LIFEAlerts

LIFEalerts – Euthanasia

Euthanasia

Belgium – UN Human Rights Council criticized Belgium’s euthanasia law

Since Belgium legalized Euthanasia in 2002, the country has experienced a hundredfold increase in registered euthanasia deaths. In February 2014, the law expanded to enable doctors to end the lives of children of any age. In 2017, almost 20% of deaths by euthanasia in Belgium involved patients displaying symptoms common with aging. In May this year, the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland challenged Belgium on the human rights implications of its euthanasia law with various states urging the government to improve treatment of the elderly and of persons with disabilities. Not only does the European Court of Human Rights challenge Belgium on its euthanasia law but also now pending another case before Europe’s top court in the Tom Mortier case.

The case, which now sits before the top European court, has the potential to set a precedent for euthanasia laws across Europe. The Court’s decision could affect more than 820 million Europeans across the 47 Council of Europe Member States subject to its rulings.

The World Medical Association has consistently rejected the practice of euthanasia and assisted suicide as being unethical. The act has long been associated with discriminatory attitudes against those who are elderly or disabled.

“The slippery slope is on full public display in Belgium, and we see the tragic consequences in this case. According to the most recent government report, more than six people per day are euthanized in this way, and that may yet be the tip of the iceberg. The figures expose the truth that, once these laws are passed, the impact of euthanasia cannot be controlled. Belgium has set itself on a trajectory that, at best, implicitly tells the most vulnerable that their lives are not worth living,” said Robert Clarke, Deputy Director of Advocacy for ADF International, who represents Tom Mortier before the Court. Article, More on Tom Mortier case.

Belgium – Anthology of behind-the-scenes observations from professionals

The Springer website, publisher of many medical journals has released a downloadable copy: Searching for the Full Story: Experiences and Insights of Belgian Doctors and Nurses. Euthanasia, though legal in Belgium, is opposed by some healthcare professionals. This collection of essays contains insights and thought provoking stories from the authors’ professional experience. The testimonies reported in this book of professionals do not believe that euthanasia can be a medical or a caring act, neither can it be a neutral option. In essence, euthanasia does not complement palliative care, it ends it; it is not the pinnacle of care and support for the patient, it discontinues it; it does not relieve the patients, it takes their lives. This open access book has been written by ten Belgian health care professionals, nurses, university professors and doctors specializing in palliative care and ethicists who fear that euthanasia have become normalised and trivial. More

USA – Euthanasia expands to telehealth

During the Covid-19 pandemic telehealth was initiated and now a new bill is before the US Senate seeking to extend the use of telehealth. The 2019 New Mexico bill and the 2020 Hawaii bill included such provisions so this is nothing new. This would mean that a person with difficult health issues who feels like a burden on others, or is experiencing depression or distress, could commit suicide by telehealth without ever seeing a physician. People with unidentified psychological issues or suicidal ideation is of concern as well. A 2016 study published in the British Medical Journal showed that medical error is the third leading cause of death in the US, euthanasia by telehealth is expected to exasperate the problem. More, more

LIFEalerts – Abortion

Abortion

USA – Abortion clinic asks women for their aborted babies in medical research

A New Mexico late-term abortion clinic has partnered with the University of New Mexico by donating body parts of aborted babies to be used in medical research. The clinic started issuing consent forms to mothers for their babies to be used in medical research. The original consent form only included one sentence concerning the donation of the babies’ bodies without providing any further details. In the winter of 2015/2016, the abortion clinic began using a new form. This form provides an entire page of information on the donation of aborted babies for research. Since implementing this new form, the donation of aborted babies to the university dropped drastically. More

UK – Medics call for an end to abortion pills by post

In an open letter, more than 600 medics call for an end to the controversial ‘pills in the post’ abortion scheme introduced at the start of COVID-10 lockdown. The letter cited evidence that some pills mailed after phone or online consultations were used when foetuses were beyond the stipulated ten-week limit – and even after the 24-week upper limit for surgical abortions. They argue that the new rules also made it easier for men to coerce women into abortions against their will and failed to protect girls who were being abused by adults, or women trafficked into prostitution. The medics are supported by several Tory MPs, including Scott Benton, who said: ‘This not a debate about abortion itself, it is about ensuring women are safe.’ More

USA – New peer-reviewed study refutes abortion as “essential” for child- spacing

A new peer-reviewed study by the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI), the second in a series of  peer-reviewed studies from CLI, shows that when a woman’s first pregnancy ends in abortion, it decreases the likelihood that any upcoming pregnancy will result in birth. They also found that for both women with and without abortions between children, healthy child- spacing intervals can be attained without resorting to abortion, and were within the recommended guidelines of 18 to 60 months. The paper is published online in the peer-reviewed Journal of Primary Care and Community Health. This research confirms the exact opposite of what abortion-supportive academics, including those at the American Public Health Association and the American College of OB-GYNs have asserted for decades. More, 2nd Series research.

South Africa – High Court claims being wanted or unwanted decides humanity of the unborn

On 26 March 2021, the Pretoria High Court handed down its judgment in The Voice of the Unborn Baby court case declaring that grieving parents of miscarried babies “have the right to bury the dead child”. However, parents of unborn babies that were lost due to medical negligence and abortion was denied. According to the court’s ruling, the humanity of wanted babies is recognised and protected when they are wanted but unwanted (aborted) babies are denied their humanity. The remains of unwanted babies are not ‘human’ but medical waste. The only difference between the remains of wanted and unwanted babies who died before live birth is their mother’s preference. More

Tanzania – Commences crack down on abortion pills

The Tanzanian government will begin cracking down on pharmacies and other establishments selling emergency contraceptive pills, commonly known as P2, and abortion pills (misoprostol) without prescription. Ms Elizabeth Shekalaghe, the Registrar of the Pharmacy Council recognized that dangerous tablets such as misoprostol and P2 are being used contrary to government’s intentions. They are encouraging members of the public to report establishments that are selling medicines illegally. This follows a complaint made by citizens that say the government have failed to protect them against these medicines because young people are using them incorrectly. More

LIFEalerts – Sexual Exploitation

Sexual Exploitation

World – Epilogue on the Archives of Criminology

Human trafficking is yet another type of crime whose meaning and expression are both relative and evolutive.  Palermo Protocol is where the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) advocate three main approaches: prosecution, protection and prevention strategies.  Canada and the US have a fourth P which stands for partnership to build capacity at local, regional and national levels for combating human trafficking.  Despite an increasing push towards the protection of victims, the literature on the subject shows an ongoing disproportionate emphasis on the offender’s prosecution.  Finally, prevention has been touted as a more effective and efficient response than prosecution.  Without participation, the response to human trafficking will not be evolutive. More

South Africa – Cops nabbed after sex trafficking victim ‘raped repeatedly’

The Hawks have arrested two senior members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) for their alleged role in a sex trafficking operation in Vereeniging, south of Johannesburg. According to the elite crime-busting unit, the two suspects were regulars at an unidentified brothel where a missing woman was being held hostage and used as a sex slave. Instead of abiding by their oath and coming to her rescue, the officers – a brigadier and captain, forced themselves on the woman, raping her on multiple occasions and paying money to the brothel owner. The DPCI [Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation] is committed to tackling this scourge in collaboration with our partners in government and civil society. Instead of decriminalizing prostitution, the focus should be aimed at dealing with corrupt officials like these. More

UK – COVID shuts down UK red light district

When the Covid pandemic hit the number of sex workers plummeted by 50% and caused the UK’s first red light district to shut down. The Holbeck Managed Approach scheme launched in 2014 and was the only place in the country where on-street sex work was legal. This initiative hoped to make is safer for the women but locals objected because the sexual activity invaded their streets. The scheme officially closed last year following the emergency measures introduced by the Safer Leeds Partnership as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Recommendations that ban kerb crawling and punters on foot have also been adopted. Men preying on vulnerable women in street prostitution are no longer welcome or tolerated in Holbeck. More

Mozambique – Prison wardens force inmates into prostitution

The Centre for Public Integrity (CIP) reported recently how guards at the Ndlavela Women’s Prison in Maputo are sexually exploiting inmates by selling the women to clients for money, which the wardens then pocket for themselves. Those who complied were offered special treatment in jail, but those who did not were “tortured,” the CIP said. The sexual exploitation has been going for more than a decade. Justice Minister Helena Kida visited the prison and ordered an urgent government inquiry, the findings of which are expected soon. More

LIFEalerts – Medical Ethics

Medical Ethics

USA – New movement calls for a change in determining brain death

The Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) is a model state law agreed upon in 1981 by a number of expert bodies, which gives criteria for deciding whether a severely brain-damaged person is dead or not. Most states have adopted it, but only two-thirds of them have used the complete language of the act. Now, a movement calling for revision of UDDA is a try for uniformity, and called the Revised Uniform Determination of Death Act (RUDDA). 107 experts in medicine, bioethics, philosophy, and law, spanning a wide variety of perspectives, agree that UDDA needs an update but not as RUDDA because: “ (1) the Guidelines have a non-negligible risk of false-positive error, (2) hypothalamic function is more relevant to the organism as a whole than any brainstem reflex, and (3) the apnea test carries a risk of precipitating BD [brain death] in a non-BD patient, provides no benefit to the patient, does not reliably accomplish its intended purpose, and is not even absolutely necessary for diagnosing BD according to the internal logic of the Guidelines; it should at the very least require informed consent, as do many procedures that are much more beneficial and less risky. The issue of brain death is as much metaphysics as medicine. It requires a deep understanding of both to define the necessary criteria. More

LIFEalerts – Paedophilia

Paedophilia

Ireland – School curriculum content contain images of paedophilia

A senior Fianna Fáil TD had questioned the suitability of some books and films on the curriculum for English in both Junior and Leaving Certificate exams, claiming they contain descriptions and images of paedophilia, bestiality and torture.  Former minister Willie O’Dea said the issue was a “cause of concern” which needed to be examined carefully.  He pointed out that several texts on the NCCA (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment) list had previously been banned from the curriculum in the UK and the United States. The Minister said, in the coming months, the list for both the Junior and Leaving Certificate curriculum would be reviewed. More

LIFEalerts – IVF & Surrogacy

IVF & Surrogacy

Australia – Specialist question the need for expensive add-ons of IVF

Two Australian IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) Specialists are questioning the need for expensive IVF add-ons that get offered to so many IVF clients. If standard IVF works, why all the expensive add-ons? They claim that many expensive IVF add-ons rest on very shaky evidence.

Take, for example, ICSI, intracytoplasmic sperm injection. First developed in 1992 (without clinical trials) as a way of treating male infertility, it has become the most popular method of IVF – even though the rate of birth defects appears to be a bit higher. The authors recently published an article in The Lancet based on data from Vietnam which claims that, ICSI – which is much more expensive — does not improve the chance of a baby when compared with standard IVF if men have a normal sperm count. “So why do clinics routinely offer it?”

Their hunch is that “doctors may recommend it for fear of patients’ reactions if the eggs don’t fertilise, even if ICSI doesn’t improve the ultimate chance of a baby for those with a normal sperm count.”

They conclude: “Couples with infertility belong to a very vulnerable group who will do almost anything to achieve a pregnancy. They deserve our dedicated care and evidence-based treatment.” More

LIFEalerts – Euthanasia

Euthanasia

Canada – Appeal to lawmakers considering legalizing euthanasia

In a 3-minute video presentation, Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director of Euthanasia Prevention Coalition appeals to lawmakers to first examine the Canadian experience before legalizing euthanasia & assisted suicide. Hidden in the euthanasia debate are the stories of pressure and coercion. The following represent a sample of many stories from Canada…

Canada – Canadian Medical Health Association concerned about Euthanasia

In response to the Canadian government’s recent decision to permit Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) for people with mental illnesses, the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) issued a statement expressing deep disappointment. According to CMHA, until the health care system adequately responds to the mental health needs of Canadians, assisted dying should not be an option. This they also testified before the Senate in November of 2020. CMHA points out that it is “not possible to determine whether any particular case of mental illness represents “an advanced state of decline in capabilities that cannot be reversed.” And the CMHA “know that cases of severe and persistent mental illness that are initially resistant to treatment can, in fact, show significant recovery over time. Mental illness is very often episodic. Death, on the other hand, is not reversible. In Dutch and Belgian studies, a high proportion of people who were seeking MAID for psychiatric reasons, but did not get it, later changed their minds.” More

Australia – Nurse loses license to practice

Maura Kathryn Bannister, 60, an Australian nurse who referred to herself as the “angel of death” lost her nursing license on March 19 but will unlikely face criminal charges. Civil And Administrative Tribunal of the nursing and midwifery board of Australia, in the Bannister case decided to: disqualify her from applying for registration as a health practitioner for a period of two years from the date of this decision, and prohibit her from providing any health service for a period of two years from the date of this decision. This follows because she administered an unprescribed dose of morphine to an elderly and frail family friend who was receiving palliative care at home after a fall. Knowing the woman had already taken one dose or morphine that morning, Ms Bannister then gave another dose “greater than that prescribed, without any direction from the general practitioner to do so”.

The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in August 3, 2017, published a Netherlands study titled: End-of-Life Decisions in the Netherlands over 25 years. This study uncovers abuse of the law. In 2015 there were 150 assisted suicide deaths, 431 terminations of life without request in the Netherlands. The Netherlands euthanasia law did not prevent 431 terminations of life without request. The euthanasia lobby will argue that legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide will regulate and prevent these types of deaths, but in fact it normalizes it as an acceptable medical practice and makes it impossible to prevent or even censure someone who carries out similar acts. More

LIFEalerts – Abortion

Abortion

UK – Many Politicians hear evidence from experts on dangers of DIY abortions

In the last week of March 2021, a large number of Politicians attended a webinar to hear evidence from experts on the dangers of DIY abortions that put women at risk. Dr Calum Miller, an NHS (National Health Services) doctor and research associate at the University of Oxford who specialises in abortion policy, showed the inherent flaws in the practice of ‘telemed’ abortions. He provided evidence to politicians not only of the medical risks involved but also of how easy it was for coercion to take place.

Kevin Duffy, a former Global Director of Clinics Development at one of the world’s largest abortion providers, Marie Stopes International (now MSI Reproductive Choices) highlighted many serious medical risks and safety concerns arising from DIY abortions. In particular, Duffy provided evidence that there is massive underreporting of medical complications arising from DIY abortions. How? He used data obtained largely from Freedom of Information Requests sent to six different NHS trusts/hospitals. Further analysis of the data shows that “every month, 495 women attended hospital with complications arising from retained products of conception (RPOC) after a medical abortion.

Every month, 250 women after using the abortion pills, required hospital treatment to surgically remove retained baby body parts. Quoting several sources, Dr Calum Miller, noted that “abusers might be listening in on [telemedicine phone consultation] conversations” said the New England Journal of Medicine; “Consultations, when possible, are offered online, which may introduce further barriers to accessing support” said the UN Office of Drugs and Crime; and some women’s “living arrangements may not permit the privacy and confidentiality appropriate for patient care” said the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Dr Miller referred to recent research on the subject as well, noting one study which found that a quarter of women seeking an abortion were pressured by a partner to do so. Polling from earlier this year shows 87% of GPs were concerned that women were at risk of unwanted abortion arising from domestic abuse by partners controlling or monitoring their actions.

Similarly, recent polling of the general public found 86% of women were concerned about women being at risk of being coerced into an abortion by a partner or family member during the ‘at-home’ abortion process. Furthermore, 86% of GPs surveyed across the UK were concerned about women having a medical abortion past the legal limitof ten weeks’ gestation. Concern was highest among female doctors (91%). More

USA – New longitudinal study shows Abortion causes mental health problems

A new study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that abortion not only aggravates pre-existing mental illness but also can mark the onset of problems for women with no history of psychiatric disorders. The researchers examined more than 1.9 million medical claim records of women that induced abortion or had miscarriage of a first pregnancy and found that it increased the risk of postpartum mental health problems by 10 to 35%. It is the first peer-reviewed study to carefully control variables related to a prior history of mental illness and the timing of the first episode of mental health problems.  Lead author of the study Dr David Reardon is not surprised with the results and says “There is no question about the fact that abortion can aggravate pre-existing mental illness. But there are also women who report that the abortion marked the onset of problems that did not previously exist. Our data confirms that both pathways are true.” “Unresolved memories and feelings about pregnancy loss can lead to postpartum depression and even psychosis during a subsequent pregnancy.

Unresolved emotions will demand one’s attention sooner or later. I have spent the last 35 years treating pregnancy loss and unresolved grief for those struggling in the aftermath of an abortion which left them shattered with sadness, heartache, guilt, shame and anger. Many learned to numb themselves with alcohol and drugs. Some re-enact their abortion experience with promiscuity and repeat abortions, trapped in traumatic cycles of abandonment and rejection. Others suffer eating disorders, panic attacks, depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide. Some have permanent physical and reproductive damage that rendered them unable to have children in the future. The excruciating level of pain I have witnessed inspired me to establish a treatment model to address the unique and complicated grief for both women and men who have lost a child through abortion. That program, Rachel’s Vineyard, is a psychological and spiritual journey for healing after abortion that has spread to more than 80 countries and is offered in dozens of languages throughout the world. Pregnancy loss is a death experience. It is the demise of human potential, relationship, responsibility, maternal attachment, connectedness, and innocence. Such a loss is rarely experienced without conflict and ambivalence.” MDPI, Lifesite News

USA – FDA endangers women by lifting safety restrictions on abortion pills

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has planned to lift safety restrictions on abortion pills that get posted to women without in-person consultation. The American Association of Prolife Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) who represents 7,000 women’s healthcare practitioners, have expressed deep concern in over the FDA’s decision and have issued a statement detailing their concerns has healthcare practitioners who will not support this due it jeopardizing the lives of their patients. A recent analysis of the Adverse Events submitted to the FDA with the safety restrictions in place shows over 3000 women suffering with complications, of which 24 of these women died, and another 500 would have died if they had not reached emergency medical care in time. These numbers will only increase if the current safety restrictions, that require a woman be seen and evaluated by a licensed healthcare practitioner before receiving abortion pills, are removed. This requirement is not restrictive – it is protective.

Many women are pressured into abortions by their partner, a family member, or a trafficker. Oftentimes, their visit with a physician in early pregnancy is the only chance these women will have to expose this pressure they’re facing. Screening for abuse and trafficking is inadequate during a telemed visit because the physician cannot control the environment of the woman on the other end of the screen, or know who is hovering behind the computer screen. AAPLOG would like the FDA and American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to explain why women seeking abortions deserve substandard medical care that places their lives at risk. AAPLOG, AAPLOG

UK – Influential committee criticizes legislation without discussion

Very influential, The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC), a body within the House of Lords that scrutinizes proposed legislation, has released its Fifty First Report which draws “special attention” to Northern Ireland abortion regulations which enable Brandon Lewis to take action on rolling out abortion services in Northern Ireland. The committee pointed out that preventing discussion before the legislation takes effect “is particularly inappropriate when that policy is likely to be controversial, and the House may wish to ask the Minister to explain that decision”. In addition to its criticism of the swift passing of this legislation, the SLSC was able to pose a series of questions raising points that had been made by organizations, including Right To Life UK, in their submissions to the Committee. Publications Parliament, Right to Life

USA – Elective abortions for medical research resume

Federal officials have removed the Trump Administration restrictions on elective abortion fetal tissue for medical research. Government scientists will now continue to use fetal tissue that has in the past led to treatments for a variety of diseases, including COVID-19. Scientists at universities also can now apply for federal grants without getting approval from a special ethics panel for any such work. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra determined there were “no new ethical issues that require special review,” so the agency will return to using procedures that had been in place for decades before then-President Donald Trump’s administration changed the policy in June 2019, a statement from the agency said. More

LIFEalerts – LGBTQ+ Issues

LGBTQ+ Issues

UK – Research Review is sceptical of medical treatment for gender dysphoria

The biggest controversy in medicine at the moment is the appropriate treatment of children with gender dysphoria. Transgender advocates claim that puberty blockers are important for their mental health and that the treatment effects are reversible. However, a preliminary study by the UK’s National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has found that the science supporting this view is of low quality. The reason the low quality was because All of the studies in the review of the literature were flawed. They were all uncontrolled observational studies, which are subject to bias and confounding; they had relatively short follow-up; most of them did not report comorbidities (physical or mental health); most of the studies were poorly reported and used a confusing variety of scoring tools and methods.

In relation to body image and psychosocial impact, says NICE, the results “are of very low certainty”. “Studies that found differences in outcomes could represent changes that are either of questionable clinical value, or the studies themselves are not reliable and changes could be due to confounding, bias or chance.” The NICE study also found that certainty of the impact to improve mental health and quality of life by using gender-affirming hormones on depression, on anxiety, on quality of life, on suicidality and self-injury was all “very low”. BBC, Bioedge, NHS Evidence 1, NHS Evidence 2

UK – Fundamentally flawed report by LGBT used to ban talk therapy dismissed

The 2020 Conversion Therapy & Gender Identity Survey was produced by Stonewall, Mermaids, GIRES, LGBT Foundation and the Ozanne Foundation. These LGBT lobby groups are trying to put pressure on the Government to ban so-called conversion therapy but the report has been dismissed as “fundamentally flawed”. Michael Biggs, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Oxford, said the report lacks credibility. Prof Biggs pointed out that the 20-page report was produced without the involvement of any credible social scientist, and that the study’s cohort was “not sampled from a defined population, as in a proper scientific survey”.

He continued: “Out of a total 1504 responses to the survey, only 51 respondents had undergone ‘gender identity conversion therapy’. Of these, 8 ‘felt it worked completely’. Therefore, the survey identified only 43 people who reported negative experiences. This number is surely a slender basis on which to propose new legislation.” Respondents were recruited online by the same organizations that are campaigning for legislation and the pamphlet does not provide the questionnaire completed by the respondents, as is standard in scientific research. Prof Biggs said: “No objective criteria are provided to define transphobia; the epithet apparently serves to exclude responses that contradicted the legislative agenda of the organizations funding the research.” The report’s definition of conversion therapy is extremely broad and covers everything from “‘severe physical and sexual violence’ including rape”, to “voluntary counselling by an NHS psychotherapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist”. Prof Biggs pointed out that acts of sexual violence are “abhorrent”, but are “already serious crimes, and so legislation is not required to outlaw them”. Prof Biggs concluded: “In sum, then, the research reported in the pamphlet has little, if any, scientific value. It reinforces the impression that the proposed legislation is motivated by the desire to further institutionalize gender ideology rather than the need to address a real social problem.” More

UK – Doctors risk patient safety by confusing sex and gender

In a new study published in the British Medical Journal, indicates that Doctors who deliberately confuse sex and gender could be putting patients at risk of being given “ineffective” or “inappropriate” treatments. Senior medical researchers from the University of St Andrews say the significance of biological sex is being ignored by some medical practitioners, which can result in male or female-specific treatments being offered to the wrong people.

Dr Margaret McCartney, of the University’s medical school, said: “There are many instances of sex and gender being confused by the research community and society more broadly. “Unless we identify and count categories correctly, we will end up with errors which serve all populations poorly, including minority populations.” The warnings come as the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said the evidence of clinical effectiveness and safety of giving cross-sex hormones to people who wish to ‘change sex’ is of “very low” quality. More

South Africa – Home Affairs adds third gender to Identity Documents

Gender activists have welcomed a move by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to take into account the wishes of transgender, non-binary (neither male or female) and intersex people in allocating identity numbers. According to the draft, the DHA aims to introduce a National Identity System (NIS), in order to guard against identity theft and to digitise identity management. All information about the identity of citizens and non-citizens in South Africa will be stored on the NIS. Included in the draft policy are options for ID numbers to take into account transgender, non-binary and intersex people. The DHA, which is responsible for these changes, plans to consult with LGBTQ+ communities on its proposal. It will take a few years for any changes to take place, as recommendations move through the consultation towards legislation and implementation. But, “the identity number will change to accommodate the LGBTIQ community,” confirms Sihle Mthiyane, the Department of Home Affairs head of policy and strategy who is responsible for planning the new system. QZcom, Businesstech

LIFEalerts – Medical Ethics

Medical Ethics

USA – New York drops stem cell research

In 2007 New York State created a fund for research on stem cells, including human embryonic stem cells. However, it has been quietly dropped in the State’s current budget. According to Science, “Researchers expect the termination to be especially harmful to the study of human embryonic stem cells.” However, the program has experienced serious problems in recent years and has only distributed $400 million so far. In 2016, its board stopped meeting and reporting expenditures on its website. A government official told Science that stem cell science should “advance within academic and private research communities rather than the Department of Health, which is focused on its core mission of delivering direct services and achieving positive health outcomes for all New Yorkers.” More

China – Joined USA in making human-monkey chimeras

Researchers in China and the United States have injected human stem cells into primate embryos and grown chimeric embryos for up to 20 days. Despite ethical concerns, the scientists says that the procedure has potential for providing insights into developmental biology and evolution, into disease and transplants, and into drug development. In the current study, six days after the monkey embryos had been created, each was injected with 25 human cells. Human-monkey chimeras do raise worries, said the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: “In the specific case of neural transplantation and chimera research, the slippery slope concern is that if small increments in mental capacities develop in transplants or chimeras, there will be no logical point at which the research should be stopped, or it may not be possible later to institute policies to block research that could result in nonhuman animals with unacceptable human capabilities.” More