Bioethics & Health News
December 12

December 12, 2005

Should Bias Be Treated as a Mental Illness?

The 48-year-old man turned down a job because he feared that a co-worker would be gay. He was upset that gay culture was becoming mainstream and blamed most of his personal, professional and emotional problems on the gay and lesbian movement.
(Washington Post)

FDA Issues Alert on Study of Abbott Antibiotic

U.S. regulators alerted the public on Friday to a study showing a higher death rate among heart disease patients a year after taking an Abbott Laboratories Inc. antibiotic, as part of an effort to release early information about potential safety concerns.
(Reuters)

Are U.S. Health Experts Inflating Flu Statistics?

A Harvard grad student is charging that the U.S. government is hyping the threat of the annual (non-avian) strains of influenza. Specifically, Peter Doshi says, the estimate of 36,000 flu-related deaths a year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is unsupported by the available data.
(HealthDay)

After a Decade, Lasik Surgery Still a Luxury

Christopher Tomes, 43, opened his eyes one morning, looked out the window and could read the license plate of a parked car — without his glasses.
(MSNBC)

Abortion ‘Leaves Mental Legacy’

An abortion can cause five years of mental anguish, anxiety, guilt and even shame, a BMC Medicine study suggests.
(BBC)

Fewer Breast Cancer Patients to Get Chemo

For years, doctors have known exactly what to do with breast cancer patients like Eva Ossorio: Poison them. Blasting women with toxic chemicals was considered the best way to save their lives. The bigger the cancer or the more it had spread, the more vile liquid doctors pumped into their veins to try to kill it. But there’s been a sea change in the last year.
(AP)