bioethics.com

Stem-Cell Plaintiffs Cite Ethical Motivation

Bioethics Pundit — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:09:18 +0000

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)

Even with malpractice insurance, doctors opt for expensive, defensive medicine

Bioethics Pundit — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:08:19 +0000

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 regard to my husband. . . .” I stood, stunned. My white coat, which held the daily tools of my profession — my list of patients, the Sanford antibiotic manual, a black stethoscope — felt extraordinarily heavy. (Washington Post)

Allergan to pay $600 million to settle Department of Justice probe into Botox marketing

Bioethics Pundit — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:07:33 +0000

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)

Kids swap DNA for fairground rides

Bioethics Pundit — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:05:44 +0000

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)

Australian organ tourists drive sinister trade

Bioethics Pundit — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:04:13 +0000

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)

When drug trials go awry

Bioethics Pundit — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:03:24 +0000

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)

Keeping pace with bioethics

Bioethics Pundit — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:02:20 +0000

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)

Ottawa won’t fund MS trials, but others could

Bioethics Pundit — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:01:34 +0000

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)

Nanotechnology: Small wonders

Bioethics Pundit — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:00:45 +0000

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)

New impetus for palliative care

Bioethics Pundit — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:00:10 +0000

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, according to a study at Massachusetts General Hospital, is that patients treated this way enjoy a higher quality of life and live longer. In addition, they are more likely than patients not receiving palliative care to forgo 11th hour therapies. (The Boston Globe)

Stem-cell decision is no threat to federal science funding

Bioethics Pundit — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:59:38 +0000

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 (Nature)]

U.S. Asks Judge to Lift Stem-Cell Funding Halt

Bioethics Pundit — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:17:09 +0000

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)

Drug costs would push mlns more into poverty: study

Bioethics Pundit — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:16:22 +0000

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)

Study on Forced Pregnancy: Help for Women Who Face Threat

Bioethics Pundit — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:15:29 +0000

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 who work in family planning and with victims of domestic violence say it is women who are now being threatened with pregnancy by their partners. (TIME)

Sea, Sun, and Scalpels: Brazil’s Bid to Be the Four Seasons of Medical Tourism

Bioethics Pundit — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:14:23 +0000

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 wake of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, the country hosted its first medical tourism conference last week in São Paulo. (Fast Company)