Bioethics News and Research

RSS

Older patients suffer with real life-changing burdens after beating sepsis: Study

A study of nearly 1,200 older patients hospitalized for severe sepsis indicate that those who survive are at higher risk for long-term cognitive impairment and physical limitations than those hospitalized for other reasons.

28 Oct 2010

Commercial genetic profiling services should provide detailed information about test results: Report

Direct-to-consumer personal genetic profiling services that claim to predict people's health risks by analysing their DNA are often inconclusive and companies that sell them should provide better information about the evidence on which the results are based, says the UK Nuffield Council on Bioethics, in a new report on the ethics of so-called personalised healthcare services.

13 Oct 2010

Reverby writes commentary for Bioethics Forum on syphilis study

The researcher whose revelations about unethical U.S. studies on syphilis in Guatemala in the 1940's led to apologies from the Obama administration last week has written a commentary for Bioethics Forum, the Hastings Center's online publication. She calls for the need to learn from history to better protect human subjects in the developing world.

8 Oct 2010

Mandatory contraceptive policy in clinical trials is excessive and can safely be relaxed

Research ethics review committees often require all women of childbearing age who enroll in clinical trials to use contraceptives to protect against a developing fetus being exposed to potentially harmful drugs. A mandatory contraceptive policy is often imposed even when there is no evidence that a trial drug could harm a fetus or when women have no chance of becoming pregnancy. This requirement is excessive and can safely be relaxed in many cases, according to a report in IRB: Ethics & Human Research.

4 Oct 2010

Experts provide information on H1N1 and seasonal flu at Johns Hopkins hospital

Johns Hopkins has a wide range of experts available for interviews and comments about seasonal flu, H1N1, emergency preparedness, infection control, flu transmission in children, vaccine safety, flu treatment, public health ethics, flu in cancer patients, and related public communications strategies. If you would like to interview a Johns Hopkins expert, call or e-mail the designated information officer in the list below.

1 Oct 2010

New England Journal of Medicine praises VA’s policy on disclosure of adverse medical events

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policy on disclosure of adverse medical events was praised as a "valuable resource for all health care institutions" in an article in a recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

30 Sep 2010

Scientists discover protein to regulate blood stem cells’ activity for leukemia treatment

A discovery made by Dr. Tarik Möröy, President and Scientific Director and Director of the IRCM, and his team was recently published in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology. The researchers found that a protein can regulate certain characteristics of blood stem cells, which could lead to a better treatment for leukemia patients.

17 Sep 2010

Researchers recommend health care organizations invest in time and resources for LSAEs disclosure

Health care organizations should disclose medical mistakes that affect multiple patients even if patients were not harmed by the event, according to an AHRQ-funded research paper published in the September 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

3 Sep 2010

Health care organizations should disclose medical errors that affect multiple patients: Researchers

3 Sep 2010

Researchers find role of Vpr protein in HIV infection

Dr. Éric A. Cohen, Director of the Human Retrovirology research unit at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), and his team published yesterday, in the online open-access journal PLos Pathogens, the results of their most recent research on the role of the Vpr protein in HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection and AIDS (acquired autoimmune deficiency syndrome).

3 Sep 2010

Overutilization of medical imaging services increases unnecessary radiation exposure: Report

Overutilization of medical imaging services exposes patients to unnecessary radiation and adds to healthcare costs, according to a report appearing online and in the October issue of the journal Radiology that calls on radiologists to spearhead a collaborative effort to curb imaging overutilization.

24 Aug 2010

Legal scholar calls for FDA to regulate all health-related genetic tests

An opinion piece by a legal scholar from the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics in this week's issue of Nature calls for the Food and Drug Administration to regulate all health-related genetic tests — whether available directly to consumers or through a health care provider — using an approach that imposes requirements proportionate to a test's level of risk.

13 Aug 2010

Quality of translations of clinical trial consent forms questioned

The first study to look at simplified English-language consent forms translated into another language calls into question the common belief that a translated consent form meets readability standards. The study appears in IRB: Ethics & Human Research.

11 Aug 2010

New study refutes common assumptions about consent forms in clinical trials

Although informed consent is an ethical cornerstone in research with humans, some studies suggests that volunteers often do not understand key aspects of the research in which they participate. Recent efforts have been made to improve informed consent by simplifying the consent forms.

11 Aug 2010

International conference to discuss research, unresolved issues of sickle cell disease

Carlton Haywood Jr., Ph.D., an associate faculty member of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, will mark the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of sickle cell anemia on Wednesday, Aug. 4, with a talk on the impact that race has had on the history of research and treatment of the inherited blood disorder.

4 Aug 2010

Researchers recommend six steps for shared decision making in sex development disorder surgery

A shared decision-making process would assist doctors and parents who are facing the extraordinarily complex, challenging and controversial choices presented when infants are born with genetic or anatomical anomalies in sexual development and are being considered for elective corrective surgery, a new research paper suggests.

26 Jul 2010

CFAR receives a five-year renewal grant to continue AIDS research

The Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals Case Medical Center Center for AIDS Research announced today it has received a five-year renewal grant from the National Institutes of Health for $9 million. The CFAR provides clinical and technological support to researchers working on HIV-related projects at Case Western Reserve, University Hospital Case Medical Center, MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland Clinic, and several international sites.

22 Jul 2010

NIH awards KGI $3.6M grant to develop diagnostic assays and devices for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis

Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) Director of Research Angelika Niemz has been awarded a four-year, $3.6 million collaborative research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

21 Jul 2010

Bioethics through the lens of literature

What if I were grown only so that my organs could be harvested, and I had to care for others whose organs are being taken, too, while I wait for my own death? What if doctors cut off a piece of the tumor that killed me and grew it in a lab for the next sixty years? What if scientists discovered a gene that would ensure my happiness no matter what life throws at me?

16 Jul 2010

NIH awards $20M grant to support Institute for Clinical & Translational Science efforts

The Institute for Clinical & Translational Science at UC Irvine will get $20 million over five years from the National Institutes of Health to speed the transformation of scientific discoveries into medical advances for patients.

15 Jul 2010

Bioethics News and Research

Older patients suffer with real life-changing burdens after beating sepsis: Study

Commercial genetic profiling services should provide detailed information about test results: Report

Reverby writes commentary for Bioethics Forum on syphilis study

Mandatory contraceptive policy in clinical trials is excessive and can safely be relaxed

Experts provide information on H1N1 and seasonal flu at Johns Hopkins hospital

New England Journal of Medicine praises VA’s policy on disclosure of adverse medical events

Scientists discover protein to regulate blood stem cells’ activity for leukemia treatment

Researchers recommend health care organizations invest in time and resources for LSAEs disclosure

Health care organizations should disclose medical errors that affect multiple patients: Researchers

Researchers find role of Vpr protein in HIV infection

Overutilization of medical imaging services increases unnecessary radiation exposure: Report

Legal scholar calls for FDA to regulate all health-related genetic tests

Quality of translations of clinical trial consent forms questioned

New study refutes common assumptions about consent forms in clinical trials

International conference to discuss research, unresolved issues of sickle cell disease

Researchers recommend six steps for shared decision making in sex development disorder surgery

CFAR receives a five-year renewal grant to continue AIDS research

NIH awards KGI $3.6M grant to develop diagnostic assays and devices for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis

Bioethics through the lens of literature

NIH awards $20M grant to support Institute for Clinical & Translational Science efforts

Biotechnology eBook

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

Latest News