May 31, 2007
The nation’s leading hospice professional organization, the NHPCO, has reiterated its opposition to the legalization of assisted suicide. Good. Assisted suicide is directly contrary to the hospice philosophy. Indeed, as the statement notes, it constitutes (often unintentional) abandonment. For the … Read More
May 31, 2007
A lot can be made of a new Gallop Poll about assisted suicide and euthanasia. When asked if assisted suicide is morally acceptable, 48% say yes and 44% say no. That is very close to the AP poll I posted … Read More
May 31, 2007
The IVF industry is exploiting UK couples, charging them over the odds for treatment, fertility expert Lord Robert Winston said on Wednesday. (BBC)
May 31, 2007
A study being conducted by psychiatric researchers is using a novel device to monitor patients’ behavior and create a new method for diagnostics. (Technology Review)
May 31, 2007
In its preamble, the recently unveiled U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities recognizes “the inherent dignity and worth and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family as the foundation of freedom, justice and … Read More
May 31, 2007
Yes: No civilized society considers expense and practicality to be more important than goodness and humanity No: This should be a wakeup call for us to prevent unimaginable future cruelty of this kind (Toronto Sun)
May 31, 2007
The idea has been proposed by EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou, as a way to increase the number of organs available for transplant operations. (BBC)
May 31, 2007
The common use of memory manipulation as a literary device taken in conjunction with emerging neurotechnologies makes the exploration of the meaning of memory (and its modification) extremely relevant to the present day. (IEET)
May 31, 2007
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati say that a topical gel derived from a patient’s own blood may help prevent infection while speeding up the healing process. The finding could mean that, in the not too distant future, a concentrated … Read More
May 31, 2007
Texas doctors seemed to dodge a bullet when legislation to reform the state’s futile-care law died in the House last week, but key architects of the bill now plan to press hospitals to voluntarily adopt its provisions. (Houston Chronicle)
May 31, 2007
More than two-thirds of Americans believe there are circumstances in which a patient should be allowed to die, but they are closely divided on whether it should be legal for a doctor to help terminally ill patients end their own … Read More
May 31, 2007
Congress intends to send President Bush legislation next week to ease restrictions on federally funded embryonic stem cell research, inviting his second veto in as many years on the subject. (Washington Post)
May 30, 2007
As promised, here is the Weekly Standard article I co-authored with Rita Marker, which points up the similarities between Jack Kevorkian’s illegal assisted suicide campaign and the legal assisted suicide regimen currently regent in Oregon. Here are a few excerpts: … Read More
May 30, 2007
When I wrote the other day about the Dutch “reality” television show in which a terminally ill woman will interview “contestants” vying to receive her kidney for transplant, I assumed that the donation would be after she had died. Apparently … Read More
May 30, 2007
In bookstores, the science aisle generally lies well away from the self-help section, with hard reality on one set of shelves and wishful thinking on the other. But Norman Doidge’s fascinating synopsis of the current revolution in neuroscience straddles this … Read More
May 30, 2007
With this Tissue Bank license, individuals who have undergone in vitro fertilization (IVF) may now use StemLifeLine’s service to develop personal stem cell lines from their remaining stored embryos. StemLifeLine is the first life sciences company to offer this unique … Read More
May 30, 2007
In our May 7 spotlight “The potential and the pitfalls of nanomedicine” we took a general look at the potential implications of nanomedicine and addressed some ethical issues that arise as the technology develops. In part two of this article … Read More
May 30, 2007
Anyone who has ever worked in a hospital can attest that doctors are purveyors of information: dry facts, clinical data, medical wisdom. When I was an intern, my hospital had a separate computer system for laboratory results, another for vital … Read More
May 30, 2007
NSW MPs will be allowed a conscience vote on controversial new laws which will overturn a five-year ban on cloning of embryonic stem cells for scientific research. (The Daily Telegraph)
May 30, 2007
If you were the kind of person who got depressed about this kind of thing, then the most depressing thing about the Big Donor Show is that it’s called the Big Donor Show. As if it’s not already enough to … Read More
May 30, 2007
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in Canada for a three-day trade mission to promote tourism in his state, talk about the environment and forge deals on low carbon fuel alternatives, will announce Wednesday a new project to advance stem cell research … Read More
May 30, 2007
A taskforce to formulate laws to govern reproduction of test-tube babies has began work, a year after it was set up. (The Standard)
May 29, 2007
USA Today has named Terri Schiavo one of the top 25 people who “moved us” in the last 25 years. Hmmm. I know her family would rather she hadn’t made such an impact, that instead, she were still alive and … Read More
May 29, 2007
We often hear that more than 60% of Americans favor assisted suicide. I have never believed it because the polls that count–elections–mostly show narrow disapproval of legalization (except Michigan where an assisted suicide legalization bill lost 71-29% in 1998, hardly … Read More
May 29, 2007
Methinks A.B. 374, the bill to legalize assisted suicide in California, may be in some trouble. The authors have–sort of–amended the bill to require a three months left to live rather than a six months left to live standard, before … Read More
