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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: medical ethics

medical ethics stories: 14 news summaries

 CIA Docs Accused of  
 'Human Experimentation' 

Report from ethics groups says docs in interrogation program guilty of war crimes

Sep 3, 09 4:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - CIA doctors who monitored the agency's "enhanced interrogation" of terror suspects may be guilty of war crimes linked to human experimentation, according to a new report from a medical ethics group. The report from Physicians for Human Rights accuses the doctors and psychologists of being involved at every stage... More »

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CIA • torture • war crimes • doctor • interrogation • harsh interrogation • medical ethics • Physicians for Human Rights • enhanced interrogation techniques

OPINION

 Ezekiel Emanuel 
 No 'Doctor Death' 

Reform opponents grossly distort bioethicist's record

Aug 11, 09 10:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - To hear conservative bloggers tell it, Ezekiel Emanuel, Rahm’s brother, is a bean-counting euthanasia enthusiast who wants to deny care for the disabled. The New York Post dubbed him a “deadly doctor,” and Sarah Palin warned supporters to fear his “Orwellian thinking.” It’s... More »

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assisted suicide • euthanasia • rationing • health care reform • Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel • medical ethics

Psychologists, Doctors Helped With Interrogations

Role of medical professionals in CIA program angers peers

Apr 18, 09 10:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Psychologists and physicians who assisted the CIA's harsh interrogation program are being accused of violating the most basic principles of their professions, the Washington Post reports. The newly released CIA memos confirm that on-site psychologists—generally contract workers with the agency—took an active role in the program, offering ideas... More »

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CIA • International Committee of the Red Cross • interrogation techniques • Abu Zubaydah • harsh interrogation • psychologist • medical ethics • torture memo

Cheap, Deadly Beauty Fix
On the Rise

Doctors report spike
in illegal injections
of silicone

Apr 17, 09 7:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Illegal and potentially fatal silicone injections—a cheaper way to plump up the body than cosmetic surgery—are on the rise, the New York Times reports. The underground treatment, usually administered at home or at "pumping parties," has spread among Latinas and transgender women attracted by the... More »

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plastic surgery • New York • illegal activity • blood poisoning • medical ethics • silicone injection • pumping party • Fiordaliza Pichardo

 Red Cross: 
 Med Workers 
 Complicit in 
 Gitmo Torture 

Professionals told CIA interrogators to stop, go

Apr 7, 09 7:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Red Cross is accusing medical personnel of deep involvement in CIA torture at Guantanamo, calling it “a gross breach of medical ethics,” the New York Times reports. Medical professionals monitored procedures such as waterboarding, telling interrogators to “continue, to adjust, or stop particular methods,” finds... More »

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torture • Khalid Sheikh Mohammed • International Committee of the Red Cross • Guantanamo prisoners • waterboarding • medical ethics

Pharma Infiltrates Harvard's Ivory Tower

Med school is in ethics crisis, say some students and profs

Mar 3, 09 10:11 AM CST
(Newser) - The tentacles of big pharma have made their way into the upper echelons of academia, the New York Times reports: Harvard Medical School is packed with professors with industry ties, and that has students concerned. With 149 profs connected to Pfizer and 130 to Merck, fears that the influence of... More »

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Harvard Medical School • pharmaceutical companies • drug companies • professor • Harvard • medical ethics

Safer Down Syndrome Tests Give Birth to Ethics Fears

Procedures look safer, more accurate, but raise ethics concerns

Feb 24, 09 11:23 AM CST
(Newser) - New tests to detect Down syndrome early in pregnancy look highly promising to some experts—but they’re prompting new ethical and medical questions, the Washington Post reports. The procedures, to be publicly available in June, appear safer and more accurate than current options. But Down syndrome and anti-abortion activists... More »

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abortion • genetic testing • prenatal care • medical ethics • Down Syndrome

 Octuplets' 
 Mom Offers 
 First Look 
 at Kids 

Suleman: 'This is my choice'

Feb 9, 09 11:48 AM CST
(Newser) - Octuplet mom Nadya Suleman gave the Today show the first look at her babies—while maintaining that she can handle raising 14 children, MSNBC reports. “This is my choice, to be a single parent,” said Suleman. “I will do the best I possibly can. And in my... More »

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baby • single parenting • multiple births • Today show • medical ethics • octuplets • Nadya Suleman

 60-Year-Old 
 Canadian Gives 
 Birth to Twins 

Birth raises medical-ethics questions

Feb 5, 09 2:59 PM CST
(Newser) - A 60-year-old Canadian woman gave birth to twins this week, the CBC reports. Ranjit Hayer and her twin boys, delivered 7 weeks prematurely by cesarean section, are recovering in intensive care. Hayer underwent in vitro fertilization after trying to get pregnant for decades, but even her obstetrician has ethical concerns.... More »

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twins • Canada • in vitro fertilization • mothers • birth • multiple births • medical ethics

Octuplets Sound Alarm Bells for Fertility Experts

Docs can avoid high multiples, and try hard; babies' risk is huge

Jan 28, 09 8:45 AM CST
(Newser) - After Monday’s birth of octuplets in southern California, fertility experts are raising concerns that the mother’s doctors went ahead with procedures that could result in such a high-order multiple birth. It’s not hard to avoid fertilizing so many eggs at once, and the danger for both mother... More »

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fertility treatment • premature birth • multiple births • medical ethics • octuplets • Nadya Suleman

OPINION

Face Transplant Risks Life in Pursuit of Social Approval

Why change the face when we could change our behaviors?

Dec 19, 08 2:44 PM CST
(Newser) - A face transplant completed at a Cleveland clinic may be a medical triumph, but, William Saletan wonders on Slate, does the social necessity outweigh the physical risk? Severe facial damage affected the woman’s physical functions, but surgeons also argue that “social functions” such as communication are equally essential.... More »

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cosmetic surgery • face transplant • Cleveland Clinic • medical ethics

Scientists Reprogram  Adult Cells

Breakthrough could leap embryonic stem-cell quagmire

Aug 28, 08 2:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - In a stunning medical advance, scientists have found a way to transform an adult cell in a living animal into an entirely different type of cell. The development is another step toward freeing the field of regenerative medicine from the controversies of stem-cell research. Harvard biologists discovered three key molecular... More »

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stem cell research • medical breakthrough • diabetes • medical research • medical ethics • Harvard Stem Cell Institute • induced pluripotent stem cells

Harvesting Babies' Organs Scrutinized

Critics say hearts removed too soon to be sure donor was dead

Aug 14, 08 10:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - A report on heart transplants involving babies has raised some thorny questions of medical ethics, the Washington Post reports. Hearts were taken from newborns suffering severe brain damage less than two minutes after the babies were disconnected from life support. The hearts saved the lives of terminally ill babies, but... More »

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organ transplants • heart transplants • baby • transplant • newborn • cardiac-death organ donations • brain-death organ donations • medical ethics

 Battle Brews Over 
 Medical Marijuana, 
 Organ Transplants 

Seattle man dies awaiting donor liver

May 19, 08 2:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - Potential organ recipients who are using medically prescribed marijuana are being removed from transplant waiting lists, raising serious questions about transplant programs' screening processes, reports the LA Times. A Seattle man died last month after being denied a donor liver, and a critically ill man in Washington state has been... More »

MORE ABOUT:
organ transplants • medical marijuana • Washington • medical care • medical ethics

14 Stories


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