Bioethics.net

January 13, 2015

Of Course 23andMe’s Plan Has Been to Sell Your Genetic Data All Along

[Gizmodo] Today, 23andMe announced what Forbes reports is only the first of ten deals with big biotech companies: Genentech will pay up to $60 million for access to 23andMe’s data to study Parki nson’s. You think 23andMe was about selling fun DNA spit tests for $99 a pop? Nope, it’s been about selling your data all along. Since 23andMe started in […]

September 2, 2014

Big Data Peeps At Your Medical Records To Find Drug Problems

[NPR] No one likes it when a new drug in people’s medicine cabinets turns out to have problems — just remember the Vioxx debacle a decade ago, when the painkiller was removed from the market over concerns that it increased the risk of heart attack and stroke. To do a better job of spotting unforeseen risks […]

June 27, 2014

Big brother is a health care provider

Big brother may be watching you — no, not the one you’re thinking of, but one a lot closer to you: your local hospital or health care system. Some hospital systems are now obtaining credit card transaction data about local populations, plugging the data into algorithms that identify those people most likely to get sick, then trying to intervene to prevent them from getting sick... // Read More »

June 18, 2014

Health by the numbers

by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.

How are you? How are you feeling? These used to be straightforward greetings with simple answers. “I’m fine.” I’m doing well.” “I had been feeling ill but am much better now.” Or even “I keep struggling with diet and exercise.”

However, in the age of accountability, our society has become less comfortable with fuzzy statements and prefers to quantify everything possible, irrespective of whether it’s meaningful.…

May 13, 2014

Minnesota to resume storing newborn blood samples

[Nature] Minnesota will once again allow blood spots to be kept and used for further research following routine newborn screening of genetic and congenital diseases, thanks to a bill signed into law by the state’s governor, Mark Dayton, this week. But privacy advocates opposing the law say that they will keep fighting to prevent newborns’ […]

May 1, 2014

Lessons for the Future of Primary Care from Robin Cook’s Cell

by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.

I just finished reading the popular fiction novel Cell by Robin Cook. This medical thriller revolves around George Wilson, a radiology resident who finds people dying suddenly after receiving diagnoses of terminal illnesses including his fiancé and next-door-neighbor.…

February 12, 2014

Take Two Aspirin and Let Me Tell You What I Think About the Affordable Care Act

by Kayhan Parsi, JD, PhD

I recently saw a subspecialist for a medical procedure.  I had never met this physician before so as he sat down to review what was going on in the monitor in front of him, the first thing he asked me was what I did for a living. …

January 1, 2014

The Year in Bioethics That Was

by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.

Happy New Year. The ending of one year and the beginning of another is often a time for reflection, for reviewing the year that has passed and for making plans/predictions for the year to come.…

June 4, 2013

Data Aggregation and the Medical Marketplace

Craig Klugman, Ph.D.

Big brother is watching you. And calling you. And selling your medical information to a pharmaceutical corporation.

In the modern age of information as commodity, drugmakers buy database that tell them how much of what drug each doctor prescribes, which patients fill those prescriptions, and whether renewals are filled.…

January 23, 2013

Diagnosing the Famous Non-Patient

Jennifer Chevinksy, B.S.

The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) has recently denounced the actions of neurologist Dr. Rustico Jimenez who publicly commented on the health status of boxer and politician, Manny Pacquiao.…