January 29, 2008
In the Netherlands, doctors sometimes euthanize babies born with spina bifida. There (and here), doctors sometimes refuse to treat them so that they will die. But now, a new journal article calls expose these lethal actions and non actions as … Read More
January 28, 2008
India is searching for a monster who convinced the destitute to sell their kidneys at bargain basement prices and sold them for a huge profit. But the real empowerers of this atrocity are the foreigners who wanted new kidneys and … Read More
January 28, 2008
I have written several posts about the need to develop uniform standards of declaring death by neurological criteria–popularly known as “brain death.” Now, there’s some more information out about that problem. From the story: Guidelines for determining brain death differ … Read More
January 28, 2008
The most robust opponents of assisted suicide–and the most effective in my view–are disability rights advocates. They understand well that legalizing assisted suicide is a gun aimed at their hearts. An opinion column by one Ian Mulgrew of the Vancouver … Read More
January 24, 2008
Anyone who believes that Bush funding embryonic stem cell research with leftover IVF embryos would satisfy “the scientists” just aren’t paying attention to the constant whining by Brave New Britain’s scientists who have what amounts to a virtual blank check. … Read More
January 24, 2008
A wonderful breakthrough in transplant medicine is also another testimony to the apparent healing power of adult stem cells. Bone marrow transplanted from the organ donor to the organ recipient at the time of the transplant apparently can eventually result … Read More
January 23, 2008
As a California resident, I am painfully aware that my state is sinking in a red sea of debt. Yet, the borrowing to support human cloning research continues. Last week, Investor’s Business Daily noticed and in “The Bullet Missed,” argues … Read More
January 22, 2008
This time in the UK, using a patient’s own bone marrow to attempt to treat heart attack damage. From the story: British scientists have been given the go-ahead to begin potentially ground-breaking experiments using injections of stem cells to repair … Read More
January 21, 2008
We continually hear from the brave new world crowd that only religion would cause one to oppose ESCR and human cloning. That isn’t true, of course., One need not be religious to have serious reservations about using nascent human life … Read More
January 19, 2008
I reported on this story previously from a different angle, e.g. the need for using animals in basic medical research. But this picture is so amazing, that I thought the breakthrough was worth revisiting to discuss the biotechnological implications. To … Read More
January 17, 2008
Readers of SHS will remember the controversial case of Ashley, the profoundly disabled girl whose uterus and breast buds were removed, and who was given hormones to keep her from growing to normal size. Ashley’s parents became proselytizers of sorts, … Read More
January 17, 2008
No surprise here: The UK’s “we never say no” Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has okayed the attempt to create cloned human embryos using cow eggs. The reason for this approach is the dearth of human eggs, the reasons … Read More
January 16, 2008
Well, apparently the people of the United Kingdom weren’t too comfortable with their bodies being deemed organ sources unless they explicitly opted out of being a “donor.” How else explain PM Gordon Brown’s walk-back of his support for presumed consent? … Read More
January 14, 2008
I have been warning for years that Futile Care theorists were going to become increasingly bold in attempting to impose their quality of life judgments on unwilling patients and families. A very important futility case is ongoing right now in … Read More
January 14, 2008
The embryonic stem cell/human cloning debates are not about science. They are about ethics and morality and the proper parameters, if any, to place around the incredibly powerful biotechnological sector. Some of us have long contended that the science intelligentsia … Read More
January 13, 2008
This animal study may pave the way for wonderful medical treatments. From the story: Scientists have created a beating heart in the laboratory in a breakthrough that could allow doctors one day to make a range of organs for transplant … Read More
January 12, 2008
This could get ugly. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has supported “presumed consent” to organ “donation.” And this in a country that also allows Futile Care Theory, particularly for those with “mental incapacities.” The danger is obvious and acute, don’t you … Read More
January 12, 2008
This morning I awoke to this very caring–yet disturbing–column (“Searching for Dignity in Old Age” published in the Tampa Tribune), awaiting perusal in my e-mail. Real estate developer Jim Dyal writes movingly of his intense grief at the increasing debility … Read More
January 11, 2008
Former Governor Booth Gardner has filed his assisted suicide legalization proposal with the Secretary of State and is out buying, er gathering, petition signatures. If the past is any clue, most media will fall over themselves to applaud the effort. … Read More
January 10, 2008
No, not a cure, but a potentially efficacious treatment to reduce symptoms and maintain cognition. The Journal of Neuroinflammation reports that fifteen Alzheimer’s patients received substantial benefit from being treated with a drug normally used to alleviate rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. … Read More
January 10, 2008
Advanced Cell Technology made huge international headlines last year by claiming to have created embryonic stem cell lines without destroying embryos. That announcement–typical of ACT PR–was way overblown. It turned out to be a modest proof of principle type experiment … Read More
January 9, 2008
Well, this is refreshing: Transhumanist and now former James Hughes disciple Justice De Thezier, has made a New Year’s Resolution to “quit transhumanism.” In the blog Cyborg Democracy, De Thezier, the founder of the Quebec Transhumanist Association seems to have … Read More
January 9, 2008
My headline is the title of a must-read book about the eugenics movement by Edwin Black entitled War Against the Weak. Well, it’s ba-aa-aak! A pernicious new eugenics that is arising and already lashing out at the helpless and most … Read More
January 7, 2008
It is amazing how two different arguments can be made at the same time by some of the same people. Take the ACLU. It promotes assisted suicide as “death with dignity” and “choice,” as a painless method of dying. At … Read More
January 6, 2008
The hype generated by ESCR advocates has a lot of ill and injured people very anxious to receive stem cell treatments. China, unsurprisingly, is willing to sell stem cell treatments of the fetal and adult variety–even though most of the … Read More
