February 14, 2011
The US National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) has released a strategic plan for the next decade that sets out ‘the path towards an era of genomic medicine’. (PHG Foundation)
February 14, 2011
The doctor-patient relationship is changing. We need to rework our notions of Medical Ethics accordingly… (The Hindu)
February 12, 2011
The New England Journal of Medicine (Volume 363, Issue 26, December 23, 2010) is now available by on-line and by subscription only. Articles include: “What is the Value in Health Care?” by M. E. Porter, available online.
February 11, 2011
A judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that a 16-year-old injured wrestler must have spinal surgery – despite the fact that the teen and his parents do not want it to happen, myfoxphilly.com reported. (Fox News)
February 11, 2011
The maker of the Plan B morning-after pill is gearing up for another round with the Food and Drug Administration over whether the emergency contraceptive can be sold without a prescription for younger women and girls. (Reuters)
February 11, 2011
For a surgeon wanted by Interpol and suspected of harvesting human organs for an international black-market trafficking ring, Dr. Yusuf Sonmez was remarkably relaxed as he sipped Turkish red wine in a bustling kebab restaurant facing the wind-whipped Sea of … Read More
February 11, 2011
To fulfill their crucial duty of relieving suffering in their patients, physicians may have to administer palliative sedation when they implement treatment-limitation decisions such as the withdrawal of life-supporting interventions in patients with poor prognosis chronic severe brain injury. The … Read More
February 11, 2011
Skimpy reporting by medical journals has left German doctors trying to write psychiatric guidelines in a pickle: they don’t know what studies to trust. (Reuters)
February 10, 2011
The New England Journal of Medicine (Volume 364, Issue 1, January 6, 2011) is now available on-line and by subscription only. Articles include: “Implementing Health Care Reform – An Interview with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelus” by J.K. Iglehart, available on-line. … Read More
February 10, 2011
The New England Journal of Medicine (Volume 360, Issue 27, December 30, 2010) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “Sleep Deprivation, Elective Surgical Procedures, and Informed Consent” by M. Nurok, C. A. Czeisler, and L. S. Lehmann, 2577-2579. … Read More
February 10, 2011
Computers are getting faster. Everybody knows that. Also, computers are getting faster faster — that is, the rate at which they’re getting faster is increasing. True? True. So if computers are getting so much faster, so incredibly fast, there might … Read More
February 10, 2011
Kyoto University and associated Japanese company iPS Academia have announced an agreement with US company iPierian to share a worldwide ‘pool’ of patents relating to induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technologies. (PHG Foundation)
February 10, 2011
The so-called “heartbeat bill” would ban abortions once there is evidence that a fetus has a heartbeat, though it doesn’t set a specific time. The heart is one of the first organs to develop, and a baby’s heartbeat can be … Read More
February 10, 2011
Historically, there has been a clear distinction between the roles of public-sector research and corporate research in the discovery of new drugs and vaccines to solve unmet medical needs. Public-sector research institutions (PSRIs) have performed the upstream, basic research to … Read More
February 10, 2011
Though patents are meant to encourage innovation, broad stem cell patent protection could slow research in the field, according to a recent report by the Hinxton Group, a body of scientists and public policy experts who study the ethical and … Read More
February 10, 2011
The New England Journal of Medicine (Volume 363, Issue 24, December 2010) is available on-line and by subscription only. Articles include: “Reforming Health Care Reform in the 112th Congress” by J.R. Antos, available here. “What Is Value in Health Care?” … Read More
February 9, 2011
The state Supreme Court ruled that no law prohibits doctor-aided death. Now legislators will debate whether to regulate the practice or ban it. (American Medical News)
February 9, 2011
To fix the drug pipeline, governments must take on drug-makers instead of capitulating to their every demand. (Nature News)
February 9, 2011
Theresa Deisher once shunned religion for science. Now, with renewed faith, she is fighting human-embryonic-stem-cell research in court. (Nature News)
February 9, 2011
Universal access to medical care may help reduce health disparities between social classes, but is unlikely to eliminate them — according to a Canadian study that followed nearly 15,000 people for more than a decade. (MedPage Today)
February 9, 2011
A Hawaii legislative panel on Monday unanimously voted down a bill that would have legalized physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill, ending the possibility that it would become law this year. (CNBC)
February 9, 2011
Doctors, social workers, health personnel and medical ethics professionals gathered Friday at Loyola’s Stritch Medical School in neighboring Maywood for a conference that explored the legal, ethical and moral issues surrounding genetic testing. Katherine Wasson, a faculty member at Loyola’s … Read More
February 9, 2011
Doctors in France on Tuesday announced the birth of France’s first genetically-engineered baby, just as parliament began debating a bill on bioethics. (Monsters and Critics)
February 8, 2011
Members and staff of the President’s Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues gathered at the Center for American Progress last Thursday to discuss the ethics and future of synthetic biology. The commission has moved quickly since its inception last … Read More
February 8, 2011
In 2003, Dan Markingson, 26, was enrolled in a clinical trial at the University of Minnesota aimed at comparing several drugs to treat schizophrenia. Despite the explicit demands of his mother, Mary Weiss, to pull him out of the trial, … Read More
