News by Subject Policy & Ethics

Policies designed to prevent the misuse of opioids may have the unintended side effect of limiting access to the pain-relieving drugs by terminally ill patients nearing the end of their life, new research led by the Oregon State University College of Pharmacy suggests.

Ensuring COVID-19 vaccine access for refugee and displaced populations, and addressing health inequities, is vital for an effective pandemic response. Yet, vaccine allocation and distribution has been neither equitable nor inclusive, despite that global leaders have stressed this as a critical aspect to globally overcoming the pandemic.

Brand asymmetries must be considered when applying cigarette tax hikes and smoke-free restrictions.

After interviewing various stakeholders from public and private healthcare systems (in Lithuania and the US), researchers from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania designed a structure revealing added value of remote healthcare services, i.e. telehealth. Adopting the concept of value co-creation common in business research to healthcare, the scientists claim that this is the first comprehensive analysis of this kind in the healthcare field involving two different healthcare systems.

A recent study indicates that a US ban on the use of tanning beds among minors would prevent thousands of cases of melanoma in adolescents and would save millions of dollars in healthcare costs. The findings are published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

A new paper urges archaeologists and history professionals to work closely with people who are grappling with racism in public monuments and institutional names in the wake of last year's uprising following the killing of George Floyd. The authors argue that by working with "broad publics who are actively dictating what should be preserved and what should not the field can begin to redress the harm it has perpetuated."

A new paper written by a group of international researchers led by Tsutomu Sawai, an assistant professor at the Kyoto University Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Biology (ASHBi) , explains the future ethical implications of this research with regards to brain organoids, a laboratory-made structure that is designed to grow and behave like the brain.

Waiting for your turn can be frustrating, especially when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations. But prioritizing who receives the limited supply of vaccines available saves lives and reduces spread of infection, according to a study published today from the University of California, Davis.