March 23, 2020

Coronavirus: Explanations and Ethical Issues

January 21, 2015

Largest Study of Babies Born after Infertility Treatment Shows Significant Improvements in Health over Past 20 Years

(Science Daily) – The last two decades has seen a steady improvement in the health outcomes of children born after assisted reproduction (ART), with fewer babies being born preterm, with low birth weight, stillborn or dying within the first year … Read More

January 21, 2015

Team Identifies Toxic Ebola Protein Fragment

(Medical Xpress) – William Gallaher, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Microbiology, Immunology & Parasitology at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, has discovered a fragment of an Ebola virus protein that is toxic to cells and may contribute to infection … Read More

January 21, 2015

Research Suggests People Should Be Paid for Donating Organs

(Scoop) – A University of Canterbury study suggests people should be paid for donating organs to address New Zealand’s issue with one of the lowest rates of organ donation in the developed world. While the donation rate has stagnated over … Read More

January 21, 2015

When It Comes to New Drugs, if Providers and Payers Snooze, They Lose

(Managed Care Magazine) – Recent drug developments make the answer clear: “Monitor — and comprehensively address — marketplace changes or imperil your plan’s assets and your participants’ health.” Too long for a bumper sticker, for sure. Perhaps “You snooze, you … Read More

January 21, 2015

A Woman Told How She Woke Up from an Operation to Discover That Both Her Fallopian Tubes Had Been “Clipped” without Her Consent

(Irish Independent) – A Medical Council fitness to practice inquiry heard that consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Declan Egan told her: “What did you want me to do, stitch it back up, wake you up and ask for your permission?” Dr … Read More

January 21, 2015

‘Wide Variation’ in End of Life Care at Hospitals

(The Telegraph) – Dying patients are receiving “wide variations” of care because of hospitals’ failures to replace the controversial Liverpool Care Pathway, the Chief Inspector of Hospitals for the Care Quality Commission, Professor Sir Mike Richards, has said. Sir Mike … Read More

January 21, 2015

Stem Cell Transplantation Shows Potential for Reducing Disability in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

(Medical Xpress) – Results from a preliminary study indicate that among patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS), treatment with nonmyeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (low intensity stem cell transplantation) was associated with improvement in measures of disability and quality of … Read More

January 21, 2015

Baby Gammy, Born into Thai Surrogacy Scandal, Granted Australian Citizenship

(The Guardian) – Baby Gammy, an infant who was left behind in Thailand by his Australian parents in a major surrogacy scandal, has been granted Australian citizenship. The ABC reported on Tuesday that Gammy’s Thai mother, Pattaramon Chanbua, applied for … Read More

January 21, 2015

Research Gives New Hope for Restoring Cells in Damaged Brains and Spinal Cords

(Medical Xpress) – Chen, who is Penn State’s Verne M. Willaman Chair in the Life Sciences, directs a research team that is working on simultaneous research projects related to brain and spinal-cord disorders. These disorders include Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, … Read More

January 21, 2015

Need a Doctor’s Appointment? There’s an App for That

(The Wall Street Journal) – The doctor will see you now … in a chat room over the Internet. Reflecting the high use of the Internet in Indonesia, doctors and hospitals are increasingly making it possible for Indonesians to consult … Read More

January 20, 2015

Donated Embryo Leads to Stem Cell Line that Generates Nerve Cells

(Medical Xpress) – University of Michigan alumna Brooke Kendrick and her husband Stephen were ready to start a family. But a devastating inherited nerve disease runs in her family, affecting her brother and threatening to kill or cripple any male … Read More

January 20, 2015

Use of IVF Procedure for Male Infertility Has Doubled; Not Linked with Improved Outcomes

(Medical Xpress) – The use of an assisted reproduction technique known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) doubled between 1996 and 2012, although compared with conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF), use of ICSI was not associated with improved reproductive outcomes, according … Read More

January 20, 2015

Transplant First: Organ Donation from UK Newborn

(BBC) – Doctors have performed the first organ transplants from a newborn in the UK. In a procedure described as a milestone in neonatal care, a six-day-old baby girl’s kidneys and liver cells were given to two separate recipients after … Read More

January 20, 2015

Government of Mali and WHO Announce the End of the Ebola Outbreak in Mali

(World Health Organization) – Malian authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO) today announced the end of the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Mali since 42 days had elapsed after the last Ebola case tested negative in laboratory tests … Read More

January 20, 2015

Genetics of Malaria Drug Resistance Revealed

(BBC) – The genetics underpinning resistance to a frontline malaria drug, artemisinin, have been revealed, scientists say. In South East Asia, malaria parasites have developed tolerance to the treatment, and there are fears that this will spread. Now, in the … Read More

January 20, 2015

Would You Have a Baby to Keep Your Local Public Services Going?

(The Guardian) – Would you offer up your womb in exchange for public services? The news that the Danish region of Thisted has agreed to keep its schools, nurseries and leisure facilities open only as long as the local population … Read More

January 20, 2015

Euthanasia Clinic Criticized for Helping Woman with Severe Tinnitus to Die

(DutchNews.nl) – A special clinic in The Hague, set up to help people whose doctors do not support euthanasia, has been reprimanded for helping a 47-year-old woman with chronic tinnitus to die, broadcaster Nos says on Monday. The independent commission … Read More

January 20, 2015

Complexities of Choosing an End Game for Dementia

(New York Times) – Experts know of just a handful of people with directives like Mr. Medalie’s. But dementia rates and numbers have begun a steep ascent, already afflicting an estimated 30 percent of those older than 85. Baby boomers … Read More

January 20, 2015

Genetically Modified Cattle with Human DNA Might Hold Ebola Cure

(NBC News) – On a farm outside Sioux Falls, South Dakota, a herd of cloned, genetically engineered cattle are busy incubating antibodies against the Ebola virus. Researchers hope the cattle – which certainly don’t look like anything special – will … Read More

January 20, 2015

Deals for Genetic Data Raise Issues of Privacy, Sharing

(Bloomberg) – In three recent deals, drugmakers are betting that personal genetic maps will finally fulfill their early promise to unlock secrets and cure diseases. At the same time, the agreements revived questions about privacy protections and how useful personal … Read More

January 20, 2015

Quashing Stubborn Hospital Infections Relies on Genetic Sequencing

(Scientific American) – Details about how the techniques finally cracked the Queen Elizabeth case, published recently in the journal Genome Medicine, suggest how theU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will employ whole genome sequencing to stop the spread of … Read More

January 19, 2015

Surgeons Harvesting Organs from ‘Deceased’ Patient Stop after Discovering He Wasn’t Completely Brain Dead

(Daily Mail) – Surgeons were forced to stop operating on a ‘deceased’ patient after discovering he was not brain dead. Doctors at a hospital in the Bremen area of Germany realised their patient was still technically alive after making an … Read More

January 19, 2015

Stem Cells Derived from Amniotic Tissues Have Immunosuppressive Properties

(Medical Xpress) – Stem cells derived from human amnion have for some time been considered promising for cell therapies because of their ease of access, ability to differentiate, and absence of ethical issues. Now, a Japanese research team has found … Read More

January 19, 2015

IVF Baby Possible after Tubal Sterilization

(Scientific American) – Women who want to have a baby after tubal sterilization and undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF) are likely to be as successful as their subfertile peers who have IVF, according to a study from Australia. In a … Read More