Bioethics & Health News
February 6

February 6, 2006

Face Transplant Patient Goes Public

The Frenchwoman who received the world’s first partial face transplant showed off her new features to the public Monday, saying in a heavily slurred voice that she now looks “like everyone else” and hopes to resume a normal life.
(AP)

DNA Kits Aim to Link You to the Here and Then

THE past comes at a price for Georgia Kinney Bopp. Retired and living in Kailua, Hawaii, Ms. Bopp has spent about $800 on tests to trace her ancestry, using samples of DNA from inside her cheek and from possible relatives.
(New York Times)

Clone Scientist May Have Misspent Funds

Hwang Woo-suk, the disgraced South Korean cloning scientist accused of faking his research results, may also have misspent government funds, South Korea’s state auditor said Monday.
(AP)

More Americans Struggling With Medical Debt

heryl Smith’s life as she knew it ended abruptly one day in 1997. “I went from being an employed, normal person to being unemployed,” she recounted. “I lost my health insurance. I couldn’t afford the COBRA, and there was no other income.”
(HealthDay)

Journal Article a Wild Card in Federal Vioxx Trial

A top medical journal’s criticism of a study cited in Vioxx lawsuits is expected to play a part in the retrial of the first federal Vioxx lawsuit — but it’s not clear if it will be a legal hand grenade or a nuclear warhead.
(MSNBC)

Doctors Back Needle Exchange Programs

“I went from being an employed, normal person to being unemployed,” she recounted. “I lost my health insurance. I couldn’t afford the COBRA, and there was no other income.”
(AP)