September 22, 2009
The assisted-suicide debate will come to a head in Britain this week, as the country’s chief prosecutor clarifies the circumstances under which the state will prosecute families for helping terminally ill loved ones to die. (Wall Street Journal)
September 21, 2009
Neuralstem Inc (CUR.A) said U.S. health regulators allowed the stem-cell research company to start an early-stage human trial of its spinal cord stem cells in Lou Gehrig’s disease, a fatal neuromuscular condition. (Reuters)
September 21, 2009
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., announces that NIH is now accepting requests for human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines to be approved for use in NIH-funded research. The NIH Director is also pleased to … Read More
September 21, 2009
Researchers at the Oregon National Primate Research Center recently announced the birth of four monkeys after a procedure that involved swapping the genetic material of one egg into another. An article in Nature and a conference call briefing with reporters … Read More
September 21, 2009
The first time Jay Keasling remembers hearing the word “artemisinin,†about a decade ago, he had no idea what it meant. “Not a clue,†Keasling, a professor of biochemical engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, recalled. Although artemisinin … Read More
September 18, 2009
The American Journal of Bioethics (Volume 9, Issue 9, 2009) is now available by subscription only. Articles Include: “Mirror Neurons and the Reenchantment of Bioethics” by James D. Duffy, 2-4. “The Subjective Brain, Identity and Neuroethics” by Grant R. Gillett, … Read More
September 18, 2009
Congressional committees query health plans about high charges for renewals for small businesses with large claims. (American Medical News)
September 18, 2009
With organs in short supply and need growing — especially among older patients — doctors turning to previously discarded organs. (Chicago Tribune)
September 18, 2009
Government officials expect that there will be enough swine flu vaccine to go around this fall, but if there were a shortage for any reason, it could trigger heated debate over who should get protection first. The CDC already has … Read More
September 18, 2009
Students seeking a master’s degree in philosophy at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis can select a new offering that will expose them to the growing field of international research ethics. (AScribe)
September 17, 2009
Inside a family’s decision to let their son live, if only for a brief time.
September 17, 2009
With concerns over health-care rationing reaching near-hysterical levels, imagine this scenario in an ER in the not-too-distant future. A 4-year-old suffers minor head trauma, perhaps from falling off a swing and hitting her head on the ground. She is dazed, … Read More
September 17, 2009
Last month, a federal court upheld South Dakota’s law that women seeking abortion be informed “that the abortion will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being.†This is good news for people who believe women should … Read More
September 17, 2009
Some doctors decry the decision of not getting the shot, but acknowledge that autism fears — as well as immunity issues — are in play. (Los Angeles Times)
September 17, 2009
Efforts to thwart the increasing costs of healthcare cannot succeed without addressing the question of how much care to provide the terminally ill. Yet even the suggestion that physicians should be reimbursed for discussing end-of-life care with their patients has … Read More
September 17, 2009
Like illegal immigration, the issue of abortion in health reform has been a hotly contested one. The Baucus proposal released Wednesday does mark a departure from the House Democratic bill in one key area, while remaining vague about other areas … Read More
September 17, 2009
Annual Meeting: Translating Bioethics and Humanities The ASBH annual meeting will take place October 15-18, 2009 in Washington, DC Register before September 11 and save $50. Meeting Brochure and Hotel Room reservations can be made now. Reservations will be taken … Read More
September 17, 2009
BioCentre Shopping for Organs: The Global Trade in Human Organs Monday 2nd November 2009, 3:30-5:30 pm A practice widely accepted around the world, organ transplantation is an effective therapy for end-stage organ failure. Access is determined by various factors such … Read More
September 17, 2009
How Deep Will Nanotechnology’s Impact Be? Residence Palace, 155 Rue De La Loi Brussels, Belgium September 28, 2009 Over the past 3 years, the DEEPEN project has explored the ethical challenges posed by emerging nanotechnologies. Â What is unusual is that … Read More
September 16, 2009
Ten years ago this month the promise of using normal genes to cure hereditary defects crashed and burned, as Jesse Gelsinger, an 18-year-old from Tucson, Ariz., succumbed to multiorgan failure during a gene therapy trial at the University of Pennsylvania. … Read More
September 16, 2009
LEGISLATION which will allow patients to refuse medical treatment, even if doing so will lead to their death, has been recommended in a new report from the Law Reform Commission (LRC). (Independent)
September 16, 2009
Americans with job-based insurance can expect to pay more for less next year. Hit by the recession and rising health-care costs, employers are cutting a larger chunk than usual out of their health-care budgets, new national surveys show. (Wall Street … Read More
September 16, 2009
Emory University has opened a graduate program in bioethics where students can explore the social and ethical challenges facing medicine and public health. (Ledger-Enquirer)
September 16, 2009
Now teachers will have an innovative approach for students to address these and other bioethical questions. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the global nonprofit Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), developed “Exploring Bioethics,” a high school curriculum supplement. It … Read More
September 16, 2009
Put succinctly, what Alva Noë is offering in Out of Our Heads is nothing short of a paradigm shift, complete with an incisive criticism of the status quo of neurosciences and a suggestion for an alternative model. The scientific study … Read More
