Bioethics News and Research

RSS

Ethical framework to guide coverage and reimbursement decisions for expensive orphan drugs

How can insurers justify spending hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient per year on "orphan drugs" - extremely expensive medications for rare conditions that are mostly chronic and life-threatening -- when this money could provide greater overall health benefit if spread out among many other patients?

8 Feb 2012

Southern Medical Journal now available for the iPad

In keeping with its mission of helping physicians to provide the best possible care to patients in an era of rapidly changing medical practice, the Southern Medical Journal (SMJ) is now available for the iPad.

8 Feb 2012

WHO publishes new standards for human participant research

The World Health Organization (WHO) has published “Standards and Operational Guidance for Ethics Review of Health-Related Research with Human Participants,” a compilation of 10 standards for ethics review of health related research with human participants.

7 Feb 2012

NIH, USDA and research facilities need to protect captive great apes

The Bioethics of Great Ape Well-Being: Psychiatric Injury and Duty of Care, recently published in the Animals & Society Institute's (ASI) Public Policy series, asserts that historically and to date the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and research facilities have failed in their legal duty to protect captive great apes by not preventing foreseeable trauma of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and other psychological injuries.

6 Feb 2012

Seattle Children's receives $5M gift from Ben Towne for pediatric cancer study

Seattle Children's Research Institute today announced a $5 million gift from Ben Towne Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation. The funding will be used to accelerate the work of Michael Jensen, MD, and his Seattle Children's Research Institute team who are creating new cancer treatments that reprogram a child's immune system to attack and kill cancer cells with the goal of minimizing or even eliminating the need for chemotherapy or radiation.

25 Jan 2012

Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues to hold public meeting in San Francisco

The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues will hold a public meeting February 2-3 in San Francisco, CA.

21 Jan 2012

HHS to spend nearly $1.8M to review research volunteer rules, fight STDs in Guatemala; DOJ asks related lawsuit to be dismissed

"Responding to U.S. experiments that infected Guatemalans with syphilis and gonorrhea in the 1940s, the Obama administration announced Tuesday that it will spend $1 million to study new rules for protecting medical research volunteers," and "an additional $775,000 will go to fighting sexually transmitted diseases in Guatemala," the Washington Post reports.

11 Jan 2012

Researchers reveal what cells respond to anesthesia in C. elegans

Physicians use inhalation anesthetics in a way that is incredibly safe for patients, but very little is known about the intricacies of how these drugs actually work in children and adults. Now, researchers have uncovered what cells respond to anesthesia in an organism known as the C. elegans, according to a new study from the Seattle Children's Research Institute. C. elegans is a transparent roundworm used often in research.

23 Dec 2011

Current U.S. rules, regulations sufficient to protect volunteers in federally funded research, report says

A report released last week by the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues examining federally sponsored research involving human volunteers, called "Moral Science: Protecting Participants in Human Subjects Research," said that "current rules and regulations provide adequate safeguards to mitigate risk," "recommended 14 changes to current practices to better protect research subjects, and called on the federal government to improve its tracking of research programs supported with taxpayer dollars," according to a Commission press release.

22 Dec 2011

Opinion pieces address federal funding ban on domestic, global health spending for needle-exchange programs

The FY12 Appropriations Agreement recently passed by Congress includes reinstatements of bans on the domestic and international use of federal funds for needle-exchange programs, the Haiwai'i News Daily reports.

21 Dec 2011

Report about protection of human subjects

The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues today issued its report concerning federally-sponsored research involving human volunteers, concluding that current rules and regulations provide adequate safeguards to mitigate risk. In its report, "Moral Science: Protecting Participants in Human Subjects Research," the Commission also recommended 14 changes to current practices to better protect research subjects, and called on the federal government to improve its tracking of research programs supported with taxpayer dollars.

16 Dec 2011

Panel recommends close monitoring and delay of treatment for localized, low-risk prostate cancer

An independent panel convened this week by the National Institutes of Health has concluded that many men with localized, low-risk prostate cancer should be closely monitored, permitting treatment to be delayed until warranted by disease progression.

9 Dec 2011

Headaches after TBI more prevalent among adolescents, girls

More than half a million children in the U.S. sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) every year. Adults who suffer TBI often report headaches afterward, but little is known about how often children suffer headaches after similar injuries. In a significant new study, "Headache After Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: A Cohort Study," researchers analyzed the prevalence of headaches three and 12 months after mild, moderate or severe TBI in children ages 5 to 17, and discovered the risk of headache was higher in adolescents (ages 13 to 17) and in girls.

6 Dec 2011

Study examines alternative immunization schedule occurrence rates in Washington State

Seventy-seven percent of Washington state pediatricians report that they are sometimes or frequently asked to provide alternative childhood vaccine schedules for their patients, according to a new study from Seattle Children's Research Institute. Researchers also found that 61 percent of Washington state pediatricians are comfortable using an alternative schedule when asked by a parent.

30 Nov 2011

Pediatricians frequently asked to provide alternative childhood vaccine schedules

29 Nov 2011

Third Annual Transplant Symposium to be held on Dec. 2 in New York City

"Transplantation: Part of the Fabric of America" is the theme of the Third Annual Transplant Symposium sponsored by the Montefiore Einstein Center for Transplantation. The conference will be held on Friday, December 2 at the New York Academy of Medicine in New York City.

29 Nov 2011

The untold stories of children of sperm donors

From Jennifer Lahl and The Center for Bioethics and Culture, producers of the award-winning Eggsploitation (2010), Anonymous Father's Day presents the untold stories of children of sperm donors.

21 Nov 2011

Panel discussion on ethics behind sports concussion treatment

Experts from NYU Langone Medical Center and NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies' Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management held a panel discussion Tuesday night on the ethics of who is responsible for ensuring appropriate medical treatment of an athlete that is injured - particularly if they may have a concussion.

19 Nov 2011

Geron bows out of stem cell research

Geron Corp. is removing itself from the field it pioneered – stem cell research. Late Monday, the company said it would halt its study of a stem cell-based treatment for spinal cord injury, the first embryonic stem cell trial approved in the U.S.

16 Nov 2011

Ivacaftor drug improves lung function in people with cystic fibrosis

A new study has confirmed that the drug, ivacaftor (VX-770), significantly improves lung function in some people with cystic fibrosis (CF). The results of the phase III clinical trial study, "A CFTR Potentiator in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis and the G551D Mutation," led by Bonnie W. Ramsey, MD of Seattle Children's Research Institute and the University of Washington, were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

3 Nov 2011