Biotechnology, Brain and Nervous System, Ethics

Several companies are testing brain implants – why is there so much attention swirling around Neuralink? Two professors unpack the ethical issues

Putting a computer inside someone’s brain used to feel like the edge of science fiction. Today, it’s a reality. Academic and commercial groups are testing “brain-computer interface” devices to enable people with disabilities to function more independently. Two two scholars at the University of Washington School of Medicine – Nancy Jecker, a bioethicst, and Andrew Ko, a neurosurgeon who implants brain chip devices – discuss the ethics of this new horizon in neuroscience.

Addiction, Health Policy, Law, Opioids

Oregon’s Drug Decriminalization Aimed to Make Cops a Gateway to Rehab, Not Jail. State Leaders Failed to Make It Work.

Ballot Measure 110, approved by voters in 2020, created a new role for law enforcement in Oregon. While there’s evidence people living with addiction in the state are increasingly finding their way into treatment, the failure to turn police encounters into successful on-ramps to rehab has been cited by critics as prime evidence the measure isn’t working. Oregon lawmakers, noting an ongoing rise in overdose deaths, are now looking to restore jail time for drug possession.

But Oregon’s political leaders themselves played central roles in failing to deliver on the potential for law enforcement to connect people with lifesaving services under the new measure, documents and interviews with a wide array of people involved in the system indicate.

Woman holding her hands to her chest.
Cardiology, Heart and Circulatory System, Prevention, Women's Health

It’s time for a heart-to-heart about women’s cardiovascular health, unique risk factors and symptoms

Although cardiovascular disease is often considered a disease of men, women are more likely to die from a heart attack when compared with men. This fact often surprises women and even their health-care providers. Many women are not aware that heart disease is a significant health threat to them, but the reality is that five times as many women die from heart disease as breast cancer.

Environment, Environmental Health, Health News, Public Health

The Cost of Freeing Drinking Water from ‘Forever Chemicals’

In proposing the limits, EPA officials said that they had leveraged the latest science to protect the public from PFAS pollution. Environmental groups welcomed the move as long overdue. But the standard has drawn widespread criticism from the water utility industry and some scientists who say that in many places, small drops in PFAS water levels will matter little for exposure or health.