by Michael Ollove, The Pew Charitable Trusts, March 9, 2015
The advocacy group Compassion & Choices says that bills on aid-in- dying have been introduced this year in Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Wyoming and Utah. Court cases have surfaced in New York and California. (http://tinyurl. com/pu4cz8x)
reconsider her November deci- sion to die through doctor-assisted suicide, has died. (http://tinyurl. com/obeet5l)
March 31, 2015 marked the ten-year anniversary of Terri Schiavo’s death a week after her feeding tube was removed. Her high-profile case spurred a national debate about patients in persistent vege- tative state and who decides whether they live or die. In the same month as the Schiavo anniversary, Kara Tippetts, who courageously responded to physician-assisted suicide (PAS) proponents, passed away. Tippets offered a life- affirming message despite her terminal prognosis, in response to the more publicized message of Brittany Maynard (who died in November 2014 through the use of PAS in Oregon). Maynard famously advocated for PAS after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, while Tippetts advocated for life after being diagnosed with terminal breast cancer. CBHD recently published an article on CBHD.org by Advisory Board member Edward Grant, JD, reflecting on the anniversaries of the Nancy Cruzan and Terri Schiavo cases. The article can be accessed at http://tinyurl.com/nqopz3q.
by Reuters Staff, Scientific American, April 8, 2015
Thirty confirmed cases of Ebola were reported in West Africa in the past week, the smallest number in nearly a year of the worst ever outbreak of the deadly fever, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. (http://tinyurl.com/oljm2w9)
Ebola ravaged the countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, prompting a world-wide effort to provide resources and contain the disease. Finally, after over a year, the Ebola epidemic seems
to be receding. April marked a steady decrease in the number of new cases. However, after having no new cases for several weeks, Liberia, reported six new cases this summer. These cases have since cleared, and now Liberia is waiting to be declared Ebola-free. New cases in Guinea and Sierra Leone continue to decline.
by Debra Goldschmidt, CNN, April 10, 2015
As crazy as this sounds, to put an entire head on a new body, a human body, Italian physician Dr. Sergio Canavero says we are approaching HEAVEN (an acronym for head anastomosis venture; anastomosis is surgically connecting two parts). The pieces are coming together but there are still many hurdles to jump. (http://tinyurl.com/q4j4lx4)
In the area of weird science that is fraught with ethical issues, Dr. Sergio Canavero made headlines for giving a TED talk theorizing a head transplant in the next few years. He claims to have heard from several patients who are willing to be guinea pigs when he is ready to try the transplant. CBHD Executive Director Paige Cunningham published a commentary on this news item in Summer 2015 issue of Salvo magazine, which can be accessed online at http:// tinyurl.com/o39x2pz.
by David Cyranoski and Sara Reardon, Nature, April 22, 2015
In a world first, Chinese scientists have reported editing the genomes of human embryos. The results are published in the online journal Protein & Cell and confirm widespread rumours that such experiments had been conducted— rumours that sparked a high-profile
This year has seen an uptick in the number of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) bills in the U.S. Several states
14 presented bills, including California, where the bill passed in the Senate, but eventually failed in committee. Internationally, France passed a law that allows physicians to place terminally-ill patients under sedation, but in Scotland, a bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide failed. Furthermore, reports show that euthanasia cases in Belgium, which has some of the most permissive laws, have doubled over the past six years.
by Liz Neporent, ABC News, March 31, 2015
Ten years after the death of Terri Schiavo, the debate over when to end the life of someone catastrophically ill rages on. (http://tinyurl. com/ls4l3tc)
by Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Washington Post, March 22, 2015
A Christian author and blogger with terminal cancer who tried to persuade Brittany Maynard to
debate last month about the ethical implications of such work. (http:// tinyurl.com/n8eenl7)
Using non-viable embryos, Chinese scientists edited the genome of a human embryo. They used CRISPR/ Cas9, a robust gene editing technique, to edit the gene that is known to cause betathalassaemia. The research has prompted many scientists, ethicists, and organizations, including the NIH, to call for a moratorium on germ-line editing. The authors of the paper point out that their research shows this technique has a long way to go before it could be feasible in a clinical setting. CBHD staff Paige Cunningham and Michael Sleasman co-authored an essay on this, which is posted on http:// everydaybioethics.org/editing-human- beings. The piece was also posted in a modified format on DesiringGod.org.
News Release, World Health Organization, April 29, 2015
At present, 11 districts in Nepal have been deemed “severely affected” by the quake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, while many more districts have sustained significant loss of life and property, and face the challenges that these bring. The current death toll from the quake stands at just over 5000 and an estimated 8 million people have been affected in some way. (http://tinyurl.com/nwxofr8)
In the area of disaster ethics, the April 25th earthquake in Nepal wreaked havoc in the area, causing avalanches in the Himalayas, leaving many homeless, thousands injured, and eventually (after the time of this article) resulting in the death of about 9,000 people. Controversially, the media highlighted rescue efforts of surrogate babies in Nepal who were commissioned by Israeli couples. Nepal is a popular place for same-sex couples in Israel to hire a surrogate.
by Raya Jalabi, The Guardian, April 30, 2015
Based on an analysis of more than 600 newly disclosed emails, the report found that the APA coordinated with Bush-era government officials—namely in the CIA White House and Department of Defense—to help ethically justify the interrogation policy in 2004 and 2005, when the program came under increased scrutiny for prisoner abuse by US military personnel at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. (http://tinyurl.com/nrj68j8)
A watchdog organization filed a report showing that the American Psychological Association (APA) coordinated with the CIA and the U.S. Department of Defense to create an enhanced post 9-11 torture program. Since the time of this article, the APA conducted its own review and found several ranking members of the APA were involved, standing in direct conflict with the APA’s explicitly stated position on torture. A timeline of the APA’s official policy and response to the report has been chronicled at http:// tinyurl.com/oxplsjs.
by Robert Pear, The New York Times, May 14, 2015
Scientists have identified hundreds of genetic mutations that appear to increase the risk of diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer’s and cystic fibrosis. But laboratories often report different results when they analyze genes obtained from samples of the same blood or tissue, because of variations in their testing equipment and methods. (http:// tinyurl.com/nat3tob)
Genetic tests are becoming more wide- spread as sequencing becomes faster and cheaper. However, there is often a wide disparity in results obtained from different companies using the
news update
same sample. This calls into question the validity of DNA test results, which is particularly problematic when they are used to identify genetic markers for devastating diseases. This study comes out only two months after 23andMe announced that it will begin a medical research program using their genetic database. The new standard allows laboratories to determine whether their machines and software for genetic anal- ysis are accurate.
by Kenneth A. Oye, J. Chappell H. Lawson, and Tania Bubela, Nature, May 18, 2015
Currently, morphine is produced from the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum). By providing a simpler—and more manipulable— means of producing opiates, the yeast research could ultimately lead to cheaper, less addictive, safer and more-effective analgesics. And in generating a drug source that is self-replicating and easy to grow, conceal and distribute, the work could also transform the illicit opiate marketplace to decentralized, localized production. In so doing, it could dramatically increase people’s access to opiates. (http://tinyurl. com/kzvbuck)
In the field of synthetic biology, researchers were able to replicate the first half of the process that a poppy uses to make morphine. In light of the opiate drug addiction epidemic, this ethics article was published in Nature concurrently with the original research paper. Given possible use of this process among the DIY community, the paper calls for proactive consideration and coordination among “public-health experts, scientists, regulators and law-enforcement agencies.”
