Delicious placebos for cranky kids
Is trickery part of medicine? “Just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down in the most delightful way,” they sang in Mary Poppins....
Tijuana: gateway to paradise
Australian euthanasia activists search for banned drugsPerched on the border of Mexico and the United States, Tijuana is major drug hub for exporting cocaine to...
Pull plug on “unresponsive” patients, says Australian committee
Leaked report makes radical suggestion An Australian government ethics committee will recommend that people let their “unresponsive” loved ones die if medical treatment is costly...
Coma woman wakes up
After 17 hours without brain wavesOn Friday, May 16, West Virginia woman Val Thomas had two heart attacks. For more than 17 hours she had...
UK Parliament passes radical changes to fertility law
rime Minister supports controversial billIn a milestone vote on "some of the most important... matters of conscience for almost a generation," in the words of...
Get ready for Homo sapiens 2.0
British ethicist calls for improved humans The heated debate over the UK's revised fertility law is more than just a local issue. Because its supporters...
Which is futile, a patient’s care or his life?
Case of disabled girl raises questions about Texas law When disaster strikes, a Texas hospital may not be the best place for a seriously ill...
New manual drafted by psychiatrists with ties to drug industry
But conflicts of interest will be eliminated More than half of 28 new contributors to the next edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and...
Finances put ethical pressures on US doctors
"Pay for performance" is changing the face of care Rising financial pressures upon family doctors is the theme of the current issue of the journal...
Is human dignity a stupid idea?
Harvard professor Steven Pinker says soIn the minds of most people, human dignity must surely be a cornerstone of bioethics. But as BioEdge has often...
War on terror in another bioethical fix
Should detainees be sedated? The war on terror has thrown up another bioethical conundrum: forcible drugging of foreigners deported from the United States. The Washington...
Having fun behind closed doors
... and creating GM embryos News that American scientists had created a genetically modified human embryo leaked out over the weekend. Scientists at Cornell University...