January 1, 2026
Happy New Year!
The team behind bioethics.com, The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity, wishes you all the best in 2026!
News
December 31, 2025
Tatiana Schlossberg, a grandchild of the late President John F. Kennedy, has died at 35
(AP) – Environmental journalist Tatiana Schlossberg, one of three grandchildren of the late President John F. Kennedy, has died after she was diagnosed with leukemia last year. She was 35. Schlossberg, daughter of Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy, and Edwin Schlossberg, … Read More
December 31, 2025
What being around death taught this hospital chaplain about life
(NPR) – Over time, that “death anxiety” transformed into something else: an appreciation for the present moment, says Park, who often writes about this topic on his Instagram. “When death is on the forefront of your mind, it’s almost like … Read More
December 31, 2025
A Deadly, Drug-Resistant Fungus Threatens People Around the World, Scientists Warn
(Gizmodo) – The global burden of Candida auris has been increasing since its discovery in 2009, a new review finds. A deadly, drug-resistant fungus is extending its tendrils around the world. Research out this month finds that the public health … Read More
December 31, 2025
What does 2026 have in store for AI? We asked ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude — here’s what they said
(Tech Radar) – I asked ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, three of the best-known and widely used AI chatbots, to predict what everyday life with AI might look like in 2026. I tried to get them to stick to more realistic … Read More
December 31, 2025
Tech Startups Are Handing Out Free Nicotine Pouches to Boost Productivity
(WSJ) – A nicotine replacement for smokers has started popping up in offices in the tech industry, despite health hazards Meet the tech industry’s latest perk: nicotine-pouch fridges and vending machines. Nicotine pouches, which have grown in popularity in recent … Read More
December 31, 2025
Brain Gear Is the Hot New Wearable
(Wired) – Smartwatches are cool and all, but have you considered wearable neurotech? Ten years ago, a Fitbit was about as sophisticated a wearable as you could get. The Apple Watch soon supplanted it, quickly becoming the world’s best-selling smartwatch. … Read More
December 31, 2025
Over 6 million Americans on Medicare will now need to get prior authorization from AI for these 17 procedures
(Market Watch) – Traditional Medicare in six states will soon feel more like privatized Medicare Advantage, using prior authorizations to determine what care can be covered for older adults. Starting in January, about 6.4 million Americans enrolled in traditional Medicare … Read More
December 30, 2025
‘Absolutely frightening’: surge in ketamine cases hits UK urology wards
(The Guardian) – Young adults and teenagers prevalent in ‘skyrocketing’ admissions linked to class B drug, say doctors in northern England Few places have felt the effects of that increase more than urology departments. Chronic ketamine use can cause irreversible … Read More
December 30, 2025
Flu cases are surging and rates will likely get worse, new CDC data shows
(NPR) – Flu season is off to a rough start this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While the virus arrived as expected, cases are rising faster, compared with previous years. Last week, more than 19,000 … Read More
December 30, 2025
New measles cases in South Carolina put U.S. on the verge of losing elimination status
(NBC News) – The state reported 20 more measles cases in the last four days. If the disease spreads for three more weeks, it may no longer be considered eradicated in the U.S. A sizable uptick in measles cases in … Read More
December 30, 2025
Hundreds Sue Virginia Hospital and Executives Over Unneeded Surgeries
(New York Times) – More than 500 women claimed that they had received unnecessary operations. Hospital leaders said they were not aware of a doctor’s misconduct. More than 500 women sued a Virginia health system and its senior executives on … Read More
December 30, 2025
Opioid Abuse in Pregnancy Surged in Recent Decades, Study Finds
(Gizmodo) – Pregnant women who reported opioid use disorder were more likely to face serious health complications, as were their children. Opioid abuse during pregnancy is on the rise, new research suggests—and that’s likely to endanger both expectant mothers and … Read More
December 30, 2025
Experts Question Denmark’s Vaccine Program as a Model for the U.S.
(New York Times) – The United States is expected to adopt the vaccine schedule used by Denmark, a much smaller country with universal health care. The United States, a nation of 343 million people with a complex and overburdened health … Read More
December 30, 2025
Claire Brosseau Wants to Die. Will Canada Let Her?
(New York Times) – Ms. Brosseau says mental illness has made her life unbearable. She wants a medically assisted death. Even her psychiatrists are split over whether she should have one. The exclusion was to end on March 17, 2023, … Read More
December 30, 2025
Dyslexia and the Reading Wars
(The New Yorker) – Proven methods for teaching the readers who struggle most have been known for decades. Why do we often fail to use them? What’s more, the main principles that inform those methods have been shown to underlie … Read More
December 29, 2025
Flu Cases Climb to Highest Levels in New York State in Two Decades
(NYT) – The number of patients going to hospital emergency rooms with flulike symptoms has soared. In New York City, the signs of flu abound: more people wearing masks, more people coughing on the subway. There has been a school … Read More
December 29, 2025
Blood test could predict who is most at risk from common inherited heart condition
(The Guardian) – Exclusive: Scientists find a way to forecast hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which affects millions worldwide Scientists are developing a simple blood test to predict who is most at risk from the world’s most common inherited heart condition. Millions of … Read More
December 29, 2025
Trump administration to scrap federal rule requiring transparency into health AI tools
(STAT News) – The move could make it easier for health systems to adopt AI, while leaving patients vulnerable The Trump administration is proposing to remove requirements that developers of health information software disclose details on the development and testing … Read More
December 29, 2025
Hospitals Cater to ‘Transplant Tourists’ as U.S. Patients Wait for Organs
(NYT) – International patients can bring a hospital as much as $2 million for a transplant. In recent years, they have typically gotten organs faster than U.S. patients. More than 100,000 people in the United States are in need of … Read More
December 26, 2025
The Age of the All-Access AI Agent Is Here
(Wired) – Over the past two years, generative AI tools—such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini—have moved beyond the relatively straightforward, text-only chatbots that the companies initially released. Instead, Big AI is increasingly building and pushing toward the adoption of … Read More
December 26, 2025
This ex-doctor faced ‘incredible burnout’ and left medicine to build an AI tool – now, it’s worth over $460 million
(CNBC) – “In a perfect world … I would spend as much time with [patients] as they need … I would understand their family, I would remember them deeply, and then I would check in on them regularly,” he said. … Read More
December 26, 2025
China Is Worried AI Threatens Party Rule—and Is Trying to Tame It
(WSJ) – Beijing is enforcing tough rules to ensure chatbots don’t misbehave, while hoping its models stay competitive with the U.S. Concerned that artificial intelligence could threaten Communist Party rule, Beijing is taking extraordinary steps to keep it under control. … Read More
December 26, 2025
The King of Ozempic Is Scared as Hell
(Wired) – Now that Novo Nordisk is the world’s weight-loss juggernaut, will it have to betray its first patients—type 1 diabetics? Though Novo has as its controlling shareholder the largest altruistic foundation in the world, it has to act coldly … Read More
December 26, 2025
Pope disappointed over approval of assisted suicide legislation in his home state of Illinois
(AP) – Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday he was “very disappointed” that his home state of Illinois had approved a law allowing for medically assisted suicide, and he called for greater respect of life. Leo said he had spoken “explicitly” … Read More
