“Exploiting a Research Underclass in Phase 1 Clinical Trials” by Carl Elliott, M.D., Ph.D., and Roberto Abadie, Ph.D.

Abstract:

In November 1996, the Wall Street Journal reported that Eli Lilly was paying homeless alcoholics from a local shelter to participate in safety testing of new drugs at its trial site in Indianapolis. “These individuals want to help society,” asserted Lilly’s director of clinical pharmacology. The subjects, however, said they took part for easy money and free room and board. Although Lilly reportedly offered the lowest per diem in the business, it managed to attract poor subjects from all over the country. The medical director of the local Homeless Initiative Program said Lilly had created a “shadow economy” of paid human subjects. . . .

Researchers at The University of Nottingham have taken some important first steps to creating a synthetic copycat of a living cell, a leading science journal reports. (ScienceDaily)

Francis S. Collins, who for more than a decade has overseen virtually every major federal research initiative in the fast-paced field of genetic science, will step down as director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health, effective Aug. 1. (Washington Post)

Based on census data, 13.7 million people aged 19 to 29 had no health insurance, either public or private, in 2006, up from 13.3 million in 2005, according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that researches health policy. (Reuters)

The recipients included one of Japan’s most powerful crime bosses. Some in the medical community worry the revelation will have a chilling effect on organ donations. (Los Angeles Times)

The study does not address the question of whether longer stays and more intervention prolong patients’ lives, and the Dartmouth researchers argue, in general, that less-aggressive treatment does not change the outcome, but spares patients the agony of unnecessary tests and reduces the risk of hospital-borne infections. (New York Times)

Western Australia may be the only state in Australia to have crushed the chances of scientists here using therapeutic cloning to cure hitherto incurable diseases but could the decision prove a global turning point? (ScienceAlert)

My colleague, Evan Rosa, has a great piece here on the recent approval of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to award $271 million dollars in facilities grants to 12 academic and research institutions. 800,000 square feet of buildings to be erected by 2010 for the purpose of embryonic stem cell and human cloning research funded by the California taxpayers.
10 of the 12 buildings will be on university campuses. Like the University of California, Berkeley’s Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences, which will boast 60,000 square-feet and 12 labs dedicated to embryonic stem cell research.

Rosa writes, “Structures are suggestive . And these buildings, bought on the Prop 71 budget, suggest something radical: academic, political and cultural approval of (human) embryonic stem cell research. They are monuments, monoliths even of scientific dominance and strength.

Even Robert Klein, chairman of CIRM’s governing agency , agrees, “This Prop 71 stem cell research facilities program is one of the largest building programs ever dedicated for a new field of medical science and it will deliver an impact that will be felt worldwide.”

Consider this final thought: Klein also responds to the May 7, 2008, hESC research facilities decision that “[California research institutions'] incredible commitment [of funding] underscores the promise that stem cell research holds for patients suffering from chronic disease and injury.”

There’s that word again. Promise . For such a politically skeptical culture, people so wary of the easy words of our would-be leaders, we sure have exhibited a lot of faith in the “promise” scientists and politicians are making for human embryos. We’re betting $271 million (and who knows how many human lives?) on that promise this month, and by 2010 and beyond we’ll see how these structures stack up: memorials or mausoleums?”

This bill would mandate that physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants give a patient, while being diagnosed with a terminal illness or with a prognosis of one year to live, information about pain management options that are fitting only for persons who are imminently dying. (Earthtimes)

Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled Thursday that scientists can conduct embryonic stem cell research, which holds the promise of curing Parkinson’s disease and diabetes but raises ethical concerns about the limits on human life. (USA Today)

researchers at the California Institute of Technology have discovered that reason struggles with emotion to find equitable solutions, and have pinpointed the region of the brain where this takes place. The concept of fairness, they found, is processed in the insular cortex, or insula, which is also the seat of emotional reactions. (ScienceDaily)

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have established a human cell-based system for studying sickle cell anemia by reprogramming somatic cells to an embryonic stem cell like state. (PhysOrg)

These measures of children’s health are part of a report out today by The Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that studies health issues and supports efforts to cover more people. The report found that top-performing states tend to have lower rates of uninsured children than those ranked at the bottom but also have higher health costs. (USATODAY)

Ten years ago in a small, closet-like laboratory, James “Jamie” Thomson, an embryologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, changed the world by creating the first human embryonic stem cells. Few research experiments have generated as much hype or controversy. More recently, he played a key role in creating induced pluripotent stem cells, which might someday provide the benefits of embryonic stem cells without destroying embryos. (Forbes)

Most people who become paralysed or lose limbs retain the mental dexterity to perform physical actions. And by tapping into a region of the brain responsible for movement – the motor cortex – researchers can decode a person’s intentions and translate them into action with a prosthetic. (New Scientist)

When patients check into hospitals or doctor offices, they presume their information will be kept in strictest confidence, but often, amid the pile of papers, they overlook fine print describing how their personal information can be farmed out for fundraising. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Brazil’s Supreme Court is expected to decide on Wednesday whether to uphold legislation that allows research on embryonic stem cells in the world’s largest Roman Catholic country. (Reuters)

An HIV-positive Ugandan woman’s claim to stay in the UK has been rejected by the European Court of Human Rights. (BBC)

Scientists in Britain have voiced concern and scepticism over claims that a man who is paralysed from the neck down has recovered the ability to breathe unaided after a controversial embryonic stem-cell treatment. (Times Online)

Science may yet come to the rescue of democratic capitalism — or make things worse. (United Press International)

With the help of her husband, Dennis, she founded a placebo company, and, without a hint of irony, named it Efficacy Brands. Its chewable, cherry-flavored dextrose tablets, Obecalp, for placebo spelled backward, goes on sale on June 1 at the Efficacy Brands Web site. Bottles of 50 tablets will sell for $5.95. The Buettners have plans for a liquid version, too. (Kansas City Star)