bioethics

Tipping the scales towards euthanasia

Margaret Somerville | 14 December 2011 |

tags: assisted suicide, Canada, euthanasia

A widely publicized report published by the Royal Society of Canada presents a thoroughly one-sided view.

Will pigs usher in the next medical revolution?

Peter Cowan | 14 December 2011 |

tags: organ donation, stem cells, xenotransplantation

Transplanting organs from pigs could be the answer to the shortage of organs for desperately ill patients.

Non, je ne regrette rien

Michael Cook | 24 November 2011 |

tags: stem cells

It is now all but certain that human embryonic stem cells will not deliver cures to dread diseases. Apologies, anyone?

Abortion and mental health: science vs politics

Priscilla K. Coleman | 23 November 2011 |

tags: abortion-mental health link, scientific research

Publication in a leading psychiatry journal did not prevent a barrage of criticism for the author of a study showing the mental health risks of abortion.

At long last, Dutch doctors draw a line in the sand

Michael Cook | 17 November 2011 |

tags: euthanasia, Netherlands

Euthanasia is OK, but circumcising male babies is a bridge too far.

Another death in the family

Michael Cook | 08 November 2011 |

tags: euthanasia, Norway, UK

Did a famous London physician euthanase two of the crowned heads of Europe?

Are Americans anti-science?

Michael Cook | 04 November 2011 |

tags: science, US

No, they just don't like arrogant, undemocratic scientists.

Bad shot: when will WHO warn women about the contraceptive jab?

Carolyn Moynihan | 28 October 2011 |

tags: Africa, contraception, demography, HIVAIDS, WHO

The latest strong evidence that hormonal contraception is linked with AIDS finds experts still dallying.

World Contraception Day: empowering whom?

| 27 October 2011 |

tags: contraception

Ignoring warnings about blood clots, the contraceptive industry pushes its product.

My daughter’s paradoxical genes

Mark W. Leach | 24 October 2011 |

tags: abortions, Down syndrome, girls

Why are parents encouraged to abort Down syndrome children and banned from aborting girls?

A setback for embryonic stem cell research

Michael Cook | 21 October 2011 |

tags: European Union, human ecology, stem cells

A milestone case in the European Court of Justice may signal a new direction in campaigns against human embryo research.

The science of eggsploitation

Richard Egan | 11 October 2011 |

tags: human cloning, hyperovulation, stem cell research

Human cloning researchers pay women to risk death so they can pursue their doomed experiments.

Daleks are utilitarians, but are utilitarians Daleks?

Richard Umbers | 06 October 2011 |

tags: Doctor Who, utilitarianism

Psychology researchers may have discovered a disturbing angle to utilitarian reasoning.

Organ donation: crossing the line

Nancy Valko | 06 October 2011 |

tags: donation after cardiac death, euthanasia, organ donation

Linking the "right to die" with organ donation has opened a terrible Pandora's Box.

Why safe euthanasia is a myth

Brian Pollard | 23 September 2011 |

tags: euthanasia

All attempts to legalise voluntary euthanasia protect doctors from prosecution and endanger the lives of their patients.

“Ethically impossible”

Michael Cook | 22 September 2011 |

tags: Guatemala, utilitarianism

Are there any lessons for the future in the scandalous story of American syphilis research in Guatemala?

Where is the worst place in the world to be a doctor?

Michael Cook | 20 September 2011 |

tags: conscientious objection, euthanasia, Netherlands

At least in Niger and Afghanistan, doctors are supposed to save lives, not take them. Not so in the Netherlands.

Contraceptive mandate is a boon for Big Pharma

Bob Laird | 25 August 2011 |

tags: Big Pharma, contraception, Obamacare

Why is President Obama giving drug companies such an easy ride?

Will women stock exchange traders rescue Wall Street?

Denyse O'Leary | 23 August 2011 |

tags: economics, global financial crisis, neuroscience

The new science of neuroeconomics is making big claims. Can they be justified?

Battlefield bioethics

Michael Cook | 30 March 2011 |

tags: mercy killing, war

Under conditions of extreme stress, doctors need extremely strong ethical codes.

“30 dead embryos are the price paid for one healthy child”

Paul Miller | 18 March 2011 |

tags: Germany, PGD

The German parliament is debating a ban on whether to legalise screening embryos for unwanted genetic traits.