March 31, 2008
“The ranking of values as a basis for ethical decision making” By Professor Göran Hermerén, Chair of the European Group on Ethics and Professor of Medical Ethics, University of Lund Wednesday 7th May 2008 at 6.30pm to be followed by … Read More
March 31, 2008
The media is abuzz about the creation of a “suicide machine” by a Swiss doctor that let’s people kill themselves at the push of a button. Amazing times in which we live, no? But this is hardly new. Even though … Read More
March 31, 2008
The Seattle PI columnist Joel Connelly is a refreshing exception to much of the media that continue to see assisted suicide as a modernistic “choice” issue rather than one founded in abandonment and inequality. He has a column today (for … Read More
March 31, 2008
Naturally, most of us do not want to believe that any of these stellar athletes are guilty of doping. But the convergence of evidence leads me to conclude that in cycling, as well as in baseball, football, and track and … Read More
March 31, 2008
Thousands of largely invisible American women have given birth to other people’s babies. Many are married to men in the military. (Newsweek)
March 31, 2008
Scientists are scanning human DNA with a precision and scope once unthinkable and rapidly finding genes linked to cancer, arthritis, diabetes and other diseases. (AP)
March 31, 2008
The debate lives on these days in less abstract form in the United States: How much of a difference should it make to health care — and health insurance — if a condition is physical or mental? (New York Times)
March 31, 2008
For a rich source of stem cells to be engineered into new blood vessels or skin tissue, clinicians may one day look no further than the hair on their patients’ heads, according to new research published earlier this month by … Read More
March 31, 2008
A D.C. Council member will propose a sweeping plan next week to mandate health-care coverage for all District residents by offering a city-subsidized program for the uninsured that would be funded through new taxes on health companies and cigarettes. (Washington … Read More
March 31, 2008
In an exclusive interview with The Times, Sir Leszek, chief executive of the Medical Research Council, said that in spite of Church teachings on the issue he saw nothing in the experiments or the plans by the Government to regulate … Read More
March 31, 2008
When Martin Cooper invented the mobile phone 35 years ago, he envisioned a world with people so wedded to wireless connections that they would walk around with devices embedded in their bodies. (ABC News)
March 30, 2008
A very interesting and disturbing article, written by medical school professor Dr. Herbert L. Fred, has been published in the Texas Heart Institute Journal. Dr. Fred warns warns that our medical students have a “laboratory oriented” rather than a “patient … Read More
March 29, 2008
The NHS is continuing to implode, and apparently some have seen that perhaps a private/public system is the answer. From the story: Tens of thousands of NHS patients will be given money to pay for their own health care in … Read More
March 29, 2008
Well, the old days of “the scientists” such as some of the people over at Amendment 2 in Missouri telling reporters and legislators that adult stem cells are merely “unipotent,” that is, that they can only create their own kind … Read More
March 28, 2008
Demonstrating the subversive nature of the euthanasia/assisted suicide movement on proper medical care, Dutch doctors are switching from lethally injecting patients to sedating them into a permanent coma so they die by dehydration over a period of days or weeks. … Read More
March 28, 2008
For shame! Assemblywoman Patti Berg and Assemblyman Lloyd Levine are at it again in the California Legislature. Soon to be term limited out of office, desperate to pass a bill–any bill– that will open the door to assisted suicide/euthanasia, thwarted … Read More
March 28, 2008
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it was investigating the possibility of an increased risk of mood changes and suicidal behavior among those who take the highly popular asthma drug Singulair. (HealthDay)
March 28, 2008
Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are genetically unstable over time in culture, which raises concerns about their clinical safety. Epigenetic changes, heritable controls over gene expression that do not alter DNA sequence, in hESCs may contribute significantly to this instability. … Read More
March 28, 2008
She said, for instance, that it “might be appropriate†to require insurers to spend a heavy proportion of every premium dollar on health care as opposed to overhead and profit. Several governors, including Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Edward G. … Read More
March 28, 2008
Medical tourism soars as Americans seek major savings on health care in hospitals abroad. (Chicago Tribune)
March 28, 2008
A survey released this week came to the unsurprising conclusion that people are having a hard time paying for healthcare. The totally nonrandom sample of more than 26,000 people who took the online survey skewed heavily toward the insured (77 … Read More
March 28, 2008
These “embryo clauses” will allow the creation of human embryos for no other purpose than to harvest their body parts. Similarly, a growing number of MPs have concerns about clauses that will allow human tissue to be fertilised with animal … Read More
March 27, 2008
The CIRM has a policy against buying eggs for cloning and other biomedical research. But…I warned a bit ago that some bioethicists and bioscientists were agitating to change that policy. Now, the new head of the CIRM, Alan Trounson, has … Read More
March 27, 2008
The promise of drugs based on small-interfering RNA was that they would be able to very specifically “turn off” genes to treat a range of diseases. Researchers report in Nature, though, that these molecules actually are much more broadly acting … Read More
March 27, 2008
The paternity kits have taken their place on store shelves next to other diagnostic tests that don’t rely on DNA, including those for pregnancy, HIV and blood sugar, said Michael S. Watson, executive director of the American College of Medical … Read More
