The Bioethics Weekly

Quote of the Week —

"There is an urgent need to improve cervical cancer screening programmes worldwide while, at the same time, keeping track of the quality and the frequency of screening and control efforts, especially for disadvantaged women."

—Emmanuela Gakidou, an associate professor at the University of Washington, Seattle , in "Lack of cervical cancer screening 'putting women at risk'," SciDev, June 24, 2008.

Center Conferencing

Healthcare & the Common Good
July 17-19, 2008
This conference will identify the pressure points in the current domestic healthcare system, examining the economic, educational and care issues surrounding this complex topic. Beyond merely identifying problem areas, the conference also will provide a programmatic vision of the common good as well as a symposium of constructive proposals for re-envisioning policy, health and care all of which emerge from this framework of the common good. Academic Credit is available for conference, institutes and seminars.

For information or to register contact CBHD at 847.317.8180 or visit: www.cbhd.org/conferences/index.html

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Happenings

Stem Cells Europe
September 1-3, 2008
Amsterdam

UNESCO Ethics Teacher Training Course
November 17-21, 2008
Minsk, Belarus

Stem Cells World Congress
January 20-22, 2009
Palm Springs, USA

Drug Discovery Latin America
February 26-27, 2009
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

News Highlights

Pfizer Eyes New Use For Stem Cells
Big drug companies have largely stayed away from testing exotic stem-cell treatments. But now Pfizer is betting that a radical new adult stem-cell treatment may be able to stave off diabetes-induced retina damage, a leading cause of blindness. (Forbes)

Governor’s veto stirs abortion critics
Gov. Ted Strickland’s first showdown with the Legislature on abortion politics was an easy victory: A stroke of his veto pen allowed state spending on human cloning that the Legislature had voted to ban. (Akron Beacon Journal)

Monday, June 23, 2008

Doctors Assail Growing Use of Antipsychotic Drugs for Dementia
The use of antipsychotic drugs to tamp down the agitation, combative behavior and outbursts of dementia patients has soared, especially in the elderly. Sales of newer antipsychotics like Risperdal, Seroquel and Zyprexa totaled $13.1 billion in 2007, up from $4 billion in 2000, according to IMS Health, a health care information company. (New York Times)

UK: Tories promise NHS targets revamp
Focusing on survival rates instead of waiting times would save thousands of lives, Conservative leader David Cameron says. He said his party would scrap the government’s “top-down” approach to NHS targets and instead focus on major diseases such as cancer and stroke. (BBC)

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

European Patent Office hears dispute on human stem cells
A European Patent Office (EPO) tribunal in Munich heard a dispute Tuesday on whether a method of growing embryonal human stem cells can be patented, but gave no date for its decision on the controversial case. US scientist James Thomson, who in 1998 was the first in the world to cultivate such stem cells, is appealing to EPO’s highest board over the refusal to grant a patent in the European Union for the so-called WARF stem cell. (Earthtimes)

Anorexia, bulimia may soon become part of mandatory health insurance in Illinois
The measure is part of a larger national debate about addressing inequities in insurance coverage between psychiatric and physical ailments. (Chicago Tribune)

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Gene-testing firms face legal battle
The state of California is clamping down on companies that offer direct-to-consumer genetic testing in a move that threatens the burgeoning industry. Meredith Wadman looks at a grey area in US regulation. (Nature News)

Coming Soon to YouTube: My Face-Lift
Doctors have long recruited patients to help advertise — witness the doctor-patient tag teams on talk shows and infomercials. It has remained an open question as to whether doctors pay or remunerate those smiling patients in violation of the rules of many physician associations. But it’s now clear that doctors openly offer “thank you” rebates and discounts to patients who post videos of their breast augmentations, bright white teeth or nose jobs — or are willing to be taped extolling the virtues of their physician. (New York Times)

Thursday, June 26, 2008

The Fight to End Aging Gains Legitimacy, Funding
This weekend, The Methuselah Foundation, is sponsoring its first U.S. conference on the emerging interdisciplinary field that [Aubrey] de Grey has helped kick start. (Its first day, Friday, will be free and open to the public.) The conference, Aging: The Disease - The Cure - The Implications, held at UCLA, is an indication of how far de Grey has come in mainstreaming his ideas. (Wired)

India: Proxy womb law set for birth
The government is thinking of enacting a law to regulate surrogacy in a bid to make the deal struck between the prospective parents and the woman lending her womb legally binding on both sides. (The Telegraph)

Friday, June 27, 2008

Each week the top news stories, as determined by the staff at The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity are sent out via email.

[Note: News stories, Quote of the Week, and events do not represent the Center's views. For additional commentary on many of the issues they raise, please see the CBHD web site at www.cbhd.org.]

Please visit http://www.bioethics.com for daily posts on bioethics news and issues.