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Scientists pinpoint how Michigan program reduced rates of deadly central line bloodstream infections

A team of social scientists and medical and nursing researchers in the United States and the United Kingdom has pinpointed how a programme, which ran in more than 100 hospital intensive care units in Michigan, dramatically reduced the rates of potentially deadly central line bloodstream infections to become one of the world's most successful patient safety programmes.

18 Jun 2011

LGL to host third annual pharmacogenetic conference on 8-9th November 2011

London Genetics Limited, an expert in the use of pharmacogenetics in clinical drug discovery and development, is pleased to announce that its third annual pharmacogenetic conference will feature top-level presentations from players in all parts of the healthcare chain.

10 Jun 2011

KGI scientists identify new gene regulator that keeps hearts healthy even under intense exercise

Providing a medical explanation for why exercise is good for the heart, a team of scientists from Brazil pursuing a study that started in Dr. Ian Phillips' lab at Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) has discovered a new gene regulator called MicroRNA 29 that keeps hearts healthy even under intense exercise.

3 Jun 2011

Disaster-response planning raises challenges for mental health services, bioethicists say

Johns Hopkins University bioethicists say disaster-response planning has generally overlooked the special needs of people who suffer from pre-existing and serious mental conditions.

24 May 2011

Johns Hopkins bioethicists urge disaster preparedness for mentally impaired

Johns Hopkins bioethicists say disaster-response planning has generally overlooked the special needs of people who suffer from pre-existing and serious mental conditions. Survivors already diagnosed with schizophrenia, dementia, addictions and bipolar disorder are vulnerable long before a disaster strikes, they point out.

23 May 2011

Study finds link between high prenatal BPA levels and infant's neurobehavioral abnormalities

A new case study examining an infant's neurobehavioral abnormalities and extremely high bisphenol A concentration of the baby's mother suggests a link between the two.

12 May 2011

Expert says Homeopathy is 'ethically unacceptable'

A bioethics expert from the University of Abertay Dundee has denounced the public funding of homeopathy at a time where Scotland's health budget is under unprecedented pressure.

9 May 2011

Diabetes cell implant company approved for Argentina clinical trial

Living Cell Technologies Limited, a company pioneering the development of a cell implant to treat diabetes, has obtained approval to commence a Phase II DIABECELL clinical trial in Buenos Aires, Argentina, DIABECELL's third jurisdiction to date which has approved human trials. Up to eight adult patients with Type 1 diabetes, including those with unstable diabetes and severe hypoglycaemia, will each receive two implants of DIABECELL, three months apart with a dose seeking component. The trial is expected to begin in the second half of this year.

3 May 2011

Analysis calls for experimental evidence to determine best way to disclose information to patients

Giving patients data about the risks and benefits of a medical intervention is not always helpful and may even lead them to irrational decisions, according to an article in the Hastings Center Report. That finding calls into question whether it is essential to disclose quantitative data to patients to help them make informed decisions.

16 Apr 2011

Latest issue of Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care provides valuable insights

How do we assess the current and future quality of life for infants and children with life-threatening conditions? In the April issue of Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care, "The Quality of Life of Young Children and Infants with Chronic Medical Problems," presents a collection of essays in which physicians, medical ethicists, parents, and caregivers address one of the most contentious topics in pediatric and clinical ethics today, the assessment of QoL.

12 Apr 2011

US should watch how UK adopts new, 'value-based pricing' policy

The United States should pay close attention to how the United Kingdom carries out plans to assess a new drug's worth using factors that go beyond clinical and cost effectiveness, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics.

8 Apr 2011

CPS: Withholding or withdrawing artificial nutrition and hydration is legally, ethically acceptable

The Canadian Paediatric Society wants to help health care providers faced with difficult end-of-life decisions, with a new paper on withholding or withdrawing artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH). The CPS says that withholding or withdrawing ANH is both legally and ethically acceptable as part of a palliative care plan.

1 Apr 2011

Foundation for nationwide consensus on access to genetic information

Health privacy is a serious concern, but as genetic testing becomes more common, access to your genetic information raises questions the healthcare industry has never faced before. It is particularly important that we begin to address these questions now that genomic information is being collected to improve the diagnosis and treatment of children.

31 Mar 2011

State laws regarding baby blood samples analyzed

State laws and policies governing the storage and use of surplus blood samples taken from newborns as part of the routine health screening process range from explicit to non-existent, leaving many parents ill-informed about how their babies' left over blood might be used, according to a team led by a member of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Utah. A report on their analysis of the subject is published March 28 in the journal Pediatrics.

28 Mar 2011

Special report takes critical look at debates about pediatric problematic moods, behaviors

Decisions about whether and how to diagnose children with emotional and behavioral disturbances, and whether and how to treat them, are sometimes not clear-cut. When decisions lie within a "zone of ambiguity," people who emphasize different value commitments can reach different but equally respectable conclusions.

17 Mar 2011

President's bioethics commission names international panel to review whether U.S. rules protect clinical trial participants in U.S., abroad

"Prompted by concerns about an unethical U.S.-sponsored study in the 1940s," the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues on Tuesday announced the formation of an international panel "that will examine whether current rules adequately protect volunteers in global clinical trials," Science's "ScienceInsider" blog reports.

4 Mar 2011

Erik Parens to speak on behavioral genetics at Presidential Commission meeting

Hastings Center Scholar Erik Parens, PhD, will speak about behavioral genetics to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues on Monday, February 28. The meeting kicks off the Commission’s examination of the ethical and policy issues raised by genetics and neuroscience. Topics will include the use of genetics, neuroscience, and neuroimaging for testing, research, diagnosis, risk identification, and health promotion. Parens was invited to discuss what he considers the most pressing ethical and social issues that behavioral genetics research raises.

24 Feb 2011

Experts caution against dangers of inflated expectations of genomic medicine

In the ten years since the human genetic code was mapped, expectations among scientists, health care industry, policy makers, and the public have remained high concerning the promise of genomics research for improving health.

19 Feb 2011

Scholars urge scientific community to act against negative effects of patenting in stem cell field

In an opinion piece published Feb. 10 in the journal Science, a team of scholars led by a Johns Hopkins bioethicist urges the scientific community to act collectively to stem the negative effects of the patenting and privatizing of stem cell lines, data and pioneering technologies. This means grappling with the ambiguity of several fundamental distinctions typically made in ethics, law and common practice, the experts insist.

15 Feb 2011

Bill Gates' annual letter calls for focus on eradicating polio, governments to sustain foreign aid

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "urged developed nations to help him wipe out polio 'once and for all' at an event to release his third annual letter [.pdf] Monday," Agence France-Presse reports.

2 Feb 2011