Preemie tests limits of survival
An American girl who was born at 27 weeks and weighed only 280 grams has grown into a healthy 14-year-old, according to a report in...
Cloning pets goes commercial in US
A California company which cloned the world's first cat nearly three years ago is starting to fill orders for cloned pets. Genetic Savings and Clone...
Hysterectomy alternative “ignored” by gynaecologists
A eight-year-old procedure for removing uterine fibroid tumours from women has highlighted a turf war between two medical specialities. The normal treatment for the tumours...
German nurse murders 12 elderly in hospital
A 25-year-old German nurse has confessed to murdering seven female and five male hospital patients aged between 60 and 89. The man, identified only as...
US to build 2 more maximum security infectious disease labs
In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the US Department of Health is pushing ahead with plans to build at least five maximum security...
Shortage of primates slows research
The first audit of non-human primates used in global research has found that not enough apes and monkeys are being bred for research, that the...
BOOKS: enjoying Alzheimer’s
A sensitive review of two books in The Lancet highlights the dignity of people afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. "Amazing Grace: Enjoying Alzheimer's", by Ray Smith...
ABI publications this week
"Hippocratic oath a casualty of war" By Michael Cook, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 August 2004 Why didn't the doctors at Abu Ghraib prison protect their...
Lancet denounces doctors’ complicity in Abu Ghraib abuse
Military doctors and medics in Iraq should "protest loudly and refuse cooperation with authorities" if they are aware of "torture and inhumane and degrading practices...
Cures from therapeutic cloning “distant at best”, says Nature
The feverish excitement surrounding therapies from stem cells from cloned human embryos needs "a dose of reality", says a Nature news feature. The recent announcement...
New study doubles number of US deaths caused by hospital error
As many as 195,000 people a year die in hospital because of easily prevented mistakes, says a US health research company, HealthGrades Inc. A 1999...
Big pharma eager to begin clinical trials in India
International drug companies will begin conducting drug R&D in India next year. Up until now, Big Pharma had shied away from doing drug design and...