December 30, 2014
(Times of India) – A new code of ethics will now govern hospitals, nursing homes and other similar medical establishments, prohibiting any malpractices such as earning cuts, commissions, inflating patients’ bills and accepting freebies. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has … Read More
December 30, 2014
(Pacific Standard) – Reproducibility is a bedrock principle of science. The results in a scientific paper are not supposed to be the reflection of an individual scientist’s unique, personal views; they are supposed to be a general claim about how … Read More
December 29, 2014
(New York Times) – Just as millions of people are gaining insurance through Medicaid, the program is poised to make deep cuts in payments to many doctors, prompting some physicians and consumer advocates to warn that the reductions could make … Read More
December 29, 2014
(Los Angeles Times) – The Hippocratic oath, a roughly 2,000-year-old text with only marginal relevance to medicine today, continues to have an outsize influence on us. The oath’s language and many of its components are more archaic than a washboard. … Read More
December 29, 2014
(Union Times San Diego) – Two prominent skeptics of what they view as unregulated and overly hyped stem cell treatments say one patient’s experience isn’t enough to establish a causal relationship. Properly controlled clinical trials are needed for that, say … Read More
December 29, 2014
(Science) – Tying up a loose end of a long-running stem cell research fiasco, yet another RIKEN investigating committee released yet another report in Tokyo today. It concludes that the so-called stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) stem cells, as well … Read More
December 29, 2014
(Quartz) – The headline was both surprising and alarming: “Emergency Rooms Often Skip The Epinephrine For Severe Allergies.” In it, an allergist says, “I think moms are probably more aggressive than physicians are in using [epinephrine].” According to the article, … Read More
December 29, 2014
(The Telegraph) – The ability to pass the Turing Test has long been considered the hallmark of an artificially intelligent system, but ever since a chatbot known as Eugene Goostman succeeded in passing the test earlier this year, its suitability … Read More
December 29, 2014
(The Toronto Star) – Canadian and U.S. animal-rights activists are applauding an Argentine court’s decision this month to grant a form of “non-human personhood” to a 29-year-old Sumatran orangutan named Sandra — believed to be the first-ever ruling of its … Read More
December 29, 2014
(Harvard Gazette) – team of researchers led by Harvard geneticist George Church at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Harvard Medical School (HMS) has made big strides toward a future in which the predominant chemical factories of the … Read More
December 29, 2014
(Nature) – Israeli and UK researchers have created human sperm and egg precursor cells in a dish, starting from a person’s skin cells. The achievement is a small step towards a treatment for infertility, although one that could face significant … Read More
December 29, 2014
(Chicago Tribune) – An Israeli citizen who in 2011 became the only person in the United States convicted of organ trafficking will remain in the country after a federal immigration agency concluded his crime was “victimless” and not an offense … Read More
December 29, 2014
(Medical News Today) – The treatment of hair loss is a problem that has had both beauty practitioners and dermatologists alike scratching their heads. Surprisingly, a group of cancer researchers may have found an exciting new way to stimulate hair … Read More
December 29, 2014
(New York Times) – The South Korean government is setting aside as much as $4 million a year to help promote the medical tourism industry, which is dominated by plastic surgeons. It expects one million medical tourists a year by … Read More
December 26, 2014
(Eurekalert) – A new test may reveal which patients will respond to treatment for graft versus host disease (GVHD), an often life-threatening complication of stem cell transplants (SCT) used to treat leukemia and other blood disorders, according to a study … Read More
December 26, 2014
(Economic Times) – US-based industry resource Patients Beyond Borders estimates the world market is expanding by 25 per cent per year – it reached $ 55 billion with 11 million medical tourists in 2013. Increasingly, major Asian players like India, … Read More
December 26, 2014
(Medical Xpress) – Researchers could be closing in on a “fountain of youth” drug that can delay the effects of aging and improve the health of older adults, a new study suggests. Seniors received a significant boost to their immune … Read More
December 26, 2014
(Health Canal) – Using modified human stem cells, a team of UC Davis scientists has developed an improved gene therapy strategy that in animal models shows promise as a functional cure for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. … Read More
December 26, 2014
(Medscape) – Last week, the federal agency that regulates organ transplantation announced a new kidney allocation system intended to give higher priority to younger and healthier patients and decrease racial and socioeconomic disparities. It also aims to increase sensitized patients’ … Read More
December 26, 2014
(Christian Post) – As the Islamic State has risen to become a yearly $2 billion terrorist outfit, it has found various methods to reel in its revenue such as oil production, human trafficking, and drug smuggling. However, it has been … Read More
December 26, 2014
(Nanotechnology Now) – No methods currently exist for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease, which affects one out of nine people over the age of 65. Now, an interdisciplinary team of Northwestern University scientists and engineers has developed a noninvasive … Read More
December 23, 2014
(New York Times) – The Obama administration said Monday that it would investigate prescription drug coverage and other benefits offered by health insurance companies to see if they discriminated against people with AIDS, mental illness, diabetes or other costly chronic … Read More
December 23, 2014
(New York Times) – In his campaign to buttress what he sees as Turkey’s rightful place in the world, the president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has offended many who view his assertions as sexist, paranoid or outdated. The latest came on … Read More
December 23, 2014
(Nature) – With no drugs available to treat Ebola, eyes are turning to a therapy that had largely been relegated to the history books: transfusing patients with blood plasma donated by survivors, which contains antibodies against the virus. Clinical trials … Read More
December 23, 2014
(Scientific American) – Inside the bustling Ebola “Command Center” in Sierra Leone’s capital, it appears that the disease outbreak might finally be brought under control. Staff register alerts that stream in from a call center, and they dispatch surveillance officers … Read More
