February 23, 2007
Coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the British Parliament’s passage of a bill banning the transportation of slaves (February 23), the movie Amazing Grace brings to the big screen the life story of abolitionist William Wilberforce, a key figure in … Read More
February 20, 2007
In the Wall Street Journal’s Doctor’s Office column by Benjamin Brewer, M.D.: Doctors and hospitals are supposed to be able to share information about a patient’s medical treatment without signed consent forms and other red tape. That isn’t working. Before … Read More
February 8, 2007
The Medical Examiner column at Slate.com this week explains why stem-cell research won’t make states rich. The public has been told repeatedly that funding stem cell research—or more specifically embryonic stem cell research—represents an investment in biotechnology that will return … Read More
February 7, 2007
Nancy L. Jones, Ph.D., Consultant on Biotech Ethics for The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) science and technology policy fellow at the National Institutes of Health, and adjunct associate professor at … Read More
February 2, 2007
Brooklyn Law School David G. Trager Public Policy Symposium End-of-Life Care: Bioethical Perspectives and Conflict Resolution Thursday, February 8, 2007 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. CLE Credit Available Sponsored by The Center for Health, Science and Public Policy
January 29, 2007
Each week, Leslie Gordon reviews the cases of every child in the world known to have progeria, a premature-aging disease. These children almost always die of a heart attack, at an average age of 13. There are only 42 people … Read More
January 26, 2007
It’s a sign of desperation. One reason there have been so few drug breakthroughs lately is that the profit motive actually works against the development of new pharmaceuticals. Drug companies suffer from blockbuster-itis, the belief that only billion-dollar almost-sure things … Read More
January 26, 2007
Damage to a silver dollar-sized spot deep in the brain seems to wipe out the urge to smoke, a surprising discovery that may shed important new light on addiction. The research was inspired by a stroke survivor who claimed he … Read More
January 26, 2007
The Virgin-branded company will be launched next Thursday and is expected to offer parents the chance to put the umbilical blood of their newborn children into cold storage. Scientists believe that future advances in medical technology will use stem cells … Read More
January 26, 2007
Norway’s government proposed lifting a national ban on using human embryonic stem cells for research, saying Friday that the change might help find cures to a broad range of diseases. (AP)
January 26, 2007
Religion and science can combine to create some thorny questions: Does God exist outside the human mind, or is God a creation of our brains? Why do we have faith in things that we cannot prove, whether it’s the afterlife … Read More
January 26, 2007
Most Americans age 50 and older use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), such as herbal products or acupuncture, often unbeknownst to their doctor, according to a survey conducted by AARP and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. (Reuters)
January 26, 2007
Poor methodological standards in animal studies mean that positive results rarely translate to the clinical domain. (British Medical Journal)
January 25, 2007
Friday, February 16, 2007 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. National Press Club 529 14th Street N.W. Washington, D.C. Is a machine-dominated society á la The Matrix or a Borg-esque collective intelligence looming in humanity’s future? Emerging technologies in the areas … Read More
January 25, 2007
The Food and Drug Administration has ended an investigation into a broker offering ready-made embryos to prospective parents, concluding the agency had no jurisdiction. (AP)
January 25, 2007
Sparking a key gene back into life could provide a powerful new treatment for cancer, scientists have found. (BBC)
January 25, 2007
A University of California Berkeley economics professor has done an analysis of the financial returns likely to come to California from stem cell research–and he said they will likely be a small fraction of what proponents of state-funded stem-cell research … Read More
January 25, 2007
Are biotechnology companies reaching the limits of how much they can charge for their drugs? One sign of that is the sluggish sales of drugs for psoriasis. (New York Times)
January 25, 2007
Their combined figurative paintings and prints focus on women and explore maturity, body image, and coping with age and infirmity. (Blade)
January 25, 2007
Clinique has gone one step further in aligning itself with therapeutic imagery — and in the process has raised the ante for beauty companies seeking affiliations with doctors. (New York Times)
January 24, 2007
In the real world, people with amnesia live in a mental universe at least as strange as fiction: new research suggests that they are marooned in the present, as helpless at imagining future experiences as they are at retrieving old … Read More
January 24, 2007
Four out of five people in Britain believe the law should allow a doctor to end the life of a terminally ill patient who is in pain if they wish to die. In a finding confirming that British public opinion … Read More
January 24, 2007
African countries that are home to much of the world’s human medical research have created institutions to deal with ethical issues, but these committees face significant hurdles–like never meeting in person. (Scientific American)
January 24, 2007
Four years ago, Stuart Cracraft became a father at age 45. As his twin daughters grow up, he worries that his body and mind might not be able to keep up. Having recently witnessed his mother’s death following a devastating … Read More
January 24, 2007
President Bush delivered a domestic agenda to Congressional Democrats on Tuesday that was, in large part, modest and a reiteration of past proposals. Where he did break ground — on health care — his initiative was quickly dismissed by leading … Read More
