March 24, 2017
(UPI) – Scientists in Sweden successfully implanted 3D bioprinted human cartilage cells in an animal model. Researchers hope the breakthrough paves the way for the technology’s use in human patients. “This is the first time anyone has printed human-derived cartilage … Read More
March 21, 2017
(National Post) – Doctors have already harvested organs from dozens of Canadians who underwent medically assisted death, a practice supporters say expands the pool of desperately needed organs, but ethicists worry could make it harder for euthanasia patients to voice … Read More
March 16, 2017
(MIT Technology Review) – “This pig might save your bacon.” So say the company T-shirts printed up by biotechnology startup eGenesis, which today raised $38 million to fund a new effort to edit the DNA of pigs so they can … Read More
March 7, 2017
(The Epoch Times) – Such “violations of the law” may come in the form of abducting innocent individuals and murdering them to sell their organs, according to revelations from Vietnam last year that have not previously been documented in English. … Read More
March 7, 2017
(NPR) – Thomas Starzl, the doctor who pioneered liver transplant surgery, has died at the age of 90. In an announcement on its website, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center said Starzl died peacefully at his home on Saturday. “His … Read More
March 3, 2017
Bioethics (vol. 31, no. 3, 2017) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “Conscientious Objection to Vaccination” by Steve Clarke, Alberto Giubilini and Mary Jean Walker “Doctors Have no Right to Refuse Medical Assistance in Dying, Abortion or Contraception” … Read More
March 2, 2017
(Fox News) – The illegal trade of human organs in the Middle East has surged recently as Syrian refugees seek money to afford smugglers’ fees for a Mediterranean Sea crossing to Europe. One young Syrian man, who gave his name … Read More
March 2, 2017
(The Epoch Times) – Investigative journalist and author Ethan Gutmann has been nominated for the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for his work exposing the mass harvesting of organs in China’s state-run hospitals from practitioners of the traditional spiritual practice Falun … Read More
March 1, 2017
(CNN) – A new nanoparticle technology warmed cryopreserved heart valves and blood vessels without damaging the tissues, found a study published Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine. According to the researchers, this means that cryopreserving human hearts and kidneys … Read More
March 1, 2017
(The Telegraph) – An Indonesian domestic worker has claimed her kidney was stolen without her knowledge while she worked in Doha, Qatar, three years ago. Sri Rabitah, 25, told the Indonesian press on Monday that she only realised what had … Read More
February 28, 2017
(BMJ) – “Soft opt-out boosts donation in Wales,” wrote the BMA. “‘Dozens saved’ in six months by Welsh deemed consent organ donation system,” said the Guardian. Should the rest of the UK follow what Wales started in December 2015: a … Read More
February 27, 2017
(Yahoo! News) – At least nine hearts and two livers could not reach needy patients in time last year in different parts of the country, even as lakhs of people wait at top hospitals for life-saving transplants amid acute shortage … Read More
February 23, 2017
(CNN) – When Keri Young found out her unborn child didn’t have a brain, she made an unthinkably selfless decision. She decided to carry Eva to term to donate the organs to other babies in need. Young’s wrenching story broke … Read More
February 14, 2017
(Times of India) – Stating that the illegal organ donation is now finding its way into bigger hospitals as well, a panel of experts, comprising of doctors and activists was of the opinion that laws regulating organ donations need to … Read More
February 14, 2017
NanoEthics (vol. 10, no. 3, 2016) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “A Lay Ethics Quest for Technological Futures: About Tradition, Narrative and Decision-Making” by Simone van der Burg “Contrasting Medical Technology with Deprivation and Social Vulnerability. Lessons for the Ethical … Read More
February 13, 2017
The New England Journal of Medicine (vol. 376, no. 4, 2017) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “Repealing the ACA without a Replacement — The Risks to American Health Care” by B.H. Obama “Allocating Organs to Cognitively Impaired … Read More
February 10, 2017
(The Guardian) – A prestigious medical journal will retract a scientific paper from Chinese surgeons about liver transplantation after serious concerns were raised that the organs used in the study had come from executed prisoners of conscience. The study was … Read More
February 9, 2017
(BBC) – The Vatican has defended its decision to invite China to a conference on organ trafficking despite its record of using executed inmates as organ donors. The head of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS) admitted he did not … Read More
February 8, 2017
(Eurekalert) – Advancements in critical care make it possible for even the sickest children to successfully undergo liver transplantation. According to a new study published online as an “article in press” in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons … Read More
February 7, 2017
(BBC) – In 2016, African Americans accounted for 30% of the overall organ donation waiting list, and 33% of the kidney list, despite being only 13% of the US population. A black organ recipient doesn’t have to have a black donor. … Read More
February 7, 2017
(The Guardian) – Vatican officials have defended their decision to invite a Chinese former deputy health minister to a conference on organ trafficking despite concerns that China still relies on the organs of executed prisoners in its transplant programme. Medical … Read More
February 1, 2017
Journal of Bioethical Inquiry (vol. 13, no. 4, 2016) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “Regulating “Quack” Medicine and Decision-Making For Children Re-visited” by Bernadette Richards and Michaela E. Okninski “Relational Capacity: Broadening the Notion of Decision-Making Capacity in Paediatric Healthcare” by … Read More
January 30, 2017
(STAT News) – Pig embryos that had been injected with human stem cells when they were only a few days old began to grow organs containing human cells, scientists reported on Thursday, an advance that promises — or threatens — to … Read More
January 26, 2017
(NEJM) – Proponents of transplantation for such patients argue that cognitive function should not be a basis for allocating organs because it allows health care providers to decide that some lives are more valuable than others. Opponents believe that cognitive … Read More
January 26, 2017
(STAT News) – I’m worried about a new paper in the journal Cell that details the creation of a human-pig chimera. As a neuroscientist, I appreciate groundbreaking research at a purely scientific level and understand the hard work that goes … Read More
