Category: Ethics
What the ban on gene-edited babies means for family planning
Today, it’s not longer “can we,” but rather, “should we” edit human embryos destined to be born?
Are no-nicotine hiring policies fair?
The policies are raising concern around labor and medical ethics, because by targeting smokers they disproportionately harm the poor.
Doctors Prescribe More of a Drug If They Receive Money from a Pharma Company Tied to It
Pharmaceutical companies have paid doctors billions of dollars for consulting, promotional talks, meals and more. Doctors who received payments linked to specific drugs prescribed more of those drugs.
Drug companies lure Mexicans across the border to donate plasma
Thousands of Mexicans cross in the US on temporary visas to sell their blood plasma to profit-making pharmaceutical companies promising them hefty cash rewards.
Hospital Kept Vegetative Patient on Life Support to Boost Survival Rates
Darryl Young suffered brain damage during a heart transplant and never woke up. Doctors kept him alive for a year to avoid federal scrutiny.
Human-animal hybrids are coming
Human-animal hybrids are coming and could be used to grow organs for transplant. What does it mean? A philosopher weighs in
Webcams in nursing home rooms may deter elder abuse – but are they ethical?
Evidence suggests that ever more people are putting cameras in a relative’s room to detect and deter abuse.
Miracle machine can leave patients in limbo
ECMO is designed to be a bridge to somewhere — recovery, transplantation or an implanted heart device. But for some patients it can be “bridge to nowhere.”
FAQ: How Does New Trump Fetal Tissue Policy Impact Medical Research?
The change was welcomed by abortion opponents, who have long had fetal tissue research in their sights. Many scientists had a very different view.
OxyContin Maker Explored Expansion Into “Attractive” Anti-Addiction Market
Purdue Pharma considered capitalizing on the addiction treatment boom — while going to extreme lengths to boost sales of its controversial opioid.
Doctors fail to disclose industry ties in journal articles
Industry-sponsored research tends to be more positive than that financed by other sources, that in turn can sway which treatments become available to patients
Go slow, start small with genome screening, experts urge
Programs to screen the genomes of healthy adults to identify genes that may put them at risk for disease later in life need to be implemented with care so that they do not do more harm than good, says an expert panel.
Gene-edited babies: China wants to be the world leader, but at what cost?
This isn’t the first time a Chinese team has used the CRISPR technique on human embryos in a way that few researchers from other countries have attempted.
Should we edit the genomes of human embryos?
Surveys show that the public are optimistic about genome editing for curing diseases, but there can also be a lack of trust about how this technology will be used.