September 25, 2017
(ABC News) – Kuhns went to her home in rural central Ohio that day and cried for hours. But Oliver, her 2-year-old son with Down syndrome, ultimately has led “a pretty normal life.” That’s why Kuhns is fighting for an … Read More
September 25, 2017
(Tech Xplore) – Talking about the unthinkable for patients facing death is never easy. End-of-life planning is the phrase often used, softening the concept of death, but the task remains painful for the patient, family and friends. A chatbot has … Read More
September 25, 2017
(Quartz) – [William van Eelen] entered medical school in 1948. As Ira van Eelen recounts it, one day during her dad’s first year, he came across a group of researchers in the laboratory using stem cell technology to grow cells … Read More
September 25, 2017
(The Costa Rica Star) – Costa Rican doctors who have been charged with selling kidneys on the global black market appear to have received payments of up to $140,000 per procedure – some of which went to the doctors, some … Read More
September 25, 2017
(Medscape) – Findings from a new systematic review point to a widening longevity gap between people with schizophrenia and the general population that began in the early 1970s. The results of the review suggest that although many people enjoy an … Read More
September 25, 2017
(The Guardian) – Britain’s childbirth doctors have urged ministers to scrap laws dating to Victorian times that could see a woman jailed for life for having an abortion. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) voted on Friday to … Read More
September 25, 2017
(People) – Reproductive medicine experts insist that Cook’s case is an anomaly and the majority surrogacy arrangements proceed without any problems. Nevertheless, Cook and her attorney Cassidy have another case in federal court, arguing that California’s surrogate law [one of … Read More
September 25, 2017
(The Verge) – With statements like these, some worry we’re reviving an old belief with a bad history: that you can intuit character from appearance. This pseudoscience, physiognomy, was fuel for the scientific racism of the 19th and 20th centuries, … Read More
September 25, 2017
(Science Magazine) – Add your name to a waitlist for a kidney transplant in the United States today, and you’ll join around 100,000 people, many of whom have already been waiting years. The scarcity of life-saving organs for transplants has … Read More
September 22, 2017
(The Atlantic) – Home-health and personal-care work is one of the country’s fastest-growing occupational sectors. But it is one marked by low pay and meager benefits, a problem that might become more urgent as the U.S.’s population continues to age. … Read More
September 22, 2017
(STAT News) – The National Institutes of Health would like six vials of your blood, please. Its scientists would like to take a urine sample, measure your waistline, and have access to your electronic health records and data from the … Read More
September 22, 2017
(NPR) – For the first time, scientists have edited the DNA in human embryos to make a fundamental discovery about the earliest days of human development. By modifying a key gene in very early-stage embryos, the researchers demonstrated that a … Read More
September 22, 2017
(Australian Broadcasting Co) – Scientists are pushing to overhaul human cloning laws in Australia so they can use DNA from three different people to create a baby when there is a risk of the child inheriting the debilitating and potentially … Read More
September 22, 2017
(BBC) – Legal permission will no longer be required to end care for patients in a permanent vegetative state, a judge has ruled. Until now a judge must also consent, even if medics and relatives agree to withdraw nutrition from a … Read More
September 22, 2017
(Vox) – I was born nearly 55 years ago with spinal muscular atrophy, a congenital, progressive neuromuscular weakness akin to muscular dystrophy. Without extensive daily interventions — hands-on (and expensive) assistance with bathing, dressing, toileting, and feeding, as well as … Read More
September 22, 2017
(The Atlantic) – Willie Parker is an imposing ob-gyn who has been traveling across the deep South providing abortions since 2012. At times, he has been one of the few providers in the only abortion clinic for hundreds of miles. … Read More
September 22, 2017
(Scientific American) – The combination of cheap computing power and memory, connected devices, abundant data and advances in algorithm design create such successes—which then attract further attention and investment, driving further progress. Many speculate that machines will replace humans in … Read More
September 22, 2017
(MIT Technology Review) – The idea behind gene therapy is that genetic material is used as a “living drug” to treat disease. Scientists have been trying to get gene therapies to work for decades, so Kymriah’s approval is historic. But the … Read More
September 21, 2017
(The Conversation) – Starting a family through surrogacy is fraught with stresses and uncertainties. For heterosexual couples it is often the last resort after a history of disappointment and even tragedy. Gay couples remain subject to discrimination and stigma when … Read More
September 21, 2017
(STAT News) – CVS Health announced Thursday that it was limiting the amount and strength of prescription opioid painkillers it provides to patients taking the drugs for the first time, a step intended to help curb opioid abuse. Through its … Read More
September 21, 2017
(Wired) – Recently, the “trolley problem,” a decades-old thought experiment in moral philosophy, has been enjoying a second career of sorts, appearing in nightmare visions of a future in which cars make life-and-death decisions for us. Among many driverless car … Read More
September 21, 2017
(Reuters) – In the rush to approve new medicines, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration often requires drug companies to study possible side effects and alternative doses for medicines once they hit the broader market. A new analysis in the New … Read More
September 21, 2017
(ABC News) – The Navy’s surgeon general has ordered a stand down for all Navy medical personnel over the next 48 hours to reaffirm service commitments to patients and review social media policies after photos emerged on social media of … Read More
September 21, 2017
(The Guardian) – Dying and death is not a new phenomenon: we have always become ill, suffered, were going to die and someone else could have killed us. So why now, at the beginning of the 21st century, after prohibiting … Read More
September 20, 2017
(Nature) – Gene-edited human embryos have offered a glimpse into the earliest stages of development, while hinting at the role of a pivotal protein that guides embryo growth. The first-of-its-kind study stands in contrast to previous research that attempted to … Read More
