http://bioethics.com Your global information source on bioethics news and issues Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:09:18 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The two scientists behind the lawsuit that has temporarily blocked federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research said Wednesday they were motivated by ethical objections to destroying human embryos for medical research. (Wall Street Journal) http://bioethics.com/?p=8480 Some months ago, the receptionist in my clinic handed me a registered letter. The name of the sender seemed familiar. "Dear Sir," the letter read. "Please be advised that this letter serves as official notice that I am considering a potential claim against you in a medical Malpractice claim in ... http://bioethics.com/?p=8479 Allergan Inc., the maker of wrinkle-smoothing Botox, has agreed to pay $600 million to settle a years long federal investigation into its marketing of the top-selling, botulin-based drug. (GazetteXtra) http://bioethics.com/?p=8478 If attendees at the Minnesota State Fair aren't too busy revelling in the performances of Kiss or "Weird Al" Yankovic, or enjoying a celebrity cow-milking contest, they might just try spitting for science. (Nature News) http://bioethics.com/?p=8477 Australians are helping fuel a predatory international transplant trade by travelling overseas to buy organs illegally. The Transplantation Society says there are still Australians willing to ignore health and ethical considerations to source organs on the overseas market. (ABC News) http://bioethics.com/?p=8476 Over the past few years, pharmaceutical research has become more commercialized and market-driven. For two bioethicists, that raises questions about the quality of the data in drug trials, and the safety of the participants in those trials. (Minnesota Public Radio) http://bioethics.com/?p=8475 Looks like the brave new world has finally arrived. The website BeautifulPeople.com reportedly "booted out 5,000 people who gained weight and were deemed too ugly to remain members". (R & D Mag) http://bioethics.com/?p=8474 A federal decision not to fund clinical trials for an experimental multiple sclerosis treatment cannot stop Saskatchewan from going ahead, but the province would have other scientific and ethical hoops to jump through first. (Healthzone.ca) http://bioethics.com/?p=8473 The US National Nanotechnology Initiative has spent billions of dollars on submicroscopic science in its first 10 years. Corie Lok finds out where the money went and what the initiative plans to do next. (Nature News) http://bioethics.com/?p=8472 ALL TOO often, patients with terminal illnesses turn to the pain medication and counseling of palliative care only after enduring wrenching treatments that have little chance of extending their lives. But what if palliative care began immediately after the diagnosis and while the disease is still being treated? The answer, ... http://bioethics.com/?p=8471 As counsel for the researcher plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) on experiments using human embryonic stem cells, I write to correct your assertion that the progress of the suit poses a threat to “the very framework of federal funding for science” [Premium ... http://bioethics.com/?p=8470 The Obama administration asked a federal judge Tuesday to allow the government to continue funding embryonic stem-cell research while a case challenging the program makes its way through the courts. (Wall Street Journal) http://bioethics.com/?p=8469 Tens of millions of people in low and middle income countries would be pushed below the poverty line by buying common but vital medicines which are already unaffordable to hundreds of millions more, a study has found. (Reuters) http://bioethics.com/?p=8468 The old stereotype of the gold-digging hussy who gets pregnant to trap a man into marriage seems to have faded, probably because women are not as economically dependent on men as they once were. But that's not to say that pregnancy is no longer being wielded as a weapon: researchers ... http://bioethics.com/?p=8467 Brazilians endlessly repeat the old saw that the world thinks of only three things when it thinks of Brazil: samba, carnivale and football. But its healthcare industry would like to add a fourth--surgery. As part of Brazil’s efforts to leverage both the tourists and the infrastructure investments expected in the ... http://bioethics.com/?p=8466