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Marketing of Essure sterilisation implants halted in Europe
On Monday, the pharmaceutical company, Bayer, announced that Essure[1] sterilisation implants will no longer be marketed in Europe. The device, which has been "challenged for alleged adverse reactions", has been withdrawn from the European market "for commercial...
European Parliament says anti-abortion laws are a form of violence against women.
On 12th September last, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on violence against women. The report, voted by an overwhelming majority of the Members of Parliament, classifies anti-abortion laws as violence against women and girls. From today, the text...
Decision in favour of maintaining the practice of euthanasia: reaction of the Brother Superior of the Brothers of Charity
After having been informed of the decision that enables the carers of the organisation’s Belgian establishments to practice euthanasia on psychiatric patients under certain circumstances, brother René Stockman, General Superior of the Brothers of Charity, does not...
Surrogacy in Portugal: grandmother to give birth to grandson
On Saturday, the Portuguese National Council for Medically Assisted Procreation authorised its first surrogacy case. It concerns a 30 year-old woman who underwent "removal of the uterus following severe endometriosis" and her 50 year-old mother "who has agreed to...
Skin cells converted into motor neurones
A team at Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis (Missouri), has succeeded in transforming skin cells into motor neurones whilst avoiding "recourse to human stem cells and related ethical problems". Scientists achieved this result by...
Non-beating heart transplants: trial under way in the United Kingdom
An "unprecedented" procedure to transplant non-beating hearts and "restart" them using electrical energy would increase the annual number of heart transplants in the United Kingdom by 42%. The procedure would thus cut the waiting list for heart transplant...
The father’s age affects the children’s health
A German study involving 1.4 million individuals [1] concludes that older fathers are more likely to have less fertile children. This phenomenon is allegedly due to the quality of the sperm, which decreases with age. Scientists at Georg August University in...
North Carolina: A new law granting disabled individuals access to organ donation
The Governor of North Carolina (USA), John Carney, has approved legislation to ensure that individuals cannot be refused organ transplantation on the basis of a physical or mental disability alone. Transplantation can only be refused if the organ under consideration...
Inquiry into the assisted suicide of an Italian in Switzerland
The prosecutor in Como, Italy, has launched an inquiry into the death of a 62 year-old engineer originating from Albavilla, in Northern Italy. Suffering from depression, the engineer travelled to Switzerland to have access to assisted suicide. He sent a letter to...
Down syndrome: a promising molecule detected in Japan
Japanese scientists have discovered a chemical compound that could improve the learning ability of people with Down syndrome by helping their nerve cells to develop during intra-uterine growth. Although prenatal screening for Down syndrome exists, no treatment is...
Extending non-invasive prenatal screening?
Non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS) involves the analysis of foetal DNA circulating in the mother's blood. It is mainly used for the pre-natal screening of trisomies 21, 13 and 18 as well as sex chromosomes. However, scientists are requesting authorisation to...
Cellectis forced to suspend its gene therapy trials
Cellectis, a French cell therapy company, has received a suspension notice from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) following the death of a patient. The company is carrying out studies to test treatment against two types of cancer using genetically modified cells....