March 24, 2015
(New York Times) – Five states, in various forms, countenance doctor-assisted dying. Others are considering it. In California, legislation to permit such assistance is scheduled to receive a hearing this week. A lawsuit in New York that seeks a similar … Read More
February 20, 2015
(CNN) – The United Nations is looking into claims that ISIS — already considered the wealthiest terrorist group on record — may be harvesting organs from slain civilians and gaining financial benefits by trafficking the body parts, officials said Wednesday. … Read More
January 19, 2015
(PBS) – Belgium has the world’s most liberal law on physician-assisted suicide, which is not just for the terminally ill. Patients with psychiatric conditions – and now, even children – can request euthanasia. Surveys in Belgium show overwhelming public support, … Read More
December 19, 2014
(The Telegraph) – A US man has made history by becoming the first double amputee to control two shoulder-level prosthetic arms with his mind. A groundbreaking experiment by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Maryland has enabled Les … Read More
November 7, 2014
(Deutsche Welle) – In the Philippines, catholic leaders led a sixteen-year battle against a reproductive health bill that would allow the government to distribute contraception for free through public health centers. Earlier this year, the country’s Supreme Court finally passed … Read More
October 9, 2014
(ABC News) – (Video) Dr. Tom Frieden raises alarm on response to the Ebola epidemic at World Bank.
October 2, 2014
(The Guardian) – Continent-wide summaries and country-by-country breakdowns of abortion rights, including where the procedure is permitted and for what reasons – to save a woman’s life, to preserve her health, after rape or incest, for economic or social reasons … Read More
September 16, 2014
(CNN) – What we know — and psychiatrists have diagnosed for decades — as schizophrenia may really be eight separate diseases, research published in The American Journal of Psychiatry suggests. Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis analyzed the DNA … Read More
September 16, 2014
(Washington Post) – It’s a well-known truth in the public health world: African Americans run an elevated risk of kidney disease. And if they get it, a gene variant common among people of African descent makes the disease more likely … Read More
September 15, 2014
(NPR) – Geneticist Wendy Chung describes what it’s like to chip away at the mysteries of autism, and the excitement of uncovering tiny but critical clues. Wendy Chung is the director of clinical research at the Simons Foundation Autism Research … Read More
September 9, 2014
(CNN) – Enteroviruses, which can cause a variety of symptoms, aren’t unusual. If you’ve ever had a bad summer cold, it was likely caused by an enterovirus. The CDC estimates there are 10 to 15 million viral infections each year … Read More
September 4, 2014
(CNN) – Another American doctor infected with the deadly Ebola virus is coming home for treatment in the United States. Dr. Rick Sacra was stationed in Liberia when he was exposed to the virus. He will be flown to Nebraska, … Read More
September 3, 2014
(SBS) – Kajsa Ekis Ekman, Insight guest and recent Festival of Dangerous Ideas panellist, says surrogacy is against women’s fundamental rights and has likened it to prostitution. “I’ve studied surrogacy since 2008, and I take a stand against all forms … Read More
August 27, 2014
(Scientific American) – According to the Mayo Clinic, about 13% of Americans—more than 1 in 10—take an antidepressant. Of women between the ages of 50 and 64, nearly 1 in 4 take an antidepressant. Second only to antibiotics, antidepressants are the … Read More
August 26, 2014
(ABC.net) – It’s perfectly rational for someone who is desperately ill to seek a miracle cure and that leads some to scour the internet for new treatments like stem cell therapies. But Australia’s leading group of stem cell scientists is … Read More
July 29, 2014
(WRVO) – Although we may like to think that we will always have control of our lives, there may come a time when we are incapable of making sound decisions for our health. Determining the best way to deal with … Read More
July 24, 2014
(CNN) – A doctor who has played a key role in fighting the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone is infected with the disease, according to that country’s Ministry of Health. Dr. Sheik Humarr Khan is being treated by the French … Read More
July 22, 2014
(CNN) – Two appeals courts reached differing decisions on Obamacare subsidies Tuesday, meaning a likely Supreme Court case on the key component of the health care law. A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 against … Read More
June 3, 2014
(Washington Post) – Clinicians and others trying to improve end-of-life communication between doctors and their patient have turned for help to a set of videos such as the one that Goff saw. Developed by two Harvard doctors, the videos aim … Read More
June 3, 2014
(ABC.Net.au) – JCU Professor of Nursing Linda Shields has released a book about nursing and midwifery during the Nazi era in WWII Germany. Nurses and Midwives in Nazi Germany: The “Euthanasia Programs” focuses on nursing ethics and explains the role of … Read More
May 30, 2014
(Orlando Sentinel) – A 46-year-old from Orlando has become the oldest woman to have a baby through in vitro fertilization using her own fresh — not frozen — biological eggs. Belinda Slaughter delivered her first child — a healthy baby … Read More
May 20, 2014
(The Telegraph) – An implant which could cure paralysis for stroke sufferers may be available within five years after scientists managed to restore the gripping function of a paralysed hand for the first time. Newcastle University researchers have shown that … Read More
May 15, 2014
(Yahoo! News) – An Australian mother of seven has given birth to a rare set of conjoined twins who have two faces, two brains, and share one body. Despite doctors’ advice to terminate the pregnancy, Renee Young and partner Simon … Read More
April 24, 2014
(CNN) – At least 40 U.S. veterans died waiting for appointments at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care system, many of whom were placed on a secret waiting list. The secret list was part of an elaborate scheme designed by … Read More
April 7, 2014
(Biome) To coincide with this year’s Experimental Biology conference, BioMed Central and BMC Biologyorganised a panel discussion to explore the increasing frustration with the peer-review process from the scientific community.
