Former V-P gets new heart
Former US vice president Dick Cheney received a new heart recently. The operation sparked speculation that he had jumped the queue. Former US vice president...
Oregon releases assisted suicide stats
Oregon’s public health division has released statistics on deaths under its physician-assisted suicide (PAS) legislation for 2011.Oregon’s public health division has released statistics on deaths...
Quebec could legalise euthanasia
A parliamentary committee in Quebec has recommended the legalisation of euthanasia with strict safeguards. Its report, “Mourir dans la dignité” (Dying With Dignity), contends that...
Assisted-suicide advocate uses law to kill himself
One of the first doctors to support Oregon’s controversial assisted-suicide law has used it to end his own life. One of the first doctors to...
US Supreme Court wrestles with posthumous conception
The US Supreme Court grappled this week for the first time with “posthumous conception”.Karen Capato gave birth to twins in 2003 – 18 months after...
UK surrogacy mum wants maternity leave
A British woman who had a child by surrogacy has sued for paid maternity leave. The woman, who remains anonymous, alleging sex and maternity discrimination,...
Stem cell therapy could bolster kidney transplant success
A kidney transplant patient’s own stem cells could replace anti-rejection medications, a new study suggests. A kidney transplant patient’s own stem cells could replace anti-rejection...
Has there been “a complete regulatory collapse” of UK abortions?
"I will do all government paperwork conscientiously" is not a clause in the Hippocratic Oath. Yet it is a significant aspect of an ethical doctor’s...
Is one in five abortion clinics breaking the law in the UK?
Abortion is back on the front pages of British papers with the news that abortion providers are routinely falsifying paperwork. The Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley,...
Is free will a myth or the foundation of law and order?
Some recent research in psychology suggests that when people disbelieve in free will, they are more inclined to act in antisocial ways. The Neuroskeptic blog...
Bengladeshi organ trafficking revealed
A Michigan State University anthropologist from Bangladesh has published the first in-depth study describing the often horrific experiences of poor people who were victims of...
Neuroscientists face ethical dilemmas over military use
American neuroscientists should be worried about how their research will be used by the US military, according to an article in PLoS Biology (March 20)...