Two stem cell pioneers shared this year’s US$1·2 million Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine, in recognition of discoveries that the Nobel committee said “challenged and shattered dogma”, and which have “opened up whole new frontiers of research”.
Facebook is undoubtedly the world’s largest megaphone for raising social awareness about issues–the media attention alone is likely to spur many Facebook users to think about being an organ donor, and maybe, if we’re lucky, to have a conversation with friends and family about it.
Canada’s supreme court will soon rule on whether doctors can stop treatment for „unconscious“ patients, but determining awareness remains a thorny issue.
Homosexuality is inherited, not through genes, but through ‘epi-markers’, a study based around mathematical modelling suggests.
Ten years ago a British man with terminal cancer travelled to Switzerland and drank a lethal solution of barbiturates to end his life, with his son and daughter by his side. more
The wife of a man whose legal challenge was heard alongside Tony Nicklinson’s has spoken of her husband’s determination to continue his fight. He wants professionals such as doctors to help him end his life, without them having the fear of prosecution.
MELBOURNE – In the Dominican Republic last month, a pregnant teenager suffering from leukemia had her chemotherapy delayed, because doctors feared that the treatment could terminate her pregnancy and therefore violate the nation’s strict anti-abortion law. After consultations between doctors, lawyers, and the girl’s family, chemotherapy eventually was begun, but not before attention had again been focused on the rigidity of many developing countries’ abortion laws.
It is part of the human condition to have implicit biases—and remain blissfully ignorant of them. Academic researchers, scientists, and clinicians are no exception; they are as marvelously flawed as everyone else. But it is not the cognitive bias that’s the problem. Rather, the denial that there is a problem is where the issues arise. Indeed, our capacity for self-deception was beautifully captured in the title of a recent book addressing researchers’ self-justificatory strategies, Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me).
Dr. Richard Wesley has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the incurable disease that lays waste to muscles while leaving the mind intact. He lives with the knowledge that an untimely death is chasing him down, but takes solace in knowing that he can decide exactly when, where and how he will die.
Germany’s healthcare system is highly respected around the world, but a growing scandal over organ transplant fraud has sparked a fierce debate over medical ethics in the country. A doctor is suspected of tampering with his patients’ records to push them to the top of the transplant list.
