The Economist gets it. In an article on the fuss generated by assisted suicide advocates—who want to call assisted suicide anything but what it is, e.g., suicide, (a matter about which I have previously posted)—reads, in part, as follows: (No link: Subscription Required)“Now, . . . . Continue Reading »
The best selling novelist Michael Chrichton’s most recent novel, Next, pokes hard at the business of biotechnology. He has also written this op/ed piece against gene patenting, a subject we have considered from time to time here at Secondhand Smoke. The following is part of what Chrichton . . . . Continue Reading »
This is such a joke: As I posted a bit ago, the International Society for Stem Cell Research has published a set of ethical guidelines to govern ESCR. Well, I opine—as I am wont to do—on the matter in the Daily Standard. I note that the people selected to be “the deciders” . . . . Continue Reading »
This time, the Speaker of the Assembly Fabian Nunez is co-sponsoring the bill to legalize assisted suicide in California. Oh well: The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Back to the battlements to defend decency and ethics in . . . . Continue Reading »
A study of British doctors found that some doctors admit they deem elderly people “less deserving” of optimal care. This is not unexpected. The signs have been there for years. From the story in the Telegraph:”Doctors in Britain regularly discriminate against older patients by . . . . Continue Reading »
The poignant letter reproduced below is from the mother of a woman who died donating eggs (for IVF). The death of Jacqueline belies the smug assertions being made by would-be human cloners and their advocates that women who donate eggs for biotechnology will face little danger. It is, of course, . . . . Continue Reading »
The assisted suicide fanatics are at it again in the UK, getting behind the lawsuit of a woman who wants to die. Apparently Kelly Taylor, a woman with a terribly painful heart and lung condition, is suing to be given what is sometimes called terminal sedation. It should be called palliative . . . . Continue Reading »
This story is unremarkable—in the sense that adult stem cell advances are so ubiquitous. Apparently human adult stem cells have rebuilt muscle tissue in mice, moving the technology toward potential treatment for muscular dystrophy. Not yet ready for human trials, apparently, but definitely . . . . Continue Reading »
Science is becoming so unscientific these days, akin in some minds to ideology—or even religion. Lest you doubt it, consider changes being contemplated by the new “pro science” Kansas Board of Education. In essence, members are planning to do to the less savory history of science, . . . . Continue Reading »
It looks as if we are beginning to enter an era of age discrimination in health care. As is usually the case in matters such as this, the perniciousness enters on the back of what may be deemed a reasonable thesis: In this case, people who will enjoy transplanted organs longer should have first . . . . Continue Reading »
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