Tag: cancer
Blog Posts (16)
May 8, 2013
Who Wants to Take a Pill to Prevent Breast Cancer?
On April 14, The United States Preventive Services Taskforce concluded that women with an elevated risk of breast cancer – who have never been diagnosed with breast cancer but whose family history and other medical factors increase their odds of deve...April 12, 2013
Will the Sequester Cause Oncologists to Lose Money Prescribing Chemotherapy?
In a recent Washington Post article, Sarah Kliff reported that “Cancer clinics across the country have begun turning away thousands of Medicare patients” because of reductions in reimbursement caused by the sequester. Specifically, oncologists wi...March 11, 2013
Should Doctors Give Medical Advice to Strangers over Email?
Recently I received an email from someone I have never met, who asked me the following: “Could you refer me to any current study results on Arimidex (Anastrozole)? My oncologist is not helpful. My oncotype dx said I have 9% chance of recurrence and w...February 28, 2013
Cancer risk 70% higher for females in Fukushima area, says WHO
[The Guardian] People in the area worst affected by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident two years ago have a higher risk of developing certain cancers, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday. A 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami on M...February 25, 2013
What the World Got Wrong About Lance Armstrong and Oscar Pistorius
Lance Armstrong cheated and bullied. These are not shocking revelations. Oscar Pistorius had a history of altercations with his girlfriend and is now accused of murder. More shocking, by far, but hardly the first athlete to be accused of such wrong d...February 7, 2013
Do Oncologists Lie to Their Patients About Their Prognoses?
Andrews was easily the most anxious patient I took care of that month, a gray Michigan February (is there any other kind?) which I spent in the hospital caring for patients admitted to the general medical ward at the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medic...February 1, 2013
Breast Cancer Hotline Reveals Widespread Communication Problem with Doctors
I got an email recently from someone who read Critical Decisions, and who said it resonated with her in part because of work she does with a breast cancer hot line. “I’ve been volunteering as a Helpline worker for Living Beyond Breast Cancer. ...January 23, 2013
Deciding About Breast Cancer Chemotherapy
As if being diagnosed with breast cancer wasn’t bad enough, many women with this diagnosis face complicated decisions about what kind of medicine or chemotherapy to take, if any, to reduce their chance of cancer recurrence. As I discussed in a rec...January 15, 2013
The Moral Failure of HPV Vaccination
Arthur Caplan, Ph.D.
Among the greatest failures in American public health—and the list is a long one—is the rise in the incidence of cervical cancer.…
February 10, 2012
Is Hope a Culprit in Cancer Clinical Trials?
A recent study conducted by Emory University School of Medicine found that therapeutic misconception is alive and well in Phase I cancer research.…
Published Articles (3)
American Journal of Bioethics: Volume 11 Issue 12 - Dec 2011
Forfeited Health: Response to Open Peer Commentaries on "What's Wrong With Chemoprevention of Prostate Cancer?" Stewart Justman
American Journal of Bioethics: Volume 11 Issue 12 - Dec 2011
What's Wrong With Chemoprevention of Prostate Cancer? Stewart Justman
American Journal of Bioethics: Volume 8 Issue 6 - Jun 2008
Waiting to be Born: The Ethical Implications of the Generation of NUBorn and NUAge Mice from Pre-Pubertal Ovarian Tissue Laurie Zoloth
News (9)
May 2, 2013 4:13 pm
Cancers Share Gene Patterns, Studies Affirm
Scientists have discovered that the most dangerous cancer of the uterine lining closely resembles the worst ovarian and breast cancers.
March 28, 2013 4:49 pm
Unique study reveals genetic 'spelling mistakes' that increase the risk of common cancers
More than 80 genetic ‘spelling mistakes’ that can increase the risk of breast, prostate and ovarian cancer have been found in a large, international research study within the framework of the EU Network COGS.
February 27, 2013 5:38 pm
Breast cancer among young women increasing (L.A. Times)
The rate of advanced breast cancer for U.S. women 25 to 39 years old nearly doubled from 1976 to 2009, a difference too great to be a matter of chance, a study finds.
January 9, 2013 2:38 pm
DNA pioneer James Watson takes aim at "cancer establishments" (Reuters)
A day after an exhaustive national report on cancer found the United States is making only slow progress against the disease, one of the country’s most iconic – and iconoclastic – scientists weighed in on “the war against cancer.” And he does not like what he sees.
September 20, 2012 8:42 pm
N.C. Woman With Stage 4 Cancer Fights Foreclosure (ABC News)
When Kirk Davis of Mount Holly, N.C., describes his wife’s cancer and subsequent treatment, he never says it was “her” diagnosis or chemo. He says “we were diagnosed with breast cancer” on June 2, 2008. The diagnosis, which was followed by medical bills and both having to take pay cuts, led to the Davis’ struggle to save their home from a scheduled foreclosure in December. Cindi Davis, 50, had to resign from her job as a school teacher to go on long-term disability. She said she has stage four cancer, now that it has spread to her lymph nodes, lungs and liver.
July 23, 2012 12:16 pm
2 California neurosurgeons banned from human research (Sacramento Bee)
The actions described by two prominent bioethicists as “astonishing,” and a “major penalty” for the school threaten both the doctors’ professional careers and the university’s reputation and federal-funding status. “This is really distressing” said Patricia Backlar, an Oregon bioethicist who served on President Bill Clinton’s national bioethics advisory commission. “UC Davis is a very respectable school, but even the best places have trouble,” Backlar said. “These men have put that school in jeopardy.”
July 11, 2012 6:53 pm
Woman files lawsuit charging transplanted organ was cancerous (Chicago Sun-Times)
It was supposed to be a life-changing organ transplant. But the pancreas given to patient Rashia Wimley at the University of Chicago Medical Center in the summer of 2008 was cancerous, a lawsuit filed Monday alleges. Now Wimley, 39, says she’s been diagnosed with cancer as a result. Her lawsuit alleges the doctor who performed the transplant, the University of Chicago and the Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network all acted carelessly and negligently by giving her the diseased organ.
July 10, 2012 12:30 pm
Bioethicist complains that the rich are getting breakthrough cancer treatments first (Reason by Ronald Bailey)
Ethicists ask whether those with money and connections should have options far out of reach for most patients before such treatments become a normal part of medicine. And will people of more limited means be tempted to bankrupt their families in pursuit of a cure at the far edges?
May 1, 2012 11:05 am
Assumptions and Attitudes Don’t Survive Cancer (New York Times)
Doctors who become ill have written about the emotional whiplash of the experience so often that the “had I but known” theme has grown a little old. Two new books bring some welcome variation: Many other professionals spend their workdays focused on the body, and even those who don’t actually perform hands-on care may find precious assumptions demolished by serious illness.