Bioethics News.
07/12/2018
Pfizer buckles under pressure from Trump, delays drug price increases
The Washington Post
Pfizer chief executive Ian Read said late Tuesday that his company would delay increasing the prices of dozens of drug products after President Trump publicly berated the firm one day earlier.
07/12/2018
What are “predatory” academic journals?
The Economist
In recent years, however, this practice of appraising researchers by counting their publications has become problematic. This is because an astonishing number of journals that bill themselves as “peer-reviewed” do not, in fact, take the trouble to be so. A tally of journals that an American analytics firm, Cabells, believes to falsely claim to peer-review submissions, amounted, on a recent day, to 8,699—more than double the number of a year ago. A blacklist compiled by other experts is even longer.
07/10/2018
Iceland’s ethical debate: Should DNA donors be told if they are predisposed to a deadly disease?
CBC Radio
If you knew someone was genetically predisposed to cancer, would you tell them? Dr. Kari Stefansson would. The Icelandic neurologist is the CEO of deCODE Genetics, a company that has collected the DNA of nearly half the country’s population. Using the company’s data, he said that he can pinpoint 1,600 people at risk of deadly cancers in Iceland. The government, however, won’t let him.
07/09/2018
Why science breeds a culture of sexism
The Guardian
Late-night research, isolation and a strict, male-dominated hierarchy are the perfect conditions for sexual harassment. With colleges struggling to enforce conduct codes, what can be done?
07/09/2018
Unsealed lawsuit: Opioid firm placed profits over people
ABC News
A newly unsealed lawsuit by Tennessee’s attorney general says the maker of the world’s top-selling painkiller directed its salesforce to target the highest prescribers, many with limited or no pain management background or training.
07/06/2018
Online gene test finds a dangerous mutation. It may well be wrong.
SF Gate
There are no systematic studies of how often the direct-to-consumer results and third-party analyses are wrong. In one small study, Ambry Genetics — a lab certified to do medical testing — looked at 49 samples sent in by physicians whose patients had been told that they had disease-causing mutations by third-party interpreters. Ambry found that 40 percent were wrong. In addition, some genetic variations classified by second companies as threatening actually were benign.
07/05/2018
Massive data leak could affect nearly all American adults, security researcher says
Mercury News
Exactis, a Florida-based marketing and data-aggregation firm, leaked detailed information on individual adults and businesses, a security researcher says. While the exact number of individuals affected isn’t known, the leak involved about 340 million records on a publicly available server.
07/05/2018
Ageing Japan: Robots’ role in future of elder care
Reuters
Robots have the run of Tokyo’s Shin-tomi nursing home, which uses 20 different models to care for its residents. The Japanese government hopes it will be a model for harnessing the country’s robotics expertise to help cope with a swelling elderly population and dwindling workforce.
07/04/2018
From apps to avatars, new tools for taking control of your mental health
The Washington Post
Digital therapeutics are here — and they’re changing the landscape for people battling mental illness.
07/03/2018
Facebook and Google use ‘dark patterns’ around privacy settings, report says
BBC News
Facebook, Google and Microsoft push users away from privacy-friendly options on their services in an “unethical” way, according to a report by the Norwegian Consumer Council.
07/03/2018
Many Common Sunscreens May Harm Coral. Here’s What To Use Instead
NPR
Hawaii’s governor David Ige is expected to sign the world’s first ban on the sale of sunscreens containing the chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate this week. The state is banning the products because of concerns they may be harming one of the state’s biggest attractions — coral reefs. While it doesn’t kick in until 2021, the move is already prompting a public health pushback.
07/03/2018
California Just Passed the Strictest Online Privacy Bill in the Country
Slate
If signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, the bill, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, will require technology companies that collect user information to disclose the type of data they collect, details on the advertisers or other third parties with which they share data, and allow customers to opt out of having the data collected about them sold. The new bill also gives customers the option to request companies delete personal information collected on them—like data on how many kids a person has, their buying habits, location information, or other non-publicly available data. Companies that do peddle user data have to offer the new privacy options for free and won’t be allowed to degrade service if a customer opts to no longer have their data sold.
07/02/2018
Jahi McMath’s sad saga comes to an end
Mercury News
Jahi McMath, the Oakland teen whose brain-death case captivated the world while machines kept her breathing, was finally removed from those machines on June 22 in New Jersey after suffering from internal bleeding and kidney issues
07/02/2018
Federal Judge Blocks Medicaid Work Requirements In Kentucky
NPR
A federal judge has blocked work requirements for Medicaid patients in Kentucky, just days before new rules mandated by Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration were set to go into effect.
07/02/2018
Rising Cost Of PrEP To Prevent HIV Infection Pushes It Out Of Reach For Many
NPR
Public health officials are expanding efforts to get the HIV prevention pill into the hands of those at risk, in a nationwide effort to curb infections. But the officials are hitting roadblocks — the drug’s price tag, which has surged in recent years, and changes in insurance coverage that put a heftier financial burden on patients.
06/27/2018
Stay-At-Home Dads Still Struggle With Diapers, Drool, Stigma And Isolation
NPR
The number of men in the United States who are full-time, stay-at-home parents has risen steadily in recent decades, from maybe a million or so in 1984, according to a Pew Research Center estimate, to roughly double that in 2014.
06/26/2018
Why FIFA Needs New Thinking About Concussions At World Cup
Forbes
Morocco winger Nordin Amrabat doesn’t remember much of anything about his team’s defeat against Iran in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. It is not that he would rather forget being on the losing side of the match. It’s that he sustained a concussion during it, which led to some memory loss. Team medical staff later ruled Amrabat out for training and the next match. But, five days later, he was in uniform and playing in a match against Portugal.
06/26/2018
Hundreds of new genes may underlie intelligence—but also autism and depression
Science
Being smart is a double-edged sword. Intelligent people appear to live longer, but many of the genes behind brilliance can also lead to autism, anxiety, and depression, according to two new massive genetic studies. The work also is one of the first to identify the specific cell types and genetic pathways tied to intelligence and mental health, potentially paving the way for new ways to improve education, or therapies to treat neurotic behavior.
06/25/2018
Google’s A.I. Can Predict Death Of Patients With 95% Accuracy
FossBytes
Google’s work in artificial intelligence is moving at a remarkable pace in the health sector. In a recent breakthrough, Google decided to compete with hospital’s old machines to predict a patient’s death and came up with astonishing results, subtly hinting us about the future of A.I.
06/25/2018
Cops accused of urging EMS workers to subdue people with date rape drug
New York Post
Cops in Minneapolis repeatedly asked emergency responders in Hennepin County to sedate people using ketamine — a powerful anesthetic known as a so-called date rape drug — even in instances when suspects were already restrained, a city report shows.
06/22/2018
U.S. Announces Its Withdrawal From U.N. Human Rights Council
NPR
After more than a year of complaints and warnings — some subtle and others a little less so — the Trump administration has announced that the United States is withdrawing from the United Nations Human Rights Council. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley announced the decision in a joint statement Tuesday.
06/21/2018
Police Use of Facial Recognition With License Databases Spur Privacy Concerns
The Wall Street Journal
Thirty-one states now allow police to access driver’s license photos in facial-recognition searches in addition to mug shots, according to the Center on Privacy and Technology at the Georgetown University Law Center. Roughly one in every two American adults—117 million people—are in the facial-recognition networks used by law enforcement, according to a 2016 report by the center.
06/21/2018
A Pediatrician Reports Back From A Visit To A Children’s Shelter Near The Border
NPR
Nearly 2,000 immigrant children were separated from their parents after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border unlawfully this spring, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Many pediatricians have expressed concerns about the effects this traumatic event could have on those children. Dr. Colleen Kraft, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, visited a shelter in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley where some of these children are held. She spoke with All Things Considered’s Audie Cornish about that visit on Monday. She said she’s concerned that the stress the children are going through will have long-term health effects.
06/20/2018
How IVF became a license to print money
The Guardian
Private fertility clinics routinely try to sell desperate patients add-ons that almost certainly don’t help – why isn’t more done to monitor the industry?
06/19/2018
Half of women in science experience harassment, a sweeping new report finds
Washington Post
Science has a sexual harassment problem. From the most polished ivory tower to the local community college, harassment pervades lecture halls and laboratories, observatories and offices, teaching hospitals and Antarctic field sites. And it takes an economic and emotional toll on female researchers and stifles their scientific contributions, according to a sweeping new study released Tuesday.
06/19/2018
Soccer Fans, Don’t Root for a Team Based on Genetics
LeapsMag
23andMe is taking a lot of heat as one of the DNA aggregators whose databases may not be secure from prying third-party eyes. That is a huge issue, but the company is engaging in even more troubling behavior—using genetics to sponsor racism.
06/18/2018
Controversial NIH study of ‘moderate drinking’ will be terminated after scathing report
STAT
The group examining the Moderate Alcohol and Cardiovascular Health (MACH) Trial also found that, starting in 2013, “there was early and frequent engagement” between NIH officials and the alcohol industry that appeared to be “an attempt to persuade industry to support the project. Several members of NIAAA staff kept key facts hidden from other institute staff members.”
06/13/2018
The risk of ‘contagion’ after suicides is real
CNN
Mental health experts agree that several high-profile celebrity suicides could possibly cause an increased risk of what’s called suicide contagion, and that all of us should be aware of the risk factors related to suicide.
06/12/2018
CDC: U.S. Suicide Rates Have Climbed Dramatically
NPR
The rise in suicide rates was highest in the central, northern region of the U.S., with North Dakota, for example, seeing a 57.6 percent increase since 1999. Nevada was the only state that saw no increase, and Delaware saw the smallest increase which was 5.9 percent.
06/11/2018
I took a batch of DNA tests so you don’t have to
NBC News
DNA tests promise to help you tailor a diet, supplements and exercise for optimum weight, heart health and lifestyle. But can they really deliver?