http://www.bioethics.net/rss/bioethics.xml bioethics news everyday from bioethics.net/American Journal of Bioethics Copyright 2005 bioethics.net Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:15:30 EST http://www.bioethics.net/ http://www.bioethics.net/images/logo_frontpage_wht.gif 60 200 webmaster@bioethics.net newsupdate@bioethics.net en-us http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7176 Britain is using genetic tests on some African asylum seekers in an effort to catch those who are lying about their nationality, drawing criticism from scientists and provoking outrage from rights groups. Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:15:30 EST http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7173 A little-noticed measure would put Christian Science healing sessions on the same footing as clinical medicine. Critics say it violates the separation of church and state. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:46:18 EST http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7172 Medical device companies like Medtronic have been under fire lately for their megabucks deals with doctors who can influence purchases of medical products. So what happens to doctors who complain about these types of relationships? Those who, in effect, are whistleblowers? Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:54:49 EST http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7165 NO face-lift stops time, so as aging continues, even a satisfied patient may choose to have another one a decade later. But what if your face-lift never pleased you, not because of complications or monstrous scars, but because of aesthetics pure and simple? Perhaps your first surgeon’s technique resulted not only in a tighter jaw line, but also a flat wind-swept cheek and a stretched mouth. Or your nose no longer has an unsightly bump, but now, postsurgery, is asymmetrical. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:03:22 EDT http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7161 Two recent stories in The New York Times highlight the problems single women can encounter with health insurance, and sometimes with tragic consequences. Nikki White suffered from lupus and lost her job—and also her employer-based health insurance coverage—when she became too sick to work. She could not obtain individual coverage because of her pre-existing condition of lupus and, as an unmarried woman, had no one who could cover her on their insurance plan. At the age of 32, she died from lack of treatment of a usually manageable chronic disease. Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:03:29 EDT http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7160 Conservative lawmakers have called for a ban on imports of a Chinese-made kit meant to help women fake their virginity. The Artificial Virginity Hymen kit, which is distributed by the Chinese company Gigimo and costs about $30, is intended to help newly married women fool their husbands into believing they are virgins, an essential marriage requirement for women in much of the Middle East, by leaking a blood-like substance when inserted and broken. Sheik Sayed Askar, a member of the parliamentary committee on religious affairs, demanded the government take responsibility for fighting the product, which he said would make it easier for women to give in to temptation. Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:47:57 EDT http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7152 Should doctors disclose their own health problems to their patients? As Dr. Anne Brewster, a Boston internist, explains on the CommonHealth blog, doctors are typically taught to keep an emotional distance and are cautioned against sharing personal information with patients. Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:43:00 EDT http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7149 The Food and Drug Administration is slow to debar health professionals who have been convicted of crimes from doing research for the agency or overseeing the safety of patients in clinical trials, according to a government watchdog report released Thursday. Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:39:42 EDT http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7142 To remain certified, most of the nation’s 700,000 doctors are required periodically to take continuing medical education courses. But for years, critics have said that too many of those courses are little more than drug company marketing in the guise of education. Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:13:55 EDT http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7139 Yesterday we received an email from a loyal reader who nonetheless seems to disagree with everything we write--a type of reader for whom we have a special, if slightly perverse, affection. Our correspondent included a quote that he attributed to Aristotle: If we believe men have any personal rights at all, then they must have an absolute moral right to such a measure of good health as society can provide. Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:04:24 EDT http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7136 A bioethicist who specializes in moral dilemmas families face when making medical decisions for critically-ill newborns will be honored with the first-ever March of Dimes Distinguished Lectureship in Perinatal Bioethics. Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:57:47 EDT http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7134 Although Poles are not famous for a sense of irony, lately it has been on full display. A day after Poland's lower house passed legislation allowing courts to order chemical castration for sex offenders convicted of raping children under the age of 15, foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski protested at the arrest of Polish/French filmmaker Roman Polanski in Switzerland in connection with charges of unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl. Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:27:51 EDT http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7131 Polls show a majority of Americans are concerned about the H1N1 virus (swine flu), but also about the safety and efficacy of the swine flu vaccine. Is it ethical to say no to this or any vaccine? Are there valid religious reasons to accept or decline a vaccine? Will you get a swine flu shot? Will your children? Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:26:49 EDT http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7129 Remember Harry and Louise? In TV ads in 1993 and 1994, they fretted at their kitchen table about a health reform plan designed by "government bureaucrats." The spots, funded by the medical insurance industry, helped kill President Clinton's ambitious overhaul and set back reform efforts for 15 years Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:57:00 EDT http://www.bioethics.net/News/?id=7124 Let me offer a modest proposal: If Congress fails to pass comprehensive health reform this year, its members should surrender health insurance in proportion with the American population that is uninsured. Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:00:40 EDT