The puzzle of locked-in happiness
Hi there, Heading up our list this weekend is a remarkable story about locked-in syndrome (LIS). Personally, I cannot think of anything worse. Even quadriplegic...
Most locked-in patients are happy, study finds
What medical condition would definitely make life not worth living? At the top of most people’s lists would be locked-in syndrome: complete paralysis and inability...
Top UK public servant questions ban on assisted suicide
Is this a straw in the wind for the assisted suicide and euthanasia debate in the UK? A leading public servant, the head of the...
Plagiarize, Let no one else’s work evade your eyes
Bioethics is a sub-branch of ethics, so one would expect its practitioners to be ethically exemplary. But one of America’s leading bioethicists has expressed his...
Do “sick and tired” strikers deserve medical notes?
Some Wisconsin doctors could be in hot water because they signed sick notes for striking teachers without normal consultations. Some of the doctors wore white...
Surrogate baby ring busted in Bangkok
Bangkok police have uncovered a baby-breeding racket based in Taiwan using at least 14 surrogate mothers from Vietnam. One woman was in hospital delivering her...
Assisted suicide or murder?
Bizarre turn of events leads to second-degree murder chargeIt is clear that Kenneth Minor held the knife that killed Jeffrey Locker. But was it suicide,...
German Medical Association eases assisted suicide regulations
Liberalisation puts focus on consciences of doctorsThe German Medical Association has issued new guidelines for physician-assisted suicide which allow doctors to make conscientious decisions about...
France’s first “saviour sibling” sparks debate about ethics of biotechnology
Boy’s discarded umbilical cord will help heal siblingFrance’s first “saviour sibling” – a healthy boy whose discarded umbilical cord will help his sibling’s genetic blood...
Man sentenced to life in prison says killing daughter was “right thing to do”
Killed his 12-year-old disabled daughterRobert Latimer, the Canadian man sentenced to life in prison for the mercy killing of his severely disabled daughter in 1993,...
Boy, 3, born missing part of his brain, baffles doctors
Boy defies all expectationsA three-year-old boy without a cerebellum has stunned doctors by learning to walk. Chase Britton, 3, born prematurely and legally blind, is...
Wrong patient gets kidney at USC
Kidney transplant program shut down USC University Hospital shut down its kidney transplant program last month after a kidney was transplanted accidentally into the wrong patient....