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Bioethics news.

U.N. Issues Urgent Warning on the Growing Peril of Drug-Resistant Infections
An earlier article from 2019 discusses a report from the United Nations, which claims the overuse of antimicrobial drugs in humans, animals and plants is fueling resistant pathogens that could kill 10 million people annually by 2050.
The New York Times, 07/19/2019
Urinary Tract Infections Affect Millions. The Cures Are Faltering.
As the infections become increasingly resistant to antibiotics, some standard treatments no longer work for an ailment that was once easily cured.
The New York Times, 07/18/2019
Polio Cases Surge in Pakistan and Afghanistan
False rumors that children are fainting or dying have led parents to turn away vaccinators, threatening the campaign to eradicate the disease.
The New York Times, 07/17/2019
Ebola Outbreak Reaches Major City in Congo, Renewing Calls for Emergency Order
The year-old outbreak has now reached Goma, a heavily populated city near the border with Rwanda. The W.H.O. will ask experts again to decide whether to issue a declaration that could increase funding to fight the disease spread.
The New York Times, 07/16/2019
‘Very Smart People,’ but a Keyless Car’s Downside Killed Them
For Sherry H. Penney, a former university chancellor, and her husband, James D. Livingston, a retired physicist, the 2017 Toyota Avalon was a sensible purchase. It was a model she and her husband had owned before, but the new version had electronic sensors and other advanced features. They are among at least three dozen...
The New York Times, 07/03/2019
HPV Vaccines Are Reducing Infections, Warts — and Probably Cancer
Vaccines against the human papillomavirus have sharply reduced infections, genital and anal warts, and precancerous lesions in young women and girls in more than a dozen wealthy countries, a major new study has found — powerful evidence that these vaccines will ultimately cause major drops in cervical cancer.
The New York Times, 07/02/2019
Scabies Means Misery. This Pill Can End It.
Burrowing skin mites drive victims mad with itching, but distribution of a few pills can drive the infestation from entire communities.
The New York Times, 07/01/2019
‘It’s Gigantic’: A New Way to Gauge the Chances for Unresponsive Patients
Researchers have found a way to detect “covert consciousness” that could aid the recovery of people with severe brain injuries.
New York Times, 06/30/2019
A Russian Biologist Wants To Create More Gene-Edited Babies
A Russian scientist says he wants to create more genetically modified babies, flouting international objections that such a step would be premature, unethical and irresponsible.
NPR, 06/25/2019
NIH director will no longer speak on all-male science panels
The head of the National Institutes of Health announced Wednesday that he would no longer appear on all-male panels at public scientific meetings, saying the effort to include women and other underrepresented people “must begin at the top.”
The Washington Post, 06/23/2019
As price of insulin soars, Americans caravan to Canada for lifesaving medicine
As their minivan rolled north, they felt their nerves kick in — but they kept on driving. At the wheel: Lija Greenseid, a rule-abiding Minnesota mom steering her Mazda5 on a cross-border drug run. Her daughter, who is 13, has Type 1 diabetes and needs insulin. In the United States, it can cost hundreds of dollars per vial. In...
The Washington Post, 06/22/2019
12 million pills and 700 deaths: How a few pill mills helped fan the U.S. opioid inferno
Soon after he took over as medical director of the Urgent Care & Surgery Center in eastern Tennessee in 2012, Dr. Marc Valley realized he was supervising illegal drug dealers in lab coats. Platoons of patients socialized in the parking lot, none seemingly afflicted by injuries. The...
LA Times, 06/21/2019
Never say ‘die’: Why so many doctors won’t break bad news
It’s never easy to tell a patient about a terminal illness, but a longtime doctor whose own diagnosis was botched says physicians must do better.
NBC News, 06/20/2019
Commentary: Give the children freedom to protect their own health
Normally, parents make decisions about their children’s health care. But when it comes to the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and cancer, kids should have the right to protect themselves. That is why Senate Bill 3899A, which would allow teenagers, in consultation with their physicians, to receive vaccines against HPV (human papilloma virus), ought to become the law...
Times Union, 06/19/2019
The Perilous Blessing of Opioids
An injured bioethicist learned firsthand how desperately patients with severe pain need the relief of powerful drugs—and how little support they get to stop taking them.
The Wall Street Journal, 06/18/2019
Points to consider in the reevaluation and reanalysis of genomic test results
A statement from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) regarding the interpretation of genomic test results was published in Nature this week
Nature, 06/14/2019
Democratic 2020 contenders are seizing on wave of antiabortion laws
Abortion as a voting issue typically motivates its opponents more than its supporters. But Democrats running to defeat President Trump in 2020 are trying to reverse that momentum by harnessing outrage against a slew of new state restrictions.
The Washington Post, 06/09/2019
Rape exemptions for abortion are dividing Republicans
Banning rape victims from getting abortions is a step too far for Republican Party leaders, who have publicly cringed at Alabama’s sweeping new law criminalizing abortion in nearly every case.
The Washington Post, 06/08/2019
Cannabis Companies Push F.D.A. to Ease Rules on CBD Products
WASHINGTON — It was Hempy Pet CBD Soft Chews, Mile High Labs and Women Grow, among countless others, squaring off against the likes of the Marijuana Victims Alliance, concerned primary care doctors and a lawyer who admitted he couldn’t wait to sue — all jammed into an overflowing auditorium for hours Friday on the Food and Drug...
The New York Times, 06/07/2019
There’s just one female physician in Congress. We talked to her.
Rep. Kim Schrier – one of the 40 freshmen House Democrats who flipped GOP-held seats – is the only female doctor in Congress. The Washington state pediatrician also manages a chronic illness after having been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as a teenager. She narrowly captured her seat last November, defeating Republican Dino Rossi in the most expensive House race in...
The Washington Post, 06/06/2019
‘Screen Time’ Is Over
The debate over screen time is typically accompanied by a good deal of finger-wagging: The digital experience is a ruinous habit, akin to binge-eating curly fries, gambling on cock fights or drinking whiskey with breakfast.
The New York Times, 06/05/2019
A Drug Prolonged Life in Younger Women With Advanced Breast Cancer
A drug that can slow the progression of advanced breast cancer has been shown for the first time to lengthen survival in women whose disease started before or during menopause, researchers reported on Saturday.
The New York Times, 06/04/2019
Measles Cases Reach Highest Level
The New York Times, 06/03/2019
Instagram public awareness campaign aims for real talk about mental health
When it comes to mental health, it can be hard to be real. Stigma surrounds mood disorders, therapy and drugs. Talking to someone else about a challenge can be exhausting and scary. And all too often, people keep their struggles with depression, bipolar disorder, suicidal feelings and other issues to themselves. That has devastating results: The
The Washington Post, 06/02/2019
The price of insulin is surging. This state is the first to make insurance companies eat the cost.
A new Colorado law will ensure that those living with diabetes will spend no more than $100 per month on insulin, making it the first state to limit the cost of an increasingly expensive medication millions of Americans rely on.
The Washington Post, 06/01/2019
To Calm Nervous Families, Pakistan Changes Polio Vaccination Tactics
Paralysis cases spiked after a vaccination drive was derailed by false rumors that dozens of children had collapsed and died. After serious setbacks in April led to a cluster of new polio cases, Pakistan is revamping its vaccination strategy in a renewed effort to wipe out the virus.
The New York Times, 05/31/2019
To Fight Deadly Candida Auris, New York State Proposes New Tactics
New York State health officials are considering rigorous new requirements for hospitals and nursing homes to prevent the spread of a deadly drug-resistant fungus called Candida auris.
The New York Times, 05/30/2019
To Fight Deadly Candida Auris, New York State Proposes New Tactics
New York State health officials are considering rigorous new requirements for hospitals and nursing homes to prevent the spread of a deadly drug-resistant fungus called Candida auris.
The New York Times, 05/30/2019
This New Treatment Could Save the Lives of Babies. But It Costs $2.1 Million.
The price set by the Swiss drugmaker Novartis may be the world’s highest for a single treatment — prompting renewed debate about how society will pay for gene-therapy breakthroughs.
The New York Times, 05/28/2019
4 Women With Lives Scarred by Genital Cutting: Could a Surgeon Heal Them?
Over 200 million women and girls alive today have been circumcised. Four of them shared with The Times their pain, emotional trauma and sexual struggles — and their journey to feel whole.
The New York Times, 05/27/2019