September 30, 2011
Bahrain sentences medics who treated protesters
A court in Bahrain has jailed 20 medics who treated protesters for up to 15 years each, after convicting them of incitement to overthrow the regime. (BBC News)
Monthly Archives: September 2011
September 30, 2011
Mexico court upholds Baja California abortion stance
Mexico’s Supreme Court has upheld an amendment to Baja California’s state constitution that stipulates life begins at conception, in a move hailed by anti-abortion campaigners. (BBC News)
September 30, 2011
Dying cancer patients should not be given ‘futile’ drugs
After a year-long investigation, a panel of leading academics said that the cost of treating cancer to western societies is spiralling out of control, as the ageing population means that increasing numbers of people are growing tumours. (Telegraph)
September 30, 2011
Thousands in Calif. started school without vaccines
Last year’s class of California kindergartners had a record high percentage of parents who used a personal belief exemption to avoid immunization requirements, a development that concerns state health officials. (USA Today)
September 30, 2011
The Future Is Now: 23andMe Now Offers All Your Genes For $999
Call it a dramatic sign of how far the field of genetics has come: Google-backed startup 23andMe is now offering consumers the ability to get their genes sequenced for $999. You can see the offer here, at least for a … Read More
September 30, 2011
Draft guidelines for nanomedicine unveiled
Nanomedicines, advocates say, will one day be commonplace. Nanoparticles are already being used in bone-replacement composites and chemotherapy delivery systems, and more sophisticated systems could eventually carry personalized therapies to the precise site in the body where they are needed. … Read More
September 29, 2011
Health Overhaul Heads to Justices
The Obama administration asked the Supreme Court to decide the fate of its health-care overhaul, setting the stage for arguments at the high court and a probable ruling in the thick of the 2012 presidential campaign. (Wall Street Journal)
September 29, 2011
Catholics Fight Health Rules
Catholic organizations have ramped up opposition to new federal health-care requirements to cover contraceptive services, saying the rules may prompt them to drop insurance or shut down. (Wall Street Journal)
September 29, 2011
Dementia Patients Suffer Dubious Hospitalizations
One-fifth of Medicare nursing home patients with advanced Alzheimer’s or other dementias were sent to hospitals or other nursing homes for questionable reasons in their final months, often enduring tube feeding and intensive care that prolonged their demise, a new … Read More
September 29, 2011
‘Patent Trolls’ Target Biotechnology Firms
The biotechnology industry has had its share of woes, but so far ‘patent trolls’ have not numbered among them. These companies, which profit by legally enforcing patents they own rather than developing products, may benefit from a 31 August ruling … Read More
September 29, 2011
Economic Pressures Leading Many to Make Medical Sacrifices
Although she survived lung cancer and has such difficulty breathing she can’t walk more than 60 feet without stopping, Sandy Kintz of Westport, N.Y., can’t afford to take all the medication doctors prescribe for her. (ABC News)
September 29, 2011
‘Baby Joseph,’ focus of treatment dispute, dies in his sleep
Joseph Maraachli, the infant who became the center of an international end-of-life debate, died peacefully in his sleep at his Windsor, Ontario, home, a spokesperson for the family said Wednesday. (CNN)
September 29, 2011
Down syndrome’s rewards touted as new test looms
David and Annelies Reilly had dozens of questions swirling in their minds when doctors diagnosed their newborn daughter, Melissa, with Down syndrome. (MSNBC)
September 29, 2011
Event: Ethics Teacher Training Course
Baku, Azerbaijan December 12-16, 2011 The Ethics Teacher Training Courses (ETTC) project is an important component of UNESCO’s capacity-building strategy in bioethics, targeting the young generation of experts and educators engaged in teaching ethics at various academic faculties and institutions … Read More
September 28, 2011
Event: 5th Annual Bioethics Forum of the Bioethics Society of the English Speaking Caribbean
November 10-11, 2011 Ross University School of Medicine Portsmouth, Dominica “Ethics, Equality & Stigma” will feature presentations from regional and international speakers as well as workshops on Setting up Research Ethics Boards and Publishing in Bioethics. For more information
September 28, 2011
German Ethics Council Weighs In On Human-Animal Chimeras
Mice carrying human genes are ethically acceptable, but German scientists who want to make transgenic monkeys with human genes should get permission from a national ethics panel, according to recommendations issued today by the German Ethics Council. (Science)
September 28, 2011
Vaccine campaign to target deadly childhood diarrhoea
Every year, more than one million children under the age of five die as a result of diarrhoea. It is the second-biggest killer in this age group, after pneumonia, and 40% of diarrhoea deaths are caused by rotavirus. (Nature News)
September 28, 2011
Aboriginal genome analysis comes to grips with ethics
En route from Sydney to Perth, Australia, in the early 1920s, British ethnologist Alfred Cort Haddon acquired a tuft of human hair from a young Aboriginal man. He added it to his sizeable collection of hair from people living around … Read More
September 28, 2011
Hampshire woman has part of limb artificially regrown
A Hampshire woman has become one of the first patients in the country to have part of a limb artificially regrown in a laboratory and put back in her body. (BBC News)
September 28, 2011
NJ lawmakers: CDC will study, create protocols for student athlete concussions
As awareness continues to grow about sports-related concussions among student athletes, two New Jersey lawmakers say it’s time for schools to start following nationwide protocols governing such injuries. (Washington Post)
September 28, 2011
Health Insurance Premiums Rise Sharply in 2011
Health insurance premiums shot up 9 percent this year, nearly three times the rate of inflation and the most since 2005, a new study shows. (ABC News)
September 27, 2011
Bioengineers Reprogram Muscles To Combat Degeneration
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have turned back the clock on mature muscle tissue, coaxing it back to an earlier stem cell stage to form new muscle. Moreover, they showed in mice that the newly reprogrammed muscle stem … Read More
September 27, 2011
Designing a Smarter Patient
“I’m comfortable with that,” or “No, it wouldn’t be comfortable for me.” That’s what our patients often tell us when faced with a choice about taking a medication or undergoing a procedure. And the discussion usually stops there. (Wall Street … Read More
September 27, 2011
Haptic device gives blind a helping hand
It started out life as a new video game concept but quickly morphed into a prototype with a far more practical vision — a haptic device to help the blind and visually impaired. (CNN)
September 27, 2011
Dutch engineers make ‘robot legs’ for stroke patients
Scientists in the Netherlands are using robotic legs to try to improve the movement of stroke patients. (BBC News)
