These short explorations of contemporary bioethics issues first aired on Moody Radio.
The news has been filled with reports of the trade imbalance with China, and recently our president encouraged India to increase trade with the US. We need to increase our exports. But, there’s one kind of export the world should reject, because we have rejected it for ourselves. It has to do with informed consent and research.
I recently watched Extraordinary Measures (2010), a movie about the real life story of John Crowley, a father of two children with Pompe disease. Pompe is a rare and serious genetic disorder causing progressive muscle weakness. An infant with the disease dies before reaching her first year. If untreated in older patients, they will eventually die from heart or respiratory failure. John Crowley raised $100 million dollars to form a biotechnology company to develop a drug to treat his children. John Crowley resorted to “extraordinary measures” to save his children. Why? Because Pompe disease is an “orphan disease.”
Hey, golf fans, did you see the ads for the new TaylorMade golf club featured during the recent Ryder Cup a few weeks ago? TaylorMade claims to outsell and outperform the #2 and #3 golf clubs. Golf clubs are not the only thing with a “tailor-made” brand. Today, medicine is heading that direction. Drugs are being developed to best suit your particular genetic makeup, part of the trend towards “personalized medicine.”
Fifteen centuries ago, Euripides wrote that “Fate is stronger than anything.” We believe in a different kind of “fate” today. It’s not based on impersonal forces, but science: genetic determinism.
If you knew that someone who was healthy was going to die, would you want them to become an organ donor? This very scenario has been played out in China and elsewhere. Only these “donors” were not voluntary. Harvesting organs from death row prisoners horrifies us. There’s another scenario like this that is played out not in prisons, but in research laboratories: the harvesting of cells from tiny embryos. In both cases, the “patient” dies.
There’s a phrase that people toss out when the conversation is confusing: K-I-S-S. “Keep it simple, stupid.” Now, “stupid” is a word our family doesn’t use. Let’s say, “Keep it simple, silly?” If you try to follow the discussion about stem cells, maybe you wish that someone would keep it simple. Well, I’d like to walk through some simple questions about using human embryos for stem cell research, and some simple responses. Not dumbed down or simplistic, because this is not a trivial issue.
Good journalists take pride in getting their facts right. Newspapers don’t like to issue retractions or corrections. But, there’s one subject where they are consistently sloppy or wrong: stem cell research. There are three sources of stem cells—adult, embryonic and induced state cells—but the media group al of these under the broad “stem cell research” umbrella. Before we unpack the issues in the public debate, we need to get our facts right.
Some of our friends are ideal “do-it-yourselfers.” They can rewire a house, install drywall, create a garden retreat, or design amazing scrapbooks. My husband and I learned long ago that we don’t qualify for do-it-yourself projects…early in our marriage it took us four years to remodel a bathroom. Maybe we needed a “do-it-yourself handyman kit! There is another do-it-yourself kit on the market that you may not be aware of – a kit to test your DNA.
“Hollywood does bioethics.” It sounds like an oxymoron, two subjects that have nothing in common. “Bioethics is about real life, while Hollywood is all about entertainment – even at the expense of believability.” Hmmm . . . . Let’s look at a few recent movies that raise bioethical questions.
Have you planned your next vacation yet? How about an international trip that offers exotic landscapes, ancient cultural landmarks, and spicy food? I’m talking about India, one of the “hot” new destinations for tourists. But the tourists I’m thinking about aren’t really focused on interesting places. They are the new breed of medical tourists, with surgery at the top of their itinerary.
Dear radio listener: Have you heard commercials looking for volunteers for a new drug study? These ads aren’t always successful, so drug companies have found a new and cheaper way to run clinical trials. They outsource them. Their cost per volunteer in U.S. trials is around $20,000. India averages one-tenth of that, at $2,000 per person.
“This is interesting stuff, but it doesn’t relate to anything in my life.” “I’m a doctor. I need help on issues that come up in my practice.” These are a couple of reasons people give for not coming to The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity’s 2010 summer conference. Our theme is “Beyond Therapy: Exploring Enhancement and Human Futures.” Perhaps you’ve read the statement about our conference, which explores the way that “scientific discoveries and technological innovations are transforming the nature of biomedicine and revolutionizing the expectations for biotechnology.”
When I say ELSI, many of you might think of Elsie the Cow. She is the iconic symbol of Borden dairy products. I remember her soothing television voice, assuring us that Borden milk and cheese were wholesome and fresh. She ended with, “if it’s Borden’s, its’s got to be good!”
If you like “Top 10” lists, then one to keep your eye on is Science magazine’s Top Science Breakthrough of 2010. I predict it will be the creation of the synthetic cell. Before we decide whether this is something to celebrate, or cause for alarm, we need to understand the basics of this breakthrough.
Blue eyes run in our family. Of all my siblings and in-laws, only my husband is brown-eyed. Our three children are the only grandchildren who lost out in the blue eyes lottery.
I was chatting with a woman I met at the hair salon when the issue of healthcare came up. Rita promptly told me that she had decided on a DNR: a “do not resuscitate” request. When I asked about its effect, Rita had no idea. She admitted, “Both my mom and dad suffered horribly. I am not going to die the way they did.”
The delta smelt is on the “endangered species list.” A federal court, the EPA, and Congress have turned off the water pumps on the Sacramento River to protect this tiny California fish. The consequence? A devastating manmade drought. Fields, groves, and orchards are brown and dying in the breadbasket of America. The farmers believe that they, too, are an “endangered species.” There is another group of people who are endangered: doctors.
On spring break, we toured Warner Brothers studios with our son. Larger than life in front of the visitor center is a giant statue of Bugs Bunny, and, naturally, we had to pose for a photo. The famous cartoon rabbit is lovable because he acts like a clever, smart-alecky human being. Perhaps moms like him because he’s always munching on a carrot. Bugs Bunny’s humanesque qualities are an animator’s creation, forever locked in celluloid. But what if an actual rabbit began to have human characteristics? I’d like to talk about the present-day scenario of human-animal hybrid experiments.
Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world, as my husband Jay witnessed during his many trips there. Bangladesh is plagued by scarce natural resources, jam-packed with people, buffeted by monsoon rains, and subject to the Ganges River being low in the dry season, and flooding during the rainy season. On top of that, one quarter of their water is tainted by poisonous arsenic.
You never know when or where you could have a heart attack. If it happens on vacation, far from home, hospitalization and recovery can be terrifying, strange, or lonely. But, if I’m going to have one while traveling, I’d like to be in Houston.
Our son got married last month. He didn’t have to look far…he and his new bride met at church. But, there are over 24 million sons who may never find a wife. These are the men of China.[1]
Could you try an experiment with me? Picture that you have fallen asleep, and wake up to find yourself in an empty white room with white walls, separated from the rest of the world by a thick glass wall. Occasionally your family and friends stop by to look at you through the glass. There are some other people you don’t recognize, but you figure they are doctors and nurses. You can hear them, and see them, but they can’t hear or see you, no matter how hard you try. Frustrating? Yes. Frightening? Probably.
One of my worst recurring nightmares is having to take a final exam for a class I never bothered to attend. You can’t avoid a real final exam, but other tests are completely voluntary. One of my happiest tests was the little “plus” sign telling Jay and me that we were going to have a baby. You’ve probably seen giant billboards enticing suspicious men to take paternity tests. One step up from that is the online site, 23andMe, which offers the “DNA test that’s right for you.” You can have your DNA evaluated for dozens of diseases, ranging from asthma to ulcerative colitis. 23andMe also offers to perform an ancestry analysis, finding your nearest relatives, as well as your ancestral lineages and your global origins. Before you take this kind of test, there is some important information for you to consider.
Before spring training begins, Major League Baseball needs to straighten out its problem with GINA. Baseball can’t seem to stay away from controversy. From steroid abuse to human growth hormones, from corked bats to betting scandals, America’s national sport is getting a black eye. The most recent problem involves DNA testing of young prospects and their parents. That’s where GINA comes in.
When I was growing up, life was dominated by the Cold War. The United States and the Soviet Union were deadly enemies, locked in an arms race. That arms race is a distant memory. Today, a different kind of “arms race” is almost over.
