January 23, 2007
As the self-described “man who would not die,†the humor columnist Art Buchwald was a strange bedfellow with the hospice movement. But in the months between the end of his extended hospice stay and his death from kidney failure on … Read More
January 23, 2007
A 27-year-old man with a disfiguring disease has become the second person to have a partial face transplant in France in just over a year. (Reuters)
January 23, 2007
Doug Metcalfe cut the umbilical cord immediately after Jen Betts gave birth to baby Sara. It had been a difficult pregnancy, and everyone was relieved that the delivery, though a few weeks early, had gone well. (USA Today)
January 23, 2007
Darleen Falke of Dudley knows how desperately people need stem cell transplants. She saw them every day when she worked at UMass Memorial Medical Center’s bone marrow transplant unit six years ago and she sees them now in her work … Read More
January 23, 2007
The mechanized “angels” – being developed by EU-funded scientists – will perform basic tasks such as mopping up spillages, taking messages and guiding visitors to hospital beds. They could also be used to distribute medicines and even monitor the temperature … Read More
January 22, 2007
A little while back, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists urged that every pregnant woman be tested to see if her fetus has Down syndrome. I did not comment on it at the time, having written quite a bit … Read More
January 22, 2007
This study is unsurprising to me: A survey of colo-rectal cancer patients finds that they are more willing to take chemotherapy, even with a small potential for extending life at the cost of significant adverse side effects, than doctors thought … Read More
January 22, 2007
In a stark office at Mt. Sinai Medical Center last summer, Mark Foster sat on a leather couch alongside his parents, scared into silence. The question he faced: Should he donate half his liver to save his father’s life? (Wall … Read More
January 22, 2007
Say you’re a woman who wants to have fertility treatment but can’t afford the $5,000 to $6,000 cost. What if you could get it for half-price, by agreeing to donate half the eggs you produce for stem cell research? Interested? … Read More
January 22, 2007
Altruism, one of the most difficult human behaviors to define, can be detected in brain scans, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday. (Reuters)
January 22, 2007
The identification by U.S. scientists of genes thought to be key to autoimmune disorders could be a big step toward new treatments for these illnesses, which include lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes. (HealthDay)
January 22, 2007
Health care for all – an elusive goal that has tantalized presidents and governors for decades – is roaring back this year with ambitious proposals in a handful of prominent states. (AP)
January 22, 2007
A new study sheds light on the hardships that cancer patients are willing to endure in the hope of a cure — as well as the communication gap between patients and their doctors. (USA Today)
January 22, 2007
Drug advertising aimed at consumers, a fast-growing category that reached $4.5 billion last year, will face hard scrutiny in the new Congress, according to industry critics in both the House and Senate. (New York Times)
January 22, 2007
At first glance, Roger Behm looks like an independent guy who sees the world with a rather sharp sense of humor. But he’s actually seen nothing since he was a young man. (CBS)
January 22, 2007
A “data cable” made from stretched nerve cells could someday help connect computers to the human nervous system. The modified cells should form better connections with human tissue than the metal electrodes currently used for purposes such as remotely controlling … Read More
January 22, 2007
Bryan Appleyard’s How to Live Forever or Die Trying offers an intriguing look at the geeky, freeze-dried, pill-popping world of people who want to go on and on. (The Observer)
January 21, 2007
I have been traveling and neglecting my blogging duties. Whilst gone, readers alerted me to the pathetic excuse given by the New York Times for not reporting the amniotic fluid stem cell breakthrough. Its reporter, Nicolas Wade, claimed he didn’t … Read More
January 20, 2007
“Can anything good come out of the United Nations,” I ask in the lede of my piece in the current Weekly Standard discussing that new UN treaty, which if followed–always a big if in these kind of things–would substantially protect … Read More
January 19, 2007
My friend Yuval Levin has a piece today in, of all places, the New York Times about President Bush’s ESC funding policy and its moral import. Here are a few key quotes: At its heart, then, when the biology and … Read More
January 19, 2007
This story demonstrates the dangers that are out there in stem cell land for the unwary. A Las Vegas doctor has been treating people with serious illnesses, such as MS, with stem cells from placenta and other non embryonic sources. … Read More
January 19, 2007
The federal government could add DNA from tens of thousands of immigration violators, captives in the war on terrorism and others accused but not convicted of federal offenses to the FBI’s crime-fighting database under a plan being finalized by the … Read More
January 19, 2007
Devices like DBS and psychoactive drugs like Ritalin and Prozac are already manipulating brain function in millions of people. And future pharmaceuticals, Farah says, targeting very specific parts of the brain, will be even more effective and will have fewer … Read More
January 19, 2007
A hornet’s nest of ethicists, medical professionals and activists has been shaken by the case of surgery performed in Seattle to stunt a disabled girl’s growth to make it easier for her parents to care for her at home. (Marshfield … Read More
January 19, 2007
by Jonathan D. MorenoThis vision of the futuristic army rests in large part on the application of anticipated advances in neuroscience and nanotechnology. Jonathan Moreno’s Mind Wars: Brain Research and National Defense deals with the ethical implications of applying neurotechnologies on the battlefield. … Read More
