News by Subject Policy & Ethics

A QUT legal academic says abortion can be decriminalized without society and governments making a moral judgement.

In a study published today in the journal Genome Research, researchers investigated the genetic history of nine northern white rhino (NWR) cryopreserved cell lines compared to that of a closely related subspecies, the southern white rhino (SWR). Importantly, genetic analyses of variation and inbreeding facilitated identification of cell lines, which may serve as valuable pools of genetic material for genetic rescue.

Writing in a new Perspective published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from Penn Medicine's Center for Health Care Innovation argue that Electronic Health Records can be restructured from mere digital remakes of their old pen and paper ancestors into platforms that allow doctors to 'subscribe' to their patients' clinical information to receive real-time updates when an action is required, similar to social media feeds and notifications.

Discussions concerning the ethical issues related to stem cells have been ongoing for many years, but a special section in the latest issue of Perspectives in Biology and Medicine takes a deep look at some of the newest and most complex issues -- including the direct global sales of services and untested and unproven products marketed as stem cells.

Compared with fiscal austerity measures currently being implemented in Brazil, the maintenance of social protection could result in a reduction in childhood mortality by 8.6 percent in 2030, according to simulations published this week in PLOS Medicine by Davide Rasella of the Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil, and colleagues.

A group of 21 physician leaders published a comprehensive proposal to ensure universal access to safe, innovative, and affordable medications. Published today in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), 'Healing an ailing pharmaceutical system: prescription for reform for the US and Canada,' identifies seven critical areas for reform, along with both short- and long-term solutions to improve the development, approval process, affordability, and marketing of medications.

More prescription drug commercials are promoting how certain medications can improve a user's lifestyle rather than curing symptoms and the negative emotions connected to their health condition.

Although proponents suggest that direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising is educational and motivating, a new analysis finds that the potential educational value of such advertising has declined.

Researchers from Boston Medical Center's Grayken Center for Addiction examined pharmaceutical payments from 2014, ranging from consulting fees to meals, and found that doctors who received any opioid pharmaceutical marketing increased their prescribing in 2015, writing nine percent more opioid prescriptions than doctors who received no marketing.

One out of at least 10 patients records doctors' visits, usually on a cell phone, Apple recently released a new Health Records feature built into the Health app as part of iOS 11.3. No longer a wave of the future, Dartmouth Institute researchers, and their patient co-author, analyze the benefits of digital recordings of healthcare visits, the need to create a new model of health data ownership, and potential cybersecurity threats