Bioethics in the News

Thanks to the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity for combing through the news and bringing these to the attention of readers:

CHINA OFFICIAL’S MANDATORY ‘TWO CHILDREN’ PROPOSAL DRAWS REBUKE
(Medical Xpress) – China should roll back its one-child policy and instead mandate that all couples have two children, a family planning official has said, drawing criticism Friday from a ruling Communist Party newspaper.   Read More

STEM-CELL TREATMENT BEATS MEDICINE IN SEVERE MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
(Bloomberg) – Stem-cell transplants were more effective than the standard medicine used to treat people with severe multiple sclerosis, a trial found.   Read More

DYING DUTCH: EUTHANASIA SPREADS ACROSS EUROPE
(Newsweek) – In 2013, according to the latest data, 4,829 people across the country chose to have a doctor end their lives. That’s one in every 28 deaths in the Netherlands.  Read More

CANCER PATIENTS, DOCTOR SUE TO ALLOW PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED DEATH FOR TERMINALLY ILL
(Los Angeles Times) – A group of cancer patients and physicians filed a lawsuit Wednesday to clarify the ability of mentally competent, terminally ill patients in California to obtain prescription drugs from their physician to hasten their death.   Read More

WORLD HAILS UK VOTE ON THREE-PERSON EMBRYOS
(Nature) – Following a February vote in the UK House of Commons, the world may once again look to Britain to push the envelope in fertility treatments, 37 years after IVF was pioneered there.   Read More

NAE Approves Allowing Natural Death Resolution

The Board of Directors of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) approved a resolution at its semiannual meeting on Oct. 16 addressing end-of-life questions created by medical advances, which have produced more effective care and enabled physicians to save lives that would otherwise result in death, but have also given the possibility to prolong the dying process beyond its normal course.

The new resolution states, “The NAE believes that in cases where patients are terminally ill, death appears imminent and treatment offers no medical hope for recovery, it is morally appropriate to request the withholding or withdrawal of life-support systems, allowing natural death to occur.”

NAE President Leith Anderson said, “Evangelicals want to honor life from womb to tomb. As technology advances, moral questions complicate the decisions that family members face regarding treatment of their loved ones. This resolution gives guidance to our members who are in some very difficult situations.”

The Allowing Natural Death resolution encourages the use of signed health care directives and/or a designated health care agent. Where there is no health care directive or agent, the decision to withhold or withdraw life support should be made by the dying patient’s family, legal guardian, or closest friends in consultation with the medical professionals and, when available, a member of the clergy.

The resolution also states, “While we firmly believe in mercy, compassion, and allowing natural death, we also believe there is a profound moral distinction between allowing a person to die, on the one hand, and killing on the other. As evangelicals, we deny that there are any circumstances that justify euthanasia; that is, intentionally ending a life through medical intervention.”

The NAE board also calls for evangelicals to focus their energies on improving care for the dying and ensuring access to high-quality palliative or hospice care to alleviate needless suffering.

“We should further advocate within our churches for responsible advance care planning. It has proven to be much less morally distressing to family members when they are clear on their loved ones’ wishes for end-of-life care, and are spiritually validated for honoring that person’s desires,” the resolution states.

Bioethics in the News

GENES INFLUENCE HOW MICE REACT TO EBOLA, STUDY SAYS IN ‘SIGNIFICANT ADVANCE’
(New York Times) – Some people exposed to the Ebola virus quickly sicken and die. Others become gravely ill but recover, while still others only react mildly or are thought to be resistant to the virus.  Read More

SCIENTISTS PURSUE NOVEL BLOOD TESTS FOR CANCER
(MIT Technology Review) – The Hong Kong scientist who invented a simple blood test to show pregnant women if their babies have Down syndrome is now testing a similar technology for cancer.  Read More

 THE OLDER INDIAN WOMEN HAVING CHILDREN
(BBC) – Rajo Devi is 75. Her daughter and first-born child, Naveen, is five. In India the average woman lives to 68 – Rajo Devi says she was fortunate to become a mother at 70. Read More

IDENTIFYING THE SOURCE OF STEM CELLS
(MSU Today) – When most animals begin life, cells immediately begin accepting assignments to become a head, tail or a vital organ. However, mammals, including humans, are special. Read More

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF PRICE DISPLAYS FOR PHYSICIANS
(Forbes) – Transparency has been gaining momentum in most areas of medical practice over the past decade.  -  Read More

BRITTANY MAYNARD ON DECISION TO DIE: NOW ‘DOESN’T SEEM LIKE THE RIGHT TIME’
(CNN) – Brittany Maynard says she hasn’t decided yet when she’ll end her life, but it’s a decision she’s still determined to make.  Read More

Compiled by The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity, www.cbhd.org 

Bioethics in the News

Skills matter.  Research has confirmedwhat patients have long suspected and trainees have long known –the dexterity of a surgeon’s handscan account for much of the differences in how well patients do. (New York Times)

Belgium considering kids’ euthanasialaw. In Belgium, where euthanasia is now legal for peopleover the age of 18, the government is considering extending it to children and adultswith early dementia. Imagine a teen with angst being allowed to get help tocommit suicide. Right. (ABC News)

How much does a patient invegetative state know? An analysis of brainactivity in 21 patients and eight healthy volunteers showed one of the patientscould pick out individual sounds. (BBC)

Fertility: Race matters. Maternal ethnicity is a significant determinant of successfuloutcomes after fertility treatment.  (Medical Xpress)

Too many, too young.
One in every five girls (about 19%) gives birth before sheturns 18 in developing countries. Of the 7.3 million girls who give birth everyyear, 2 million of them are under the age of 14. (CNN)

Progress with breast cancer.
A test that identifies seven classes of breast cancer could beavailable within two years. (BBC)

Curbing drug-induced abortion.
 If a U.S. court decides to hear an appeal in a case aboutdrug-induced abortion, it could clarify how far states can go in restrictingabortions. (The Wall StreetJournal)

Syria polio cases confirmed by WHO.Ten polio cases have been confirmed in Syria, the first confirmed outbreak there in 14years. (The Guardian)

DNA and full disclosure.
A recommendation earlier this year that people who have theirDNA sequenced should be told of certain risk factors, regardless of whetherthey want to know, has sparked an ongoing debate among physicians and ethicists.(Boston Globe)

4 babies, 2 surrogates, 1 set oftwiblings.
A British couple are to becomeparents of two sets of twin babies carried by two Indian surrogate women theyhave never met. Experts say twiblings, or children born to separate surrogatesbut created from the same batch of embryos, are common in India. The four babiesare the result of a commercial surrogacy agreement with a clinic in Mumbai. (BBC)

Bioethics in the News

The Center for Bioethics and HumanDignity found these stories of interest in the news this week: 

It's National Public Health Week(NPHW). Since 1995, the U.S. has observed NPHW as a time torecognize the contributions of public health and to highlight issues importantto improving our nation (NPHW). 

Researchers diagnose genetic diseasewithout biopsy. Reproductive Biomedicine Online just published a study in which researchers from Italy and theUK sought to diagnose genetic disease in embryonic DNA without a biopsy. Byextracting fluid from human embryos at the blastocyst stage, they found thatthe fluid contains DNA from the embryo (News-Medical.net).

Belgium tracks trends in end-of-lifedecision-making. According to the Journal ofClinical Oncology, in 1998–2007 Belgium, euthanasia was legal andpalliative care, intensified. This led to an increase in end-of-life decisionsand fewer life-ending acts without patients' explicit requests (Medical Xpress).

Ready for IVF via powderedeggs? Women wanting to delay havingchildren may soon—I kid you not—have their eggs dried into a powder they cankeep at home till needed (Telegraph). 

How about a stem-cell facelift? The stem-cell face-lift starts with liposuction to harvest fatfrom a place that has extra—such as the stomach or thighs—that docs can laterinject into a place that needs more, such as the hollows of the cheeks oraround the eyes. So where, exactly, do stem cells come into play? That'sthe $10,000 question, since that’s about how much people pay for the procedure(New York Times).

Gap widens over how to governabortion. States are becoming increasinglypolarized over abortion, as some legislatures pass ever-tighter restrictions onthe procedure while others consider stronger legal protections for it (The Wall Street Journal).

Gene therapy offers hope for treatingsensory disorders. Imagine being unable to see a lovedone's face. Or to listen to your favorite song. Or to smell chocolate. Now genetherapy holds out hope for treating blindness disorders, with –many tests in late-stage trials. And consequently, researchers areexpanding their gaze to focus on all manner of sensory diseases (The Scientist).

About that Oklahoma dentist with unsanitarypractices... Health inspectors say they foundrusty instruments used on patients with infectious diseases and a pattern ofunsanitary practices that put thousands at risk for hepatitis and HIV (CBS News). Ew-w.  

A new vaccine design may help with HIV. A team of scientists has unveiled a new technique for avaccine design that could be particularly useful against HIV and otherfast-changing viruses (Nanowerk).

iPod, iPad, iGenes? If you consider creepy the personalized ads on Facebook statusupdates, Gmail content and online browsing, just wait till the era ofgenetics-based advertising hits (Wired UK).

Sunday: This just in:
In vitro fertilization linked to increased risk of blood clots during pregnancy. A study published in the British Medical Journal calls for increased vigilance for pulmonary embolism and to consider the use of anti-blood-clotting drugs during pregnancy for women planning to undergo IVF.

Bioethics in the News

The Center for Bioethicsand Human Dignity compiled these news stories:

Dutch hospital to lead organtrafficking probe  
Medical and police authorities arelaunching a major international probe into the illegal trafficking in humanorgans for transplants, to help clamp down on the crime. (Associated Press) 
 


New genetic test provides precise,yet hazy results  
Chromosomal microarrary technologycan detect more genetic abnormalities, but it can raise more questions. (U.S.A. Today)

Irish abortion debate flares overdeath of critically ill woman who was denied an abortion
  The debate over legalizing abortion in Ireland flared Wednesdayafter the government confirmed that a woman in the midst of a miscarriage wasrefused an abortion and died in an Irish hospital after suffering from bloodpoisoning. (Washington Post)

Pancreas stem cell discovery maylead to new diabetes treatments
  Stem cells inthe adult pancreas have been identified that can be turned into insulinproducing cells, a finding that means people with type 1 diabetes might one daybe able to regenerate their own insulin-producing cells. (Medical Xpress)

In ‘The Suicide Plan’ Frontlineexplores hidden world of assisted suicide
  In “TheSuicide Plan” — which airs Tuesday evening onPBS’s Frontline (check local listings) filmmakers Miri Navasky and Karen O’Connortake viewers inside the surprisingly coordinated underground world of assistedsuicide in the United States. (PBS)

Medical tourism: 1 in 3 open totraveling for treatments, poll finds
  Nearly a thirdof people surveyed around the world say they are open to the idea of medicaltourism—traveling abroad to enjoy cheaper medical or dental treatment,according to a new poll. (Huffington Post)

New kidney allocation proposal isethically unacceptable
  A new rule about kidneyallocation would increase efficiency, but it is unjust in the way itdistributes organs. (U.S. News and World Report)

Early end-of-life talks tied toless aggressive care
  Terminally-ill cancer patients areless likely to get aggressive end-of-life treatment, such as chemotherapy inthe last two weeks of life, when they talk with their doctors early on abouthow they want to die, according to a new study. (Reuters)

Identical twins’ genes researchsuggests siblings are genetically different
 Identicaltwins may not be so identical after all. Even though identical twins supposedlyshare all of their DNA, they acquire hundreds of genetic changes early indevelopment that could set them on different paths, according to new research.(Huffington Post)

Largest U.S. genetic biobankreveals early findings
  Researchers who haveassembled a trove of genetic and medical data on 100,000 northern Californiansunveiled their initial findings here this week at the annual meeting of theAmerican Society of Human Genetics (ASHG). (Science) 


Immune system breakthrough giveshope to IVF
  Scientists from IVF Australiabelieve women who suffer recurrent miscarriages or IVF failures could have animmune system that is too healthy, consistently rejecting any invading cells,including the fathers’ genes. (Herald Sun)

Bioethics News

From the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity

Featured ResourceThis week we present a talk given by CBHD's Executive Director, Paige C. Cunningham, JD, at The Family Research Council onMarkets and Consumers: The Commodification of Women and Girls. The talk was a part of FRC's lecture series and the Witherspoon Lecture for 2012.

CBHD Academy of Fellows ConsultationShould we be able to create synthetic sperm and eggs for reproductive purposes? Will children born from such procedures be at elevated risk for biological and/or sociological problems?
Explore cutting-edge ethical and theological questions surrounding the development of novel procedures in the artificial creation of human gametes.

Saturday, November 3rd, 2012
10am to 5:30pm
Trinity International University
Kantzer Hall - KANT 141
Admission is free but registration is required

Uruguay senate approves first-trimester abortions
Uruguay’s Senate approved a bill on Wednesday that allows women to have abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy for any reason, opening the way for one of the most sweeping abortion rights laws in Latin America. (New York Times)

Over my dead body
Helping the terminally ill to die, once taboo, is gaining acceptance. (The Economist)

Synthetic biology raises playing God fears
Is it safe to let humans play God and create new organisms - animals and plants - that have never existed in Mother Nature? The ongoing UN Convention on Biodiversity here [Hyderabad] is going to address this question on Friday evening, when it decides if countries need to put their heads together to study the new field of synthetic biology. (Times of India)

California enacts landmark legislation giving same sex parents via surrogacy equal parenting rights
California has taken the unprecedented step of changing the legal definition of “intended parent” to be “an individual, married or unmarried,” making it legislatively illegal to discriminate against same sex parents both before and after their children are born from surrogacy arrangements. (Sacramento Bee)

Blood or bone marrow better for stem cell transplants?
Study found no survival differences, but blood cells may be associated with more chronic side effects.
(U.S. News and World Report)

Stem cells from cadavers? Pluripotent stem cells can be derived from dead bodies, research shows
Death will come for us all one day, but life will not fade from our bodies all at once. After our lungs stop breathing, our hearts stop beating, our minds stop racing, our bodies cool, and long after our vital signs cease, little pockets of cells can live for days, even weeks. Now scientists have harvested such cells from the scalps and brain linings of human corpses and reprogrammed them into stem cells. (Huffington Post)

Shinya Yamanaka interview: 2012 Nobel Prize winner on stem-cells, ethics and the future of medicine
In a conversation with Technology Academy Finland (TAF) at the time of his winning the Millennium Technology Prize earlier this year, and published today exclusively by the Huffington Post, Shinya Yamanaka said a future in which medical drugs are made to order is closer than ever. (Huffington Post)

Should we ration end-of-life care?
A panel debated the pros and cons of both sides in the latest edition of Intelligence Squared U.S. They faced off two against two in an Oxford-style debate on the motion “Ration End-of-Life Care.” (NPR)

Claims of first human stem cell trial unravels
It has been a crazy week for stem cell research. After the high of a Nobel prize for Japan’s Shinya Yamanaka, the pioneer of cellular reprogramming, events took an alarming and surreal turn when a little-known compatriot – Hisashi Moriguchi – claimed to have already run a clinical trial in which similarly reprogrammed cells were injected into people. (New Scientist)

Tracking a killer: Cell phones aid a pioneering malaria study in Kenya
A pioneering study into malaria transmission in Kenya, using data gleaned from the cell phones of nearly 15 million people, has given scientists new clues into how the deadly disease spreads. (CNN)

Bioethics in the News

Thanks tothe Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity for spotting these articles, whichfeature bioethics in the news.

How muchinfo does the human genome contain, and when should we stop looking? (Nature)

Doctorsdebate whether freezing embryos should become the primary option for in vitro (BBC).

A report analyzes the worldwide demand for embryonic stem cell research  (Sacramento Bee).

New research shows that six monthsafter the implantation of neural stemcells, two patients gained some function (CBS).

Six months after an avalanchedeprived the skiing Prince Friso of Holland, 43, of oxygen, he remains in adeep coma. His country debates euthanasia(The Australian).

 “Superbugs” resist our strongest antibiotic treatments; we must remain vigilantin addressing the growing threat from microbes. (CNN)

The more abortions a woman has before giving birth, the more likely she isto have a preemie. (BBC News)

Male fertility: Researchers make sperm from a skin sample. (Telegraph)

Britishcouples banned from pre-birth sex selection fly to New York to skirt UKlaws. (Telegraph)

Stem cells, end-of-life, and predispositions to violence

It’s been quite a week in the field of medical ethics. Take a look atthese articles gathered by the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity:

A federalappeals court upheld a lower court’s ruling that dismissed a lawsuit claiming NIHfunding for research on human embryonic stem cells violates a law banningfederal funds for research that harms or destroys human embryos. (ScienceInsider)

Britain’s HighCourt on Thursday rejected an attempt by a man wanting to overturn thecountry’s euthanasia law. (Businessweek)

The family of aMuslim man left in an apparently vegetative state after a heart attack fiveweeks ago caused severe brain damage have begun an appeal to ensure he will begiven life-saving treatment, against the advice of clinicians, if his conditionworsens. (Guardian)

An article explores whether post-market drug trials need more ethics. (Scientific American)

Many U.S.organizations recruiting egg donors online don’t adhere to ethical guidelines.  (Fox News)

A Pennsylvaniawoman whose autistic adult son was not recommended for a heart transplant wantsto bring more attention to the decision-making process so that those withailments or disabilities are not passed over without careful consideration. (Washington Post)

A federalappeals court reaffirmed the right of Myriad Genetics to patent two geneslinked to breast and ovarian cancer. (NY Times)

Judges wholearned that a convicted assailant was genetically predisposed to violenceimposed lighter sentences in a hypothetical case than they otherwise would have. (NY Times)

Bioethics in the News

Stem Cell Research: Soon “stemcell shielding” may protect the body from the consequences of chemotherapy. (BBC News)

Contraception: A new study finds that IUDs are the best, most reliableemergency contraceptive for women. (ABC News)

End of Life: Argentina’s Senate has okayed a “dignified death” law to givethe terminally ill and their families more control over end-of-life decisions.(BBC News)

End of Life: An analysis of medical data suggests that kidney patients aresubject to more intensive medical care in their last month of life than arepatients with cancer or heart failure.  (American Medical News)

Organ donation:  A British lab is growing spare body parts, suggesting organ donation maysomeday be a thing of the past. (Daily Mail)

Overstated evidence: A review of databases found that most clinical trials for cancer, heart disease, and mental healthare too small to offer adequate medical evidence. (New York Daily News)

Coerced abortion: A woman in China asserts she wasdragged from her home and forced to have an abortion.  (CNN)

Not for the Faint of Heart

A new documentary, “The Terri Schiavo Story,” summarizes the life and the legal battle that broke out between this 41-year-old disabled woman’s husband and her family, eventually leading to her death. Four years after she was denied food and water, the implications of the legal decisions surrounding her case still spur debate.

Terri's brother, Bobby Schindler, said, "Our hope is that people will learn the truth about what happened to Terri and realize the atrocity that it was, and that anyone who claims that her death was 'peaceful' and 'painless' is lying. It is because of the truly inhumane nature of death by dehydration that when people are killed this way it is always done behind closed doors in the strictest secrecy. I wholeheartedly believe that if the public had been allowed to witness Terri's suffering first hand, the outcry would have deafened Florida and the world."

Originally produced as an episode for the Joni & Friends television series, Franklin Springs Family Media felt the story was compelling enough to produce as a stand-alone project. The documentary has already won the Jubliee Award for Best Documentary at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival. Additionally, the Dove Foundation, has given “The Terri Schiavo Story” its highest rating of five stars.

I recommend this for personal viewing as well as group showings followed by discussions, which promise to be lively.