October 11, 2007
Don’t use embryos in stem cell research, Pope says
Pope Benedict appealed to scientists on Thursday to stop using human embryos in stem cell research, saying it violated “the dignity of human life”. (Reuters)
Monthly Archives: October 2007
October 11, 2007
Ill., Pharmacists OK Birth Control Deal
Illinois pharmacists who object to dispensing emergency birth control would be allowed to let someone else fill the prescription under a deal that could settle a lawsuit against the state. (AP)
October 11, 2007
Sponsors of proposed amendment on cloning object to ballot language
Sponsors of a proposed ballot measure that would ban the cloning of human cells expressed outrage Wednesday over the ballot language Secretary of State Robin Carnahan approved. (Kansas City Star)
October 10, 2007
Adult Stem Cell Success Story Makes the NEW YORK TIMES!
I have always maintained that the more progress that adult stem cell researchers make, the harder it will be for mainstream media outlets to maintain their news blockade that has prevented important success stories from reaching the public consciousness. This … Read More
October 10, 2007
Peditrician Spies in Massachusetts
This story is disturbing on several levels. Apparently in Massachusetts, pediatricians are grilling their child patients with questions to invade family privacy. From a column in the Boston Herald, byline Michael Graham: I found this out after my 13-year-old daughter’s … Read More
October 10, 2007
The Monument
Just a few days ago, I was in an eastern European country for a medical conference. On the last day of my visit, one of my hosts took me to a monument near the capital city. The monument covered perhaps … Read More
October 10, 2007
Schwarzenegger offers health care bill for uninsured
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday unveiled his long awaited bill aimed at providing health care insurance to nearly 7 million people in the most populous U.S. state who do not have it. (Reuters)
October 10, 2007
Medicaid Managed Care Seems to Fall Short
Medicaid enrollees receive lower quality health care from managed-care programs than do managed-care patients in commercial health plans, a new study found. (HealthDay)
October 10, 2007
Eye Repair
A novel artificial cornea that adheres to eye cells could bring new hope to the estimated 10 million people worldwide who are blind because of corneal damage or disease. The new design should relieve some of the complications–such as tissue … Read More
October 10, 2007
World Medical Association Reviewing Declaration Of Helsinki
The Declaration of Helsinki, widely regarded as the foundation document for research ethics worldwide, is being reviewed by the World Medical Association. (Medical News Today)
October 10, 2007
Op-Ed: Personalized Medicine in the Era of Genomics
Enthusiastic predictions about personalized medicine have surrounded the sequencing of the human genome. As commonly used, the term predicts a leap forward in disease prevention and drug treatment, based on knowledge of individual genetic susceptibilities.1-2 According to Guttmacher and colleagues, … Read More
October 10, 2007
Enhancing the species
Our correspondent meets the controversial philosopher John Harris, who argues that we have a moral and ethical duty to improve the human race by biologically enhancing our children. (Times Online)
October 10, 2007
Australia: Coalition split on clones
QUEENSLAND’S Coalition leaders are split over legislation that will allow scientists to create embryos using cloning for their research. (Courier-Mail)
October 10, 2007
Book Review: Choices in Palliative Care: Issues in Health Care Delivery
Singing of the boy in the bubble, musician Paul Simon reminds us that we live in an age of “miracles and wonders.” Indeed, we have never had greater power to effectively prevent, diagnose, and treat illness. Medical science has helped … Read More
October 10, 2007
Mass. health panel set to reverse Romney-backed stem cell rules
A state health panel appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick is poised to undo stem cell regulations created under former Gov. Mitt Romney that scientists said put a chill on their work and undermined a 2005 law intended to encourage the … Read More
October 9, 2007
For Big Biotech It is Never Enough
Oh, the whining. Massachusetts has funded and permitted human SCNT, but it forbids the buying and selling of human eggs for biological research. This has apparently brought research into human cloning to a halt because women aren’t particularly interested in … Read More
October 9, 2007
Blood Vessels Grown From Patient’s Skin
From a snippet of a patient’s skin, researchers have grown blood vessels in a laboratory and then implanted them to restore blood flow around the patient’s damaged arteries and veins. (New York Times)
October 9, 2007
Organ donation a ‘Christian duty’
The Church of England has declared organ donation to be a Christian duty, in keeping with giving oneself and one’s possessions freely. Body parts should not be mistaken for the person themselves, and the best way to treat them reverently … Read More
October 9, 2007
Why are our hospitals throwing away the blood that could save so many lives?
For the past two decades, scientists have known that stem cells from the umbilical cords of newborn babies can generate new cell production, and the cells have been used in hospitals around the world to treat more than 85 other … Read More
October 9, 2007
When Bioethics Turned Secular
Recent news on the creation of hybrid embryos in England, and the U.S. debate on the use of embryos in research and cloning, all point to an increasingly secular agenda in life issues. (Zenit)
October 9, 2007
Human Therapeutic Cloning at a Standstill
A lack of human eggs has created a major roadblock in one of the most promising areas of stem-cell research. (Technology Review)
October 9, 2007
Scientists win right to create human-animal test ‘chimeras’
Scientist will be able to create half-animal half-human embryos for the first time under controversial new rules announced by the Government. In a dramatic U-turn, Health Minister Dawn Primarolo bowed to pressure from scientists and promised to allow the creation … Read More
October 9, 2007
Egg donor registry records in limbo
Fate of names and addresses of donors and names and addresses of couples who received their eggs is uncertain. (OCRegister)
October 8, 2007
DAILY JOURNAL on Assisted Suicide “Counseling”
I was interviewed for almost an hour for this story, which I think is pretty straight and down the middle, published today in the Daily Journal, California’s leading legal newspaper (no link available). The story concerns the suicide “counseling” in … Read More
October 8, 2007
Gene Manipulation Wins a Nobel Prize
One of the primary purposes behind ESCR and human cloning research, in my view, is to eventually genetically engineer human progeny. Such research is now in its very early stages. But I think this Nobel Prize is an indicator of … Read More
