February Archive

Ethicists give thumbs-up to infanticide

Michael Cook | 25 February 2012

If abortion, why not infanticide? This leading question is often treated as a canard by supporters of abortion. However, it is seriously argued by two Italian utilitarians and published online in the prestigious Journal of Medical Ethics this week.

Is honesty is the best policy on resumes?

Michael Cook | 25 February 2012

Patients expect honesty and attention to detail in their doctors. Unfortunately there is a large proportion who appear to be economical with the truth. Two recent studies looking at applications to training programs in obstetrics show that nearly 30 out of every 100 applicants took credit for non-existent research publications.

Newspaper sting uncovers sex-selective abortion in UK

Michael Cook | 25 February 2012

Some UK abortion clinics are falsifying paperwork so that they can carry out their clients’ requests for sex-selective terminations. Undercover reporters for the London Telegraph accompanied pregnant women and taped doctors arranging an abortion after an unequivocal request to abort a child because it was of the wrong sex.

Chinese couples seek surrogacy in US

Jared Yee | 25 February 2012

While Americans have long gone to China to adopt children, Chinese couples are now travelling to US surrogacy clinics because it is illegal in their home country.

Korea’s obsession with cosmetic surgery

Jared Yee | 25 February 2012

The internet is fanning the flame of a cosmetic surgery obsession in South Korea, experts say.

Research misconduct “widespread” in Chinese science: comment

Jared Yee | 25 February 2012

Research misconduct is “serious and widespread” among Chinese scientists, according to an editorial published in the China Daily.

Assisted-suicide booms in Switzerland

Jared Yee | 25 February 2012

The number of patients in Switzerland who killed themselves with the help of assisted-suicide organisations rose significantly in 2011, new figures show.

Doctors “fire” patients for refusing vaccines

Jared Yee | 25 February 2012

More and more American paediatricians are “firing” parents who refuse to vaccinate their children.

A Model Proposal for eliminating poverty in Motor City

Michael Cook | 22 February 2012

The eugenic temptation is ever with us. This seems to be the lesson conveyed by Editorial Page Editor of The Detroit News, Nolan Finley.

Whose design will be used for designer brains?

Michael Cook | 20 February 2012

British doctors endorse radical solutions to organ shortage

Michael Cook | 18 February 2012

Some of the most controversial methods of obtaining organs have been endorsed by the British Medical Association in a report released this week. “Building on Progress: what next for organ donation policy in the UK?” laments “the fact that… people are still dying unnecessarily because of a lack of organs”.

Sarkozy draws line in sand over euthanasia

Michael Cook | 18 February 2012

The two candidates in France’s presidential election are using euthanasia as one of the defining differences in the campaign. In a wide-ranging interview in Le Figaro, President Nicolas Sarkozy explained why he would not back it:

Surrogacy is “reproductive prostitution”, says Dutch expert

Michael Cook | 18 February 2012

Once again Dutch legislators are organising a legal work-around for a procedure which is clearly illegal in the Netherlands. This time the issue is commercial surrogacy.

Is cosmetic surgery “ethically corrupt”?

Michael Cook | 18 February 2012

The flames of bioethical controversy crackle loudest in the media when stem cells or euthanasia or abortion are tossed onto the flames. But tempers can flare over cosmetic surgery as well. In the wake of the Poly Implant Prothèse breast implants scandal, more and more articles are appearing questioning the ethics of procedures whose benefits are largely psychological not medical.

American bioethics shaken by dispute over conflict of interest

Michael Cook | 18 February 2012

The latest conflict between bioethical purists and bioethical pragmatists concerns the former editor of the American Journal of Bioethics, Glenn McGee. Dr McGee founded and nurtured AJOB until it now has the highest impact factor in its field (3.986 in 2010). In the AJOB stable are a website and two other journals, AJOB Neuroscience and AJOB Primary Research. He has been a controversial character, but nothing has kicked up controversy so much as the circumstances surrounding his departure.

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