Finally: after almost a dozen years, scores of studies undercutting its conclusions, and a years-long disavowal by most of the authors, the infamous paper that first claimed a link between childhood vaccinations and autism has been formally retracted by The Lancet, the medical journal that published it in 1998. (Newsweek)

Stem cell experts say they believe a small group of scientists is effectively vetoing high quality science from publication in journals. In some cases they say it might be done to deliberately stifle research that is in competition with their own. (BBC)

It is one of the great ironies of China’s rise on the international stage: a nation that reveres Confucius and the devotion to truth and learning symbolized by the great sage has become one of the world’s leading perpetrators of academic fraud. Cheating among Chinese scholars has reached such epidemic proportions that at least one leading academic journal will no longer consider their submissions. (Asia Times Online)

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, are facing increased scrutiny of their grants by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) following revelations that the university was not complying with the agency’s financial conflict-of-interest policy. (Nature News)

Trends in Pharmacological Sciences (Volume 31, Issue 1, January 2010) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “Homeopathy, a ‘Helpful Placebo’ or an Unethical Intervention” by Edzard Ernst, 1.
• “Small Molecules that Modulate Embryonic Stem Cell Fate and Somatic Cell Reprogramming” by Winlin Li and Sheng Ding, 36.

The Journal of Law, Medicine, & Ethics (Volume 37, Issue 4, Winter 2009) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “Commentary: Emerging Technologies Oversight: Research, Regulation, and Commercialization” by Robbin Johnson, 587-593.
  
• “Evaluating Oversight of Human Drugs and Medical Devices: A Case Study of the FDA and Implications for Nanobiotechnology” by Jordan Paradise, Alison W. Tisdale, Ralph F. Hall, and Efrosini Kokkoli; 598-624.
• “Gene Therapy Oversight: Lessons for Nanobiotechnology” by Susan M. Wolf, Rishi Gupta, and Peter Kohlhepp; 659-684.
• “Science, Ethics, and the ‘Problems’ of Governing Nanotechnologies” by Linda F. Hogle, 749-758.
• “Introduction: Comparative Health Law and Policy: What, If Anything, Can We Learn from Other Countries?” by Diane Hoffmann, 790-791.
• “Realization of the International Human Right to Health in an Economically Integrated North America” by Eleanor D. Kinney, 807-818.
• “Tobacco Industry Use of Corporate Social Responsibility Tactics as a Sword and a Shield on Secondhand Smoke Issues” Lissy C. Friedman, 819-827.

Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics (Volume 19, Issue 01, January 2010) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “Not Dead Yet: Controlled Non-Heart-Beating Organ Donation, Consent, and the Dead Donor Rule” by Dale Gardiner and Robert Sparrow, 17-26.
• “Just Caring: In Defense of Limited Age-Based Healthcare Rationing” by Leonard M. Fleck, 27-37.
• “Actualizable Potential, Reproduction, and Embryo Research: Bringing Embryos into Existence for Different Purposes or Not at All” by Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu, 51-60.
• “Consequentialism Without Consequences: Ethics and Embryo Research” by Sarah Chan and John Harris, 61-74.
• “Choosing Deafness with Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis: An Ethical Way to Carry On a Cultural Bloodline?” by Silvia Camporesi, 86-96.
• “When is My Genetic Information Your Business? Biological, Emotional, and Financial Claims to Knowledge” by Ruth Wilkinson, 110-117.
• “Dignity: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Still Counting” by Doris Schroeder, 118-125.
• “Human Rights and Genetic Technologies” by D. Micah Hester and Alissa Swota, 126-127.
• “Human Rights and American Bioethics: Resistance is Futile” by George J. Annas, 133-141.

Medical journal The Lancet has urged China to tighten measures against scientific fraud after dozens of papers written by two teams of Chinese chemists were found to be faked. (Times LIVE)

The owner of two research hospitals affiliated with the Harvard Medical School has imposed restrictions on outside pay for two dozen senior officials who also sit on the boards of pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies. The limits come in the wake of growing criticism of the ties between industry and academia. (New York Times)

Bioethics (Volume 24, Issue 1, January 2010) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “Research on Prisoners- A Comparison Between the IOM Committee Recommendations (2006) and European Regulations” by Bernice S. Elger and Anne Spaulding, 1-13.
• “Detained and Drugged: A Brief Overview of the Use of Pharmaceuticals for the Interrogation of Suspects, Prisoners, Patients, and POWs in the US” by Laura Calkins, 27-34.
• “Ethical Issues in Forensic Psychiatric Research on Mentally Disordered Offenders” by Christian Munthe, Susanna Radovic, and Henrik Anckarsater; 35-44.

Journal of Medical Ethics (Volume 35, Number 12, December 2009) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008: A Missed Opportunity?” by Amel Alghrani, 718-719.
• “Clinical Ethics: Genetic Selection for Deafness: The Views of Hearing Children or Deaf Adults” by C Mand, R E Duncan, L Gillam, V Collins, and M B Delatycki; 722-728.
• “Clinical Ethics: Medical Chaperoning at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Saudi Arabia: Survey of Physicians” by E A Al-Gaai and M M Hammami, 729-732.
• “Clinical Ethics: Best Interests, Dementia and the Mental Capacity Act (2005)” by T Hope, A Slowther, and J Eccles; 733-738.
• “Ethics: Who Gets the Liver Transplant? The Use of Responsibility as the Tie Breaker” by V Thornton, 739-742.
• “Ethics: Can the Catholic Church Agree to Condom Use by HIV-discordant Couples?” by L Bovens, 743-746.
• “Ethics: Moral Pluralism Versus the Total View: Why Singer is Wrong About Radical Life Extension” by R Blackford, 747-752.
• “Research Ethics: The ‘How’ and ‘Whys’ of Research: Life Scientists’ Views of Accountability” by J M Ladd, M D Lappé, J B McCormick, A M Boyce, and M K Cho; 762-767.
• “Research Ethics: Embryonic Stem Cell Research is Not Dehumanising Us” by L Kostergaard, 774-777.
• “Does Bioethics Exist?” by L Turner, 778-780.

Approximately one half of patients and the general public believe that identifiable patient data should never be used for research without consent.

Whilst only 11 per cent of researchers believed this should never happen, 53 per cent of the general public and 46 per cent of patients thought it was unacceptable without prior consent. (Public Service)

The U.S. government approved the first 13 batches of human embryonic stem cells on Wednesday, enabling researchers using them to get millions of dollars in federal funding as promised by President Barack Obama in March. (Reuters)

Journal of Academic Ethics (Volume 7, Numbers 1-2, June 2009) is now available by subscription only.

Articles include:

• “Protecting Human Dignity in Research Involving Humans” by Thomas De Koninck, 17-25.
• “Reflections on My Experience in Human Research Ethics” by K. G. Davey, 27-31.
• “Moral Integrity and Academic Research” by J. Angelo Corlett, 45-49.
• “The Ethics of Conducting Community-Engaged Homelessness Research” by Vivien Runnels, Elizabeth Hay, Elyse Sevigny, and Paddi O’Hara; 57-68.
• “End of Life Pediatric Research: What About the Ethics?” by Danielle Laudy, 87-91.
• “Health Research in Complex Emergencies: A Humanitarian Imperative” by John D. Pringle and Donald C. Cole, 115-123.

JAMA (Volume 302, Number 16, October 28, 2009) is now available by subscription only.

Articles Include:

• “Health Care Choices and Decisions in the United States and Canada: by Joseph S. Ross and Allan S. Detsky, 1803-1804.
• “Patient-Centered Care and Preference-Sensitive Decision Making” by Carla C. Keirns and Susan Dorr Goold, 1805-1806.
• “Reform of Continuing Medical Education: Investments in Physician Human Capital” by Eric G. Campbell and Meredith Rosenthal, 1807-1808.
• “FDA Steps Up Efforts to Find, Remove Violators of Clinical Trial Regulations” by Bridget M. Keuhn, 1739-1741.
• “AHA: Added Sugar Not So Sweet” by Mike Mitka, 1741-1742.

With nearly 4,000 clinical trials being conducted in Arizona, the need for oversight and patient safety is at an all-time high. Beginning in January, the National Science Foundation will require all universities conducting clinical trials to provide training in research ethics for scientists involved in NSF-funded studies. Clinical trials are required by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration before new drugs or therapies are allowed to be marketed in the U.S. (Phoenix Business Journal)

Human gene patents have stirred social controversy for decades. People have marched in the streets decrying the evils of “patenting life.” National and international agencies have issued reports calling for a range of reforms. Patient groups have instigated legal action aimed at overturning key patents. And a variety of politicians have called for a ban on the practice. In the United States, for example, there was a 2007 bill, the Genomic Research and Accessibility Act, which sought to ban gene patents. In my home country of Canada, a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health suggested a similar prohibition. (Science Progress)

The EU and the US must forge stronger research ties in order to tackle the greatest challenges facing the world today, Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), told attendees at the inaugural annual lecture of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Brussels, Belgium on 28 October. (CORDIS)

U.S. researchers have found a way to coax human embryonic stem cells to turn into the types of cells that make eggs and sperm, shedding light on a stage of early human development that has not been fully understood. (ABC News)

The National Cancer Research Institute’s Confederation of Cancer Biobanks (CCB) is a consortium of UK organisations involved biobank resources for cancer research. The Confederation seeks to ‘promote and disseminate a collective view on best practices for biobanks’ and promote knowledge transfer, with the vision of each facility working in a seamless manner, creating an effective single ‘virtual biobank’ for the collection and distribution of biosamples for cancer research. (PHG Foundation)

A South Korean court on Monday found disgraced stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk guilty of fraud and handed down a suspended sentence in a case that sent shockwaves throughout the global scientific community. (Reuters)