Monthly Archives: February 2011
February 28, 2011
Imagine that you are totally paralysed but still have all your mental faculties. You can communicate only through rudimentary speech or limited movements such as blinking or moving your eyes. You wouldn’t be happy, would you? It turns out that … Read More
February 28, 2011
At first glance it might appear that nanomedicine is irrelevant to surgery as it is practiced today, as surgery is generally concerned with the manipulation of decidedly macroscopic devices. However, surgery as a discipline is obviously not limited to clinical … Read More
February 28, 2011
The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism recently described an experiment in which two student journalists at the University of Wisconsin at Madison tested how quickly they could “score” Adderall—a prescription stimulant designed to treat attention-deficit disorders, but often used by … Read More
February 28, 2011
The children of anonymous sperm donors are growing up, speaking out, and demanding rights in a forum fraught with controversy. When she was younger, Alana S. used to experiment and tell people her dad died when she was a baby and … Read More
February 25, 2011
CTs and MRIs routinely change the course of medical care, often for the better. But their use has become so routine that their lifesaving benefits are being increasingly overshadowed by the risks of overuse. Medical imaging is the fastest-growing source … Read More
February 25, 2011
Professor Julian Savulescu, the Uehiro Professor of Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford, was just in the news again, thanks to an article in the Melbourne Herald Sun titled “Only breed smart babies: Ethicist.” The responses, from various corners … Read More
February 25, 2011
Patients in Scotland must be treated within 12 weeks according to new laws unanimously agreed by MSPs. The Patient Rights (Scotland) Bill also introduces a legal right for patients to complain about their treatment. (BBC News)
February 25, 2011
Vaccine injury is a tricky thing to prove — medically and legally. So it was inevitably controversial when the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday against the parents of Hannah Bruesewitz, 18, who suffered seizures and permanent brain damage after receiving … Read More
February 25, 2011
A federal appeals court in Philadelphia will decide whether it is constitutional for the government to take DNA samples from people arrested but not convicted of a crime and keep the specimens on file like fingerprints. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
February 25, 2011
Fourteen Vietnamese women, seven of them pregnant, have been rescued from an “illegal and inhuman” surrogate baby breeding ring in Thailand, officials said Thursday. (AFP)