News by Subject Policy & Ethics

Did coronavirus mutate from a virus already prevalent in humans or animals or did it originate in a laboratory? As scientists grapple with understanding the source of this rapidly spreading virus, the Grunow-Finke assessment tool (GFT) may assist them with determining whether the coronavirus outbreak is of natural or unnatural origins.

The need for accurate and informative labeling of hemp and hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) products is a critical public health issue.

The worldwide spread of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and its associated respiratory disease COVID-19 proceeds at a highly dynamic pace. The Leopoldina has convened an interdisciplinary group of scientists to investigate the current situation. The resulting ad-hoc statement 'Coronavirus Pandemic in Germany: Challenges and Options for Intervention' discusses potential health policy options to counter the coronavirus pandemic in Germany.

Analysis of human mobility and epidemiological data by a global consortium of researchers, led by the University of Oxford and Northeastern University, shows that human mobility was predictive of the spread of the epidemic in China.

A new modelling study conducted in a simulated Singapore setting has estimated that a combined approach of physical distancing [2] interventions, comprising quarantine (for infected individuals and their families), school closure, and workplace distancing, is most effective at reducing the number of SARS-CoV-2 cases compared with other intervention scenarios included in the study.

With over 300,000 COVID-19 cases across the globe, including recent cases in Syria and the Gaza Strip, the data continues to demonstrate how the disease has no borders. A new Dartmouth-led commentary in the International Journal for Equity in Health highlights how people affected by humanitarian crises are especially vulnerable to COVID-19.

Maggots on a dead body or wound can help pinpoint when a person or animal died, or when maltreatment began in elder, child care or animal neglect cases. However, the current process for making this determination is time consuming and resource intensive. It also relies on species assessment by trained entomologists. Now, researchers report in ACS' Analytical Chemistry the development of a molecular maggot analysis method that's quick, easy and less subjective.

In an analysis of 2019 mass shootings and hospital locations, researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) found that the closest hospital to more than 70% of mass shootings was a non-trauma center, where sudden, high casualty loads were more likely to overwhelm capacity and trauma-specific care options may have been limited. They also found that in more than half of mass shooting events, the nearest pediatric trauma center was more than 10 miles away.

Negligence claims against the NHS due to failure to inform patients before they consent to procedures have spiralled up since a landmark legal ruling in 2015, a new study has found.