December 12, 2008
The military medical community has been using all sorts of alternative therapies — yoga, meditation, even animal-petting — to ease the strains of post-traumatic stress disorder FOR returning troops. One of the non-traditional treatments will be used in a war … Read More
December 12, 2008
Calling an overhaul of the health care system a basic element of his administration’s economic recovery programs, President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday presented former Senator Tom Daschle as his choice to become secretary of health and human services and to … Read More
December 12, 2008
The Vatican on Friday condemned techniques that manipulate embryos including cloning and stem cell research, saying they undermine human dignity. (AFP)
December 12, 2008
The vaccine schedule that most pediatricians follow, recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, takes a one-size-fits-all approach since that’s what’s best for protecting the population at large. Many parents, though, are searching for a schedule that allays … Read More
December 12, 2008
Parents who helped a son die aren’t prosecuted and a death is shown on TV. Is it time for a rethink? (Times)
December 11, 2008
At long last, our national love affair with the rich is coming to a close. The moguls whose exploits we used to follow with such fascination, it now seems, plowed the country into the ground precisely because of the fabulous … Read More
December 11, 2008
Among the many authorities we adhere to today, only science rivals that of equality. This is not thought to be a problem because, as everyone knows, science is morally and politically neutral. Or so we are informed by luminaries ranging … Read More
December 11, 2008
As the baby boomers march toward retirement, Botox, wrinkle fillers and hormones of various kinds have become big business. Medco’s latest drug trend report shows, for instance, that human growth hormone use grew almost 6 percent in 2007. (Huffington Post)
December 11, 2008
The government needs a more comprehensive plan for studying the risks of nanotechnology, the National Research Council said Wednesday. (Associated Press)
December 11, 2008
It’s a ruse most drug firms use: Run clinical trials in the guise of running bio-equivalence or bio-availability trials, according to the members of a government medical college ethical committee, which approves trials. In bio-equivalence tests, the companies are expected … Read More
December 11, 2008
Missouri critics of embryonic stem cell research have resurrected a lawsuit that seeks to block $21 million from going to life sciences research. The lawsuit, filed by Missouri Roundtable for Life, is similar to one tossed out in November by … Read More
December 11, 2008
Almost completely incapacitated by motor neuron disease, 59-year-old Craig Ewert looked at an interviewer and laid out his options, as he saw them. (New York Times)
December 10, 2008
Christian campaigners have lost their High Court challenge to scientists being allowed to create human-animal embryos for research purposes. The Christian Legal Centre and Comment on Reproductive Ethics were refused permission to bring a test case application for judicial review. … Read More
December 10, 2008
Nanoscientists have always had a degree of nervousness about the way that public opinion of their science might unfold. This unease is underpinned by a set of preconceptions about people’s reactions to new technologies in general. Some of these assumptions … Read More
December 10, 2008
It is now possible for individuals to learn about their genetic susceptibility to dozens of common and complex disorders, such as coronary artery disease, diabetes, obesity, prostate cancer, and Alzheimer disease, without ever seeing a physician. Direct-to-consumer personal genome testing … Read More
December 10, 2008
Not many people are buying cars built 60 years ago. No one is watching TV on a set manufactured in the 1940s. Patients are not lining up to see a doctor who hasn’t cracked a book since before the polio … Read More
December 10, 2008
We must clarify the ‘human right’ to science — and remind governments of their contractual obligation to uphold it. (SciDev)
December 10, 2008
Society must respond to the growing demand for cognitive enhancement. That response must start by rejecting the idea that ‘enhancement’ is a dirty word, argue Henry Greely and colleagues. z9Nature)
December 9, 2008
Media is so pornographic these days, and not just about matters sexual. A Brit tabloid has published photos from an assisted suicide, depictions taken from a soon-to-be-aired television show. From the story: It will be the first time an assisted … Read More
December 9, 2008
JAMA (Volume 300, Number 20, November 26 2008) is now available by subscription only. Articles Include: “Benefits and Risks of Drug Treatments: How to Combine the Best Evidence on Benefits With the Best Data About Adverse Effects” by Jan P. Vandenbroucke and … Read More
December 9, 2008
Developing World Bioethics (Volume 8, Issue 3, December 2008) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Ethical Challenges for Developing World Bioethics” by Debora Diniz, ii-iv. “Harmonizing Regulations for Biomedical Research: A Critical Analysis of … Read More
December 9, 2008
Here’s another sign of the tough economic times: Some clinics are reporting a surge in the number of women applying to donate eggs or serve as surrogate mothers for infertile couples. The going rate for a surrogate is about $25,000. … Read More
December 9, 2008
Genetic screening for newborns can spot devastating disorders, but false positives and research-driven mission creep are cause for concern. Knowledge is nothing to fear, but parents should have the right to decide what they want to know about their kids. … Read More
December 9, 2008
With Congress ready to spend $700 billion to prop up the U.S. economy, enacting health-care reform may seem about as likely as the Dow hitting 14,000 again before the end of the year. But it may be more doable than … Read More
December 9, 2008
Doping is a no-no in sports, but there’s no rule against it in the classroom or on the job—and that’s the way it should stay, doctors and ethicists write in a new commentary urging the safe use of medicines normally … Read More
