Bioethics News and Research

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Doctors under pressure to compromise good health care for athletes

Doctors are repeatedly coming under pressure to compromise principles of good health care when treating athletes, reveals a small preliminary study in the Journal of Medical Ethics.

26 Jan 2005

Pharmacogenomics, has the potential to spark a major, technology-driven restructuring of the health care and pharmaceuticals industries

Pharmacogenomics, the study of genetic variability in the way individuals respond to medicines, has the potential to spark a major, technology-driven restructuring of the health care and pharmaceuticals industries

21 Dec 2004

Ethical challenges ahead for neuroscience and society

Are we ready for a future where brain scans invade our private thoughts? Will we have to alter our brains chemically to keep competitive at our jobs? Could science determine that "souls" do not exist, and, if so, what does that mean for how we think of ourselves as human beings?

20 Dec 2004

The ethics of face transplants

The ethics of face transplants is among the issues to be discussed at the World Congress of Bioethics, which will be hosted by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) next week.

4 Nov 2004

Anesthetics are effective in reducing the pain of circumcision in newborns

Anesthetics are effective in reducing the pain of circumcision in newborns, judging from the baby’s heart rate and time spent crying after the procedure, a new analysis finds.

18 Oct 2004

DuPont CEO says consumers will increasingly depend on biotechnology

DuPont Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Charles O. Holliday, Jr. today said significant progress has been made in demonstrating the benefits of biotechnology, in its acceptance, and in the advancement of new and exciting products the technology is making possible.

28 Sep 2004

Today’s scientists have the skills and experience to transplant a human face

A University of Louisville-led research team studying the face transplant has developed guidelines it says are critical to the success of the still-untried procedure.

20 Sep 2004

More women and adolescents needed in HIV vaccine clinical trials

Greater participation of women and adolescents is needed in HIV vaccine clinical trials, according to a group of international experts, who attended a consultation on HIV vaccine trials in Lausanne, Switzerland, from 26-28 August.

1 Sep 2004

Effect of prebiotic and probiotic foods on health

A group of researchers at the Public University of Navarre, led by Senior Lecturer in Zoology, Elena Urdaneta Artola, have studied both the mechanisms whereby foodstuffs known as functional act at a gastrointestinal level as well as their possible beneficial effects on the health of individuals.

23 Aug 2004

Will the insured sacrifice to help cover the uninsured? New study suggests the answer may be yes

One of the biggest questions facing Americans as the 2004 elections approach involves a tradeoff: Will those who currently have health insurance be willing to sacrifice in order to insure the 44 million people who don't?

21 Jul 2004

Failures of international organisations to establish clear policies with regard to stem-cell research and reproductive cloning

The author of a Public Policy article in this week’s issue of THE LANCET discusses recent failures of international organisations to establish clear policies with regard to stem-cell research and reproductive cloning.

8 Jul 2004

Quality of life for terminally ill hospital patients could be improved with better management

The final months and weeks for terminally ill hospital patients could be made better if hospitals simply instituted a systematic process to seek the thoughts of dying patients and families on how to improve the medical care provided, say experts at a leading international medical ethics think tank.

24 May 2004

Health care and cultural differences at centre of Australian study

Ever wondered how difficult it must be for patients from different cultural backgrounds to be hospitalised in Australia? RMIT researchers will investigate whether these patients are at risk in a predominantly white Anglo health system.

12 May 2004

Requests for organ donors must be tempered by a better understanding of cultural differences

In Canada, most organ donations come from people who have died, rather than from living donors. In western culture, there is a division between mind and body, he explains. Once the brain no longer functions, the corpse is no longer considered a true person -- as highlighted by Descartes' philosophy, "I think, therefore, I am" -- so organ donation is seen as acceptable. In addition, western society has been greatly influenced by the Christian belief in the spiritual value of non-reciprocal giving, says Bowman, making organ donation a gift of love and generosity.

6 Apr 2004

New pill for post-traumatic stress disorder

Every day, people suffer traumatic experiences that scar their minds. Combat, rape, bombings, burns, beatings, and horrific car accidents haunt them with memories impossible to suppress. Such day- and nightmares are part of a problem known as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

22 Mar 2004