Australia reopens abortion debate
Several leading members of the recently re-elected coalition government have poured petrol on the smouldering Australian abortion debate by calling for review of the situation....
Cosmetic neurology” unstoppable, says US neurologist
The neurologist of the future will become a "quality of life" consultant as well as a doctor, says a University of Pennsylvania doctor in the...
New heart drug uses racial profiling
Researchers have discovered that a heart drug is significantly more effective amongst African-Americans than amongst whites. The medication BiDil could become the first "ethnic medicine"...
China bans brain surgery for drug addiction
The Chinese government has banned the use of brain surgery to rehabilitate drug addicts, a practice which has become popular despite the lack of research...
Euthanasia campaigner to set up secret factory for “peaceful pill”
Philip Nitschke, the doctor who is Australia's best-known euthanasia activist, says that he has organised a workshop next March at a secret location where his...
New Age guru has IVF twins at 57
A 57-year-old New Age mystic has become a single mother of twins after IVF treatment with donor eggs. Aleta St James, an American actress, singer,...
Bioethics destined for “bankruptcy”
A medical historian has published a stinging attack on the bioethicists and bioethics in the most recent issue of The Lancet. Roger Cooter, of the...
ABI in the media
ABI director Dr Amin Abboud delivered a widely reported paper at the World Congress of Bioethics in Sydney this week which suggested that women are...
Bioethics and the American election
American voters handed George W. Bush the presidency this week in a close but convincing election result. However, they sent confusing signals about their support...
Merck condemned over “public health catastrophe”
The editor of The Lancet, Richard Horton, has condemned pharmaceutical giant Merck and the US Food and Drug Administration for acting out of "ruthless, short-sighted,...
Drug shortages chronic in US
After laboratory contamination brought about a shortage of American flu vaccine at the beginning of the winter, the US public health authority, the Centers for...
Animal rights activists won’t monkey with Chinese research
China is poised to become a centre of primate research with the development of a world class facility. The Kunming Institute of Zoology in southwestern...