I’m at a grant meeting this week in New York so comments will be limited to news analysis this week.
A few interesting things out today:
A followup inquiry in Britain on its military’s tests on service members during the 20th century is revealing:
The hearing was told how at 10.17 a.m. on the morning of May 6, 1953, Porton Down scientists had applied the liquid nerve gas on to the arms of Maddison and five others in a sealed gas chamber. After 20 minutes, Maddison complained that he was feeling ill. Soon after he slumped over the table and was carried out of the chamber and taken to Portons hospital, where he died at 11.00 a.m.
The inquest examined what steps Porton took to ensure the safety of the human guinea pigs, but was supposed to take into account the differing ethical climate of the early 1950s and the paranoid pressure generated by the Cold War.
Another chronicle of Hurlbut’s tempest in a teapot solution to stem cell ethics debates, this time from Religion News Service.
Baroness Warnock, described in Times online as Britain’s leading medical ethics expert, spoke in defense of the proposed ‘mental capacity bill’, which would simplify euthanasia in Britain (or so many say). Warnock: “I don’t see what is so horrible about the motive of not wanting to be an increasing nuisance.” Needless to say, lots of people didn’t like her comments.
Who will lead the California stem cell program? San Francisco Chronicle reports that it might be a real estate tycoon, Robert Kline. Also in the pool: Michael Friedman, CEO of City of Hope, and former UC president Richard Atkinson, a cognitive scientist. Weren’t any actors available?
You knew that Ob-Gyns are sued quite frequently. But in Maryland, 70% have been sued at some point in their practice, bringing average insurance premiums to $150,000 per year. Maryland is typical for the U.S..
A profile of Vanderbilt’s Pediatric Advanced Comfort Team is interesting. Mark Bliton of Vanderbilt is quoted.
Boston Globe does a great job on the sports steroids issue.
Labels: Britain, euthanasia, human subjects, Hurlbut, malpractice premiums, military tests, steroids