S. 5, the bill to overturn President Bush’s embryonic stem cell funding policy passed, one vote (if everyone had showed up) short of a veto override margin. It also does not have enough votes in the House for an override, so it is not going to be enacted—for now. Eventually, when the . . . . Continue Reading »
I checked the New York Times to see if they reported the great news that human diabetes patients have been effectively treated for their disease with adult stem cells. The Gray Lady only carried a muted report by the AP. Had this been an embryonic stem cell success, the story would have reaped huge . . . . Continue Reading »
Leon Kass’s piece in Commentary, about which I posted earlier, also contains some very good prose about a philosophical approach to human exceptionalism. He writes:It is indubitably clear, even to atheists, that we human beings have them [attributes of God in biblical religion such as . . . . Continue Reading »
I believe Leon Kass to be one of our most profound and wise public intellectuals. He comes through again in the current edition of Commentary magazine (no link available) in an article entitled “Science, Religion, and the Human Future.” Much about which he writes—the tension . . . . Continue Reading »
I have long believed that futile care theory will be the next big political battle in bioethics. It is generally ignored by the media—which on one level is understandable because the media are news driven—but on the other hand is not understandable because it is like ignoring an army . . . . Continue Reading »
Patients’ own blood stem cells combined with immune suppression have provided effective treatment of Type 1 diabetes in human patients, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. From the report: During a 7- to 36-month follow-up (mean 18.8), 14 [out of . . . . Continue Reading »
China has apparently issued regulations to stop the purchase and sale of human organs. Good. But based on China’s history in these matters, count me as a skeptic that it will either be enforced or do any . . . . Continue Reading »
Under the terms of Texas law, hospital ethics committees have the right to unilaterally vote to refuse wanted life-sustaining treatment. Known as “futile care theory” or “medical futility” or “inappropriate care,” such refusals are permitted to be made on quality . . . . Continue Reading »
According to this poll, published by the League of United Latin American Citizens . . . . Continue Reading »
We hear a lot of sturm and drang that President Bush is “anti-science” because of his opposition to human cloning and full federal funding of destroying embryos for ESCR. But these positions don’t make the President anti-science: That dispute is about ethics. People can agree or . . . . Continue Reading »
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