Lethal injections unethical, says The Lancet
There should be a moratorium on death by lethal injections in US prisons, argues an article in The Lancet after studying what actually happens when...
Conscientious objectors under the gun
Pharmacists who refuse to fill legal prescriptions for contraceptives are coming under fire in the US media. The widely- read Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman...
Fewer suicides if people surf the net, says Nitschke
A proposed Australian law banning the publication of suicide- related material on the internet will actually increase the number of suicides, says euthanasia advocate Dr...
France passes end-of-life law
The French government has passed a law which will allow terminally ill patients to refuse treatment, but which leaves euthanasia illegal. The new measure allows...
California considers assisted suicide
Inspired by the example of its northern neighbour, the California legislature is examining whether it should legalise assisted suicide. A bill modelled on the existing...
IVF’s emotional roller-coaster
A London psychotherapist has criticised the UK government's recent decision to cover one free cycle of fertility treatment through the National Health Service. Nicola Glucksmann,...
Mix-up becomes TV drama
Mix-ups in IVF clinics are in the UK media again, with the screening this week of a docu-drama, "Born with two mothers", on Channel 4....
Progress report: adult stem cells
A California company has announced that it can obtain ethically non-controversial stem cells from the placenta. Celgene Corporation has developed a technology which isolates pluripotent...
US IVF industry begins to centralise
In a move which reveals the growing sophistication of the IVF industry, a supplier of business services is quietly building up a nationwide network of...
Bioethics and language
An Indian doctor has coined a new term to describe screening and eliminating unborn children if they have genetic defects, preventive genetics". Dr Sharad Gogate,...
IN BRIEF: gelding cloned; bills fail
Cloning: French and Italian scientists have succeeded in cloning a horse which was an endurance champion. Horses in endurance races are normally gelded, so they...