but questions remain about their benefits, harms, costs, and whether they can be delivered ethically. Further research is required to investigate ethically acceptable and cost-effective placebo interventions. (PLoS One)

This Ethics, Law, and Humanities Committee position paper, endorsed by the American Academy of Neurology, Child Neurology Society, and American Neurological Association, focuses on various implications of pediatric neuroenhancement and outlines discussion points in responding to neuroenhancement requests from parents or adolescents. (Neurology)

Leading bioethics researchers at a discussion forum have voiced their support for society to accept the use of drugs that enhance cognition. (BMJ, by subscription only)

In a historic first, the American Journal of Public Health has devoted an issue to covering stigma and discrimination against people with mental illnesses, a topic that traditionally is under-researched and under-reported. (News-Medical)

A new issue of JAMA (March 7, 2013) is now available online and in print.  In this issue one article stands out: Global Health: Governance Challenges in Global Health by J Frenk and S Moon

It has been 10 years since we carried out a systematic search of the literature on birth defect risk in infants born following assisted reproductive technology (ART) compared with non-ART infants. Because of changes to ART practice since that review and the publication of more studies the objective of this review was to include these more recent studies to estimate birth defect risk after ART and to examine birth defect risk separately in ART singletons and multiples. (Human Reproduction Update, Oxford Journals)

A new issue of Journal of Medical Ethics (Vol 39, No 3, 1 March 2013) is now available online and in print.

There are two major discussions in this issue: Elective Ventilation and Electroconvulsive Therapy.  The discussion on Elective Ventilation is joined by:

• Elective ventilation for organ donation: law, policy and public ethics by John Coggon
• Is providing elective ventilation in the best interests of potential donors? by Andrew John McGee, Benjamin Peter White
• Elective non-therapeutic intensive care and the four principles of medical ethics by Antoine Baumann, Gérard Audibert, Caroline Guibet Lafaye, Louis Puybasset, Paul-Michel Mertes, Frédérique Claudot
• Advance statement of consent from patients with primary CNS tumours to organ donation and elective ventilation by Umang Jash Patel
• Dignifying death and the morality of elective ventilation by Pablo De Lora, Alicia Pérez Blanco
• Honouring the donor: in death and in life by Grant Gillett
• Elective ventilation and the politics of death by Nathan Emmerich

Three entries in the discussion on Electroconvulsive Therapy are:

• Electroconvulsive therapy, the placebo effect and informed consent by Charlotte Rosalind Blease
• Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) from the patient’s perspective by Julie K Hersh
• Electroconvulsive therapy: the importance of informed consent and ‘placebo literacy’ by Charlotte Blease

A new issue of Health Policy and Planning (Vol 28, No 2, March 2013) is now available online and in print.

Articles include:

• Community-level impact of the reproductive health vouchers programme on service utilization in Kenya by Francis Obare, Charlotte Warren, et al.
• The role of social networks in the governance of health systems: the case of eye care systems in Ghana by Karl Blanchet and Philip James

The past few years have seen rapid advancements in vector-mediated gene transfer to the nervous system and modest successes in human gene therapy trials. The purpose of this review is to describe commonly-used viral gene transfer vectors and recent advancements towards producing meaningful gene-based treatments for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. (Discovery Medicine)

A new issue of Journal of Public Health (Vol 35, No 1, March 2013) is now available online and in print.

An editorial “What should public health be doing for disabled people, and why aren’t we?” by Anita Houghton is of interest.

There is also a Perspectives debate opened by “Social inequality in health, responsibility and egalitarian justice” by M Marchman Andersen, et al. with responses by Gabriel Scally and Jasper Littmann.

Also note “Appealing to altruism: an alternative strategy to address the health workforce crisis in developing countries?” by Richard Smith, Mylene Lagarde, et al.

A new issue of Human Reproduction (Vol. 28, No. 3, March 2013) is now available online and in print.

Articles of interest include:

• Preventing the transmission of pathogenic mitochondrial DNA mutations: can we achieve long-term benefits from germ-line gene transfer? by David C. Samuels, Passom Wonnapinij, and Patrick F. Chinnery [PDF]
• The right of the donor to information about children conceived from his or her gametes by Inez Raes, An Ravelingien, and Guido Pennings [PDF]
• Does long in vitro culture promote large for gestational age babies? by S. Mäkinen, V. Söderström-Anttila, J. Vainio, A.-M. Suikkari, and T. Tuuri [PDF]

A new edition of Bioethics (Vol. 27, Issue 3, March 2013) is now available online and in print.

Articles of interest include:

• Being a Good Academic Citizen by Udo Schuklenk
• Getting Moral Enhancement Right: The Desirability of Moral Bioenhancement by Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu

A new issue of Health & Social Work (Vol. 38 No. 1, February 2013) is now available online and in print.

Articles of interest include:

• Unequal Burden of Disease, Unequal Participation in Clinical Trials: Solutions from African American and Latino Community Members by Marvella E. Ford, Laura A. Sminoff, Elisabeth Pickelsimer, et al. [PDF]
• Department of Health and Human Services Changes: Implications for Hospital Social Workers by Annemarie Conlon and Patti A. Aldredge [PDF]

A new issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (February 28, 2013) is now available online and in print.

There is an extended debate on Open Access, Patient Privacy, and the future of medical publishing including:

• Protecting Patient Privacy and Data Security by JK Taitsman, CM Grimm, and S Agrawal
• For the Sake of Inquiry and Knowledge — The Inevitability of Open Access by AJ Wolpert (Free Full Text)
• The Downside of Open-Access Publishing by C Haug (Free Full Text)

Governments across the globe have squandered treasure and imprisoned millions of their own citizens by criminalising the use and sale of recreational drugs. But use of these drugs has remained relatively constant, and the primary victims are the users themselves. Meanwhile, antimicrobial drugs that once had the power to cure infections are losing their ability to do so, compromising the health of people around the world. The thesis of this essay is that policymakers should stop wasting resources trying to fight an unwinnable and morally dubious war against recreational drug users, and start shifting their attention to the serious threat posed by our collective misuse of antibiotics. (J. of Medical Ethics, by subscription only)

Inherited BRCA gene mutations convey a high risk for breast and ovarian cancer, but current guidelines limit BRCA mutation testing to women with early-onset cancer and relatives of mutation-positive cases. Benefits and risks of providing this information directly to consumers are unknown. (PeerJ)