February Archive

Dutch celebrate a decade of euthanasia with a film festival

Michael Cook | 06 February 2012

Lost in surrogacy’s Bermuda Triangle

Michael Cook | 03 February 2012

Just when you thought that surrogate motherhood could not get more bizarre and complicated, a news flash comes from Hyderabad, the centre of the Indian surrogacy industry. This story concerns J. Pearl Linda Van Buren Green, a 35-year-old New Yorker, and her son Emperor Kaioyus Van Buren Green.

Scores of UK patients die with bedsores, infections and malnutrition

Jared Yee | 03 February 2012

New figures show that 75 patients are dying in UK hospitals and care homes each day with conditions potentially caused by neglect. In 2010, over 27,000 people died with bedsores or infected wounds – an increase by more than 50% in a decade.

Crackdown on illegal abortions restores Taiwan sex ratio

Jared Yee | 03 February 2012

Last year, Taiwanese health authorities moved to crack down on illegal abortions, warning that doctors found guilty of the practice could have their licenses revoked. They announced on Tuesday that tougher oversight on illegal gender-selective abortions prevented almost 1,000 terminations of female foetuses last year.

Immigrant dad will miss out on transplant

Jared Yee | 03 February 2012

Jesus Navarro needs a new kidney. He has a willing donor and private insurance -- but he has been denied the transplant because he is an illegal immigrant. Administrators at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center are refusing to transplant a kidney from Navarro’s wife, saying he may not receive sufficient follow-up care, due to his uncertain status.

North Carolina may compensate victims of eugenics program

Michael Cook | 02 February 2012

The North Carolina legislature has recommended that surviving victims of the State’s forced sterilization program be paid US$50,000 each.

Australian parents lodge “wrongful birth” claim

Michael Cook | 02 February 2012

After losing a case for damages for the birth of their severely disabled son based on a “wrongful life” claim, a Sydney couple has returned to the courts with a “wrongful birth” claim for A$10 million.

Gingrich proposes investigation of IVF clinics

Michael Cook | 01 February 2012

Bioethics is playing a walk-on role in the drama of the Republican primaries. Newt Gingrich has expressed his opposition to abortion and embryonic stem cell research and has called for an investigation of practices in IVF clinics. He believes that human life begins at conception.

January Archive

French presidential candidate backs euthanasia

Michael Cook | 31 January 2012

The left-wing candidate in the French presidential election has strongly endorsed the legalisation of euthanasia if he is elected. François Hollande, a Socialist, who will face the incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, recently revived France’s simmering euthanasia debate.

Do we need a morality pill?

Michael Cook | 30 January 2012

Princeton bioethicist Peter Singer and a research assistant, Agata Sagan, proposed a “morality pill” in a column in the New York Times this week. They speculate that moral behaviour is at least in part biochemically determined. Hence, it should be possible to engineer moral behaviour with drugs. Here is the scenario that they paint:

No conscience exemption for contraceptive coverage, says Obama Administration

Michael Cook | 28 January 2012

Church-affiliated institutions must cover free contraception for their employees, the Obama administration has announced. As a concession to outraged religious groups,

At last, some good news for embryonic stem cells

Jared Yee | 28 January 2012

In the first published results from a clinical trial using human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), 2 legally blind patients with macular degeneration who had been given an injection in one eye have suffered no harmful side effects and appear to have slightly better vision. The trial was sponsored by a Massachusetts biotech, Advanced Cell Technology.

UK to consider three-parent IVF

Jared Yee | 28 January 2012

The controversial practice known as “three-parent IVF” has drawn one step closer in the UK with the government’s announcement of public consultation into its acceptability. The Wellcome Trust has also announced that it would allocate extra funds to expand research into the technique, which uses genetic material from 3 parents – 2 women and a man – to build a baby. The procedure, which currently banned, is a response to mitochondrial disease – defects in the small frameworks called mitochondria which surround the cell nucleus.

Leading UK surgeons call for ban on cosmetic surgery advertising

Jared Yee | 28 January 2012

Leading plastic surgeons in the UK have responded to the current crisis in cosmetic surgery by calling for a ban on advertisements for all types of cosmetic surgery, including breast enlargements and tummy tucks. They say the industry is an under-regulated “wild west”.

Hacking scandal executive has daughter via surrogate

Jared Yee | 28 January 2012

Former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks and her husband have become parents through surrogacy.

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