A second pig heart transplant appears to be successful
A 58-year-old patient with terminal heart disease became the second patient in the world to receive a successful transplant of a genetically-modified pig heart on...
Cosmetic surgery boosts some people’s mental health – but for others it makes problems worse
Demand for cosmetic procedures is higher than ever. From breast augmentations to “tweakments” such as lip fillers and Botox, more and more people around the...
Americans wrestle with definition of abortion
Abortion is just as inflammable and divisive an issue as ever in the United States, but the rhetoric is changing. The best illustration of the...
Anthropologists cancel panel discussion on sex binary over ‘transphobia’
The American Anthropology Association, together with its Canadian counterpart, has cancelled a presentation at its November conference in Toronto because the speakers planned to affirm...
Belgians opting out of their opt-in organ donation policy
The number of Belgians who say they are ready to donate their organs after their death has reached a record number, as has the number...
Japanese scientists foresee artificial eggs and sperm in next decade
IVG, in vitro gametogenesis, is one of the most radical offshoots of IVF. Scientists are rushing to be the first to create “artificial” eggs and...
Belgian Catholic bishop backs euthanasia
The position of the Catholic Church on euthanasia is well-known: it is staunchly opposed to it. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, published in 1992,...
Spanish pets must be offered alternatives to euthanasia
In a significant development for animal welfare in Spain, legislation aimed at curbing the mistreatment and abandonment of animals officially took effect last month, as...
Greenland women demand compensation for forced contraception
Greenland women who lost their ability to bear children because Danish doctors secretly inserted IUDs in the 1960s and 1970s are suing for immediate compensation....
Pakistani police break up organ trafficking gang
Pakistani police have arrested eight members of a organ transplant gang who allegedly are involved in 328 illegal kidney transplants. The ringleader, according to the...
A painful debate: shrinking the carbon footprint of anaesthetics
If there is any profession which seems remote from the Sturm und Drang of climate change, it must be anaesthetists. After all their job is...
Some patients recall death experiences after heart attacks
In an article in the journal Resuscitation, some survivors of cardiac arrest have described lucid death experiences that occurred while they appeared to be unconscious....