June 30, 2011
Clinical drug trials enter electronic world
Pfizer is conducting what it calls the first-ever all-electronic drug trial, in which patients at home will report outcomes to the company through the Internet. (American Medical News)
Monthly Archives: June 2011
June 30, 2011
DARPA to Offer $30 Million to Jump-Start Cellular Factories
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the U.S. Defense Department’s high-risk granting body, is about to jump into synthetic biology in a big way. One of the latest research buzzwords, synthetic biology means different things to many. But for … Read More
June 30, 2011
Ethics left behind in race for drug trials in the South
The number of clinical trials in developing countries has surged in recent years but the legal and ethical frameworks to make them fair are often not in place, the 7th World Conference of Science Journalists, in Qatar (27–29 June), heard … Read More
June 30, 2011
Teen Drug Use Number One Health Problem: Study
Matt Helmer was the teen who begged his parents to give each homeless person $20 on the street. He was the guy who worked at the bagel shop and brought the day-old breads to the local food pantry instead of … Read More
June 30, 2011
Dozens of IVF babies aborted ‘after women change their minds about becoming a mother’
Dozens of women are aborting babies conceived by IVF because they have changed their minds about motherhood, figures suggest. Many are in their teens, twenties and early thirties, implying that numerous abortions were carried out for social reasons, rather than … Read More
June 30, 2011
New Issue of Health Economics, Policy and Law is Now Available
Health Economics, Policy and Law (Volume 6, Issue 3, July 2011) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “Two Faces of Patient Safety and Care Quality: A Franco-American Comparison” by Laurent Degos & Victor G. Rodwin, 287-294. “Getting out … Read More
June 29, 2011
Drug Given To Moms After Childbirth Sparks Controversy
Health experts say the drug misoprostol is saving women’s lives around the world. It’s also controversial. Originally developed to prevent gastric ulcers, it’s also been shown to prevent excessive bleeding after childbirth. That’s the leading cause of maternal death in … Read More
June 29, 2011
Chronic Pain: 1/3 of Americans Live With It, According to IOM Report
For a decade after a 1982 ballet injury, Cynthia Toussaint was confined to her bed, writhing in pain from muscle spasms, unable to walk or to live a meaningful life. Crippled by an array of illnesses, including chronic fatigue syndrome … Read More
June 29, 2011
Stem-cell scientists grapple with clinics
When stem-cell clinics are asked for documentation about the treatments they offer, some are quick to produce letters from lawyers instead. In the face of legal threats from clinics, the InterÂnational Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) has suspended a … Read More
June 29, 2011
North Carolina Mulls Compensating Victims of Forced Sterilization
Having a baby is a widely anticipated milestone for many adults, so it’s easy to imagine the shock endured by thousands of people who were forcibly sterilized by the government beginning before World War II. Now, North Carolina has become … Read More
June 29, 2011
Engineers create human blood vessels from skin cells
If you are on dialysis like approximately 400,000 other Americans, then your life could change for the better in the next couple of years thanks to some new biomedical engineering. (CNN)
June 29, 2011
Cut-and-paste therapy fixes mouse haemophilia
Scientists have developed a gene-repair kit that treats the blood-clotting disorder haemophilia in mice. The technique replaces genes in targeted organs without removing cells from the body, simultaneously correcting multiple mutations. It broadens the range of diseases that can be … Read More
June 29, 2011
New Issue of International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare is Now Available
International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare (Volume 9, Issue 2, June 2011) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “Periodontal treatment during pregnancy and birth outcomes: A Meta-analysis of Randomised Trials” by Ajesh George, Simin Shamim, Maree Johnson, Shilpi Ajwani, … Read More
June 28, 2011
Hands-on courses prepare students for careers in nanotechnology
Two million workers are projected to be needed in nanotechnology-based businesses by 2020 in the United States alone. Today, demand far outstrips the availability of trained personnel and the College of Engineering and Applied Science is seeking to meet this … Read More
June 28, 2011
Perdue vetoes abortion limits bill
Gov. Bev Perdue vetoed a bill Monday that would have imposed a waiting period and other restrictions on women seeking abortions, stopping in Greensboro to reject the measure in front of a small audience. (News & Record)
June 28, 2011
Law Requires Ultrasound Before Abortion
Starting this Friday, women in Florida will be required to have an ultrasound done by a doctor before having an abortion, a bill Gov. Rick Scott signed into law last Friday. (News 4)
June 28, 2011
S.D. law brings crisis pregnancy centers
The small sign outside the Alpha Center in Sioux Falls lists a roster of available services: “Free pregnancy tests, abortion information, STD testing.’’ (Boston.com)
June 28, 2011
Midterm abortion ban in six US states
DOZENS of new restrictions passed by US states this year have chipped away at the right to abortion by requiring women to view ultrasounds, imposing waiting periods or cutting funds for clinics. (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 28, 2011
Doctors at two area hospitals stop performing abortions
A law stripping funding from Planned Parenthood is having unintended consequences. Doctors with Indiana University and Wishard Hospital have stopped performing abortions, even on women whose lives may be in jeopardy. (Fox 59)
June 28, 2011
Oregon on the euthanasia slippery slope
Americans love conversation and public disputation about contested moral and ethical issues. Given the Australian Greens’ continuing fascination with euthanasia, I decided to visit Oregon which has had a physician assisted suicide law in place since 1997. (Eureka Street)
June 28, 2011
Euthanasia debate
The charge of murder laid against respected South African professor Sean Davidson after helping his terminally ill 85-year-old mother to die in New Zealand at the end of last year has put the question of euthanasia in the spotlight. In … Read More
June 28, 2011
Respect for the people
The enjoyment of peace in a nation requires a political life that is governed, not by lies and deception, but by ethics and morality. It must be anchored on truth and honesty. (The Post Online)
June 28, 2011
Transplant surgeons for arrested doctor might be aware of organ trade
Surgeons at a hospital in Ehime Prefecture might have been aware of the illegal trading of a kidney for which a doctor on whom they performed a transplant last year was arrested, investigative sources said Monday. (The Mainichi Daily News)
June 28, 2011
Texas to defund Planned Parenthood
The Texas Legislature approved a bill Monday that would both compel the state to push the Obama administration to convert Texas’s Medicaid program into a block grant and defund abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. (Politico)
June 28, 2011
North Carolina to Compensate Eugenics Program Survivors
Until the practice was terminated in 1974, state-sanctioned surgeries left as many as 60,000 Americans unable to bear children. Over 30 states were once involved in these programs; North Carolina is trying to make up for theirs. (The Epoch Times)
