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Steps towards legalising euthanasia in Spain?
Spain's lower house has voted in favour of examining a bill on legalising euthanasia in Spain. This bill was originally drafted by Catalonia's regional assembly and is supported mainly by the left. This is the first time that this type of bill has not been rejected by...
Crack down on laboratories marketing unapproved stem-cell therapies
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) filed two federal complaints on Wednesday seeking to permanently ban two clinics from using stem cell products without regulatory approval that had seriously injured patients. The agency is also seeking two permanent...
Suicide of David Goodall in Switzerland – why this media obsession?
David Goodall, a 104-year-old Australian, has just ended his days in Switzerland, with international media coverage and material support from Eternal Spirit and Exit International. But why has this triggered such a "media obsession"? "The scientist had hoped that this...
Iowa: Law passed prohibiting abortion beyond six weeks of pregnancy
Voted last week by the Iowa Parliament [1], the law has just been passed by the Republican governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds. This law prohibits any abortion as soon as a foetal heartbeat is detected, i.e. approximately from the sixth week of pregnancy. The only...
Separating a new-born baby from its mother exposes it to serious psychological risks
The sudden and early break of the mother-child bond may predispose babies to mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and addiction, according to the study conducted by researchers at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) School of Science....
Are organ donors really dead?
When can you affirm that someone is dead? Behind the apparent simplicity of this question lies a fundamental ethical concern about organ donation. There is in fact considerable disagreement about the criteria that we should use to assess whether someone is dead....
Netherlands: euthanasia up by 67% in five years
In the Netherlands, 4,188 people were euthanised in 2012, compared to over 7,000 in 2017. These figures were highlighted in a study published in the British Medical Journal. Steven Pleiter, “an advocate of euthanasia”, is the director of Levenseindekliniek[1],...
Medically assisted reproduction in Spain: babies guaranteed in 24 months or money back
IVI, the Spanish fertility clinic in Valencia[1], is launching a new programme with guarantees that could prove interesting to Europeans: “With IVI Baby you will have your baby home with you in a maximum time frame of 24 months”. In the event of failure, IVI is...
Substantial savings through palliative care
Palliative care[1] reduces hospital costs and reduces the time spent in hospital according to a recent study published on 30 April in JAMA Internal Medicine, carried out by scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the School of Medicine at Trinity...
Rare genetic disorder treated in utero
A protein injection during pregnancy has cured all of the symptoms in three children suffering from XLHED—a rare and sometimes fatal genetic disorder. XLHED, or X-linked hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, is an ectoderm developmental disorder[1]. An...
Disembodied pig brains kept alive artificially for 36 hours
During a meeting organised by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), a neuroscientist from Yale University, Nenad Sestan, revealed that, while conducting research to construct a comprehensive atlas of connections between human brain cells, his team succeeded in...
Brain sensors used in China to detect employees’ emotions
Employees at Hangzhou Zhongheng Electric in China wear hats or helmets fitted with “sensors to analyse their brain waves” while they work. The aim is to monitor “changes in their emotions […], such as stress, anger, anxiety or fatigue” to adjust the pace of work...