Wesley J. Smith

I think this is the right decision.  A federal judge has ruled that stem cell treatments that manipulate the cells into another form are drugs for purposes of FDA oversight.  From the New Scientist story:It’s official: stem cells are drugs. At least, that’s the opinion of the . . . . Continue Reading »

I have frequently criticized the conceit in science that only scientists should determine what is and what isn’t ethical in science, a conceit that is the science sector’s equivalent of clericalism. Now, apparently THE SCIENTISTS think that scientists should also have the full . . . . Continue Reading »

I often say that if you want to see where and how society will next go wrong, just look at the articles on ethics and culture currently being published in the world’s top medical and bioethics journals.  Latest case in point, an article in the New England Journal of Medicine urging . . . . Continue Reading »

Good for UC Davis.  It has punished two medical professors for conducting unethical medical experiments on brain cancer patients.  From the Associated Press story: Two University of California, Davis, neurosurgeons have been banned from performing medical research on humans after they . . . . Continue Reading »

Nat Hentoff is a celebrated individual libertarian and had a storied career as a columnist at the Village Voice—hardly a precursor to the Weekly Standard.  He has a good column out warning about the cost of Obamacare to the individual. First, he notes the rarely-discussed tax on medical . . . . Continue Reading »

A lesbian woman wants to become pregnant through artificial insemination using sperm from a friend. The FDA says no. From the San Francisco Chronicle story:She is dating a woman. She is trying to conceive a child. She wants to use free sperm from a man she trusts. But the U.S. Food and Drug . . . . Continue Reading »

Well, RationalWiki—the “rationalists’” answer to Wikipedia, I guess, has sniffed out human exceptionalism and irrationally label it “creationism.”  From the entry:The angle the ‘Toot uses for this one is to publish a newsletter called The Human . . . . Continue Reading »

aObamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board is authoritarian. It does not “advise,” it imposes on cost cutting for Medicare—even over a presidential veto.  Moreover, it’s imposed “advice” is also immune from judicial review.  Frankly, . . . . Continue Reading »

The paperback version of A Rat Is a Pig Is a Dog Is a Boy, my critique of the animal rights movement, has just been published. From my Preface to the Paperback Edition:I had two primary purposes in writing A Rat Is a Pig Is a Dog Is a Boy, a project that took several years. First, I wanted . . . . Continue Reading »

Only humans are capable of true evil.  And only we are capable of virtuous goodness. That’s the nature of . . . . Continue Reading »