January Archive

European assembly slams euthanasia

Michael Cook | 27 January 2012

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has given a big boost to opponents of legalised euthanasia. This body, which (somewhat confusingly) is not part of the European Union, is an advisory body in Strasbourg with more than 300 delegates whose pronouncements on human rights are highly influential in the EU.

Is it morally wrong to take a life? Not really, say bioethicists

Michael Cook | 27 January 2012

Is it morally wrong to kill people? Not really, argue two eminent American bioethicists in an early online article in the Journal of Medical Ethics. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, of Duke University, and Franklin G. Miller, of the National Institutes of Health believe that “killing by itself is not morally wrong, although it is still morally wrong to cause total disability”.

Doctors call for a moratorium on donation after cardiac death

Michael Cook | 27 January 2012

Is that rustling in the bushes a deer or my brother? What the hell. We’ll sort it out later… BANG! Most people would regard moral reasoning like this as at least superficial. Several paediatricians writing in the latest issue of Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine apparently agree. They have called for a moratorium on donating organs after cardiac death (DCD) until a number of troubling issues have been resolved. The pre-press, peer-reviewed article offers a good summary of the ethical issues.

Massachusetts judge ordered forced abortion and sterilization of mentally ill woman

Michael Cook | 21 January 2012

It is difficult to imagine a case better scripted for a discussion of informed consent than Mary Moe’s Massachusetts abortion.

Cosmetic surgery industry under fire after implant scandal

Michael Cook | 21 January 2012

The UK’s cosmetic surgery industry is under fire in the wake of the liquidation of a French company which made faulty breast implants. For a number of years Poly Implant Prothese had been manufacturing breast implants with industrial grade silicon instead of medical grade. Now the implants are rupturing at a higher than normal rate and a woman has died in France of a rare cancer which appears to be related to the leakage.

Is pregnancy unethical? Yes, says UK bioethicist

Michael Cook | 20 January 2012

Here is contrarian bioethics at its best. Pregnancy and childbirth are so painful, risky and socially restrictive for women that public funding should urgently be directed to the development of artificial wombs. This is the only way to achieve true equality between men and women for then neither women nor men would then be limited by having children and the burdens of reproducing the species would be shared equally.

Surrogacy: nice work if you can get it

Michael Cook | 18 January 2012

More from the booming surrogate mother industry. A Philadelphia company is raising eyebrows by describing gestational surrogacy as a paying job. An email from Surrogate Services International says that "In this economy and particularly around the holiday season one would think a local business would not have any trouble filling job openings." It is offering "well paid, part-time positions" as egg donors and surrogate mothers.

Is intellectual disability a reason to deny an organ transplant?

Michael Cook | 18 January 2012

A 3-year-old girl who was allegedly denied an opportunity for a kidney transplant because she was “mentally retarded” has sparked a debate in the US media. Amelia Rivera has a rare genetic disease known as Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome that can cause mental impairment, seizures and kidney failure. However, her parents were told by doctors at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia that there would be no transplant.

Canadian journal calls for curbs on aborting girls

Michael Cook | 18 January 2012

After a long legal and political debate leading up to a decision by its Supreme Court in 1988, Canada has ended up as one of the few nations in the world without an abortion law. About 100,000 abortion are performed each year. But now the Canadian Medical Association Journal is calling for strict limits on abortion – if the mother wants to abortion a child simply because it is a girl.

Controversial UK commission backs assisted suicide

Michael Cook | 17 January 2012

The UK should legalise assisted suicide, says a report by a private group headed by former lord chancellor Lord Falconer.

We have to try harder, say Belgian euthanasia doctors. We’re only #2

Michael Cook | 17 January 2012

Remember the Avis Rent-a-Car commercials from the 1960s? Maybe not. Anyhow, they tripled the company’s market share with the slogan, “Avis Is Only No. 2, We Try Harder.” The Belgian right-to-die lobby seems to have the same can-do attitude.

December Archive

Looking for films about bioethics?

Michael Cook | 17 December 2011

Hey, this is pretty cool: an annotated list of dramas and documentaries about bioethical topics at the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics (SCHB). It was launched this week.

US to curtail chimpanzee research after report

Michael Cook | 17 December 2011

Given that chimpanzees are so closely related to us, American researchers should allow them to be used in biomedical research only under stringent conditions, says a report from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. These include the absence of any other suitable model and inability to ethically perform the research on people.

Organ donation overhaul contentious

Jared Yee | 17 December 2011

A New South Wales government proposal to prevent families from overturning their deceased relatives’ wishes on organ donation has garnered mixed reactions.

The grubby reality of Indian surrogacy

Jared Yee | 17 December 2011

From the outside, it’s a two-room apartment. However, within its walls, it’s a barn for 15 surrogate mothers, all at various stages of pregnancy.

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