A plan to release over 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes into the Florida Keys in 2021 and 2022 received final approval from local authorities, against the objection of many local residents and a coalition of environmental advocacy groups. The proposal had already won state and federal approval.
Russia’s race to allow civilian use of a potential coronavirus vaccine before clinical trials are complete could put people at risk, according to a local association of multinational pharmaceutical companies.
The country’s regulators became the first in the world to approve a possible vaccine against the virus, despite warnings from the global authorities against cutting corners.
Controversial digital contact tracing platforms are now deploying worldwide. The use of phones to track the movements and trace the contacts of hundreds of millions of citizens is unprecedented. It is also unproven. More worryingly, there’s now evidence to suggest that the approach being taken by most of these apps is wrong.
On April 19, 2012, a 64-year-old Belgian woman named Godelieva de Troyer was euthanised. For the doctor, Wim Distelmans, it was probably just another case. For her son, Tom Mortier, a chemistry lecturer, it came as a terrible shock. He only found out on the day after her death. He has accused Distelmans of violating Belgium’s law on euthanasia. The case is now being considered by the European Court of Human Rights.
When the coronavirus overwhelmed Italy’s health-care system, a working group of the Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation, and Intensive Care reluctantly supported rationing by age. They were right to do so.
Kauniečių šeimoje augantis Bernardas šiuo metu atrodo kaip sveikas vaikas. Jis tik dažniau nei jo bendraamžiai pargriūva ir sunkiai atsistoja be pagalbos, jam sunku lakstyti, lipti laiptais. Trejų metų berniukas serga itin reta liga, dėl kurios nyksta raumenys. Gera žinia, kad jo ligai gydyti sukurtas vaistas, galintis mažiausiai 3–4 metams atitolinti neįgaliojo vežimėlį, vėliau – kvėpavimo aparato būtinybę ir ankstyvą mirtį. Bloga žinia, kad Lietuvos valstybė atsisakė kompensuoti šį gydymą.
Infants in Ukraine born to surrogate mothers for foreigners are stranded because the country’s borders are closed under coronavirus restrictions, preventing parents from the United States, Europe and elsewhere from travelling to collect them. Ukraine’s human rights ombudswoman has appealed to authorities to find a solution.
When the first case of the coronavirus in Silicon Valley was discovered in late January, health officials were faced with a barrage of questions: What city did the patient live in? Whom had he come in contact with? Which health clinic had he visited before he knew he was infected?
Dr. Sara Cody, the chief health officer for Santa Clara County, which has a population of two million across 15 cities, declined to give details. Medical experts say that how much the public should know has become a critical question that will help determine how the United States confronts this outbreak and future ones.
Today, Italy has 10,149 cases of the coronavirus. There are now simply too many patients for each one of them to receive adequate care. Doctors and nurses are unable to tend to everybody. They lack machines to ventilate all those gasping for air. Now the Italian College of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (SIAARTI) has published guidelines for the criteria that doctors and nurses should follow as these already extraordinary circumstances worsen. Instead of providing intensive care to all patients who need it, the authors suggest, it may become necessary to follow “the most widely shared criteria regarding distributive justice and the appropriate allocation of limited health resources.”
