Nine in 10 U.S. physicians accept gifts such as lunch or free samples from drug and device makers, with heart doctors twice as likely as others to get cash payments, a survey found.
In addition, meetings with sales people at doctors’ offices are on the rise, reflecting a possible “intensification” of industry efforts to market products, [...]

The freezing of women’s eggs is not a new phenomenon in the world of assisted reproductive technology. But this week’s revelation that a Quebec woman has frozen her eggs so her seven-year-old daughter can use them in the future has ignited a debate about the ethics behind such egg uses. 
Melanie Boivin’s seven-year-old daughter has Turner’s [...]

A judge Tuesday ruled that a 17-month-old boy cannot be taken off life support, at least until both sides plead their case in court.
Children’s Hospital planned to take Emilio Gonzales off life support sometime after midnight Tuesday. The hospital maintains nothing can save him.
His mother doesn’t want the life support removed. She also wants more [...]

Hospitals are being encouraged to adopt new organ donation policies stating whether organs are to be harvested after brain death or cardiac death, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees organ procurement, and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), which accredits hospitals.  The recommendation is creating intense ethical debates, especially in children’s [...]

NEW YORK-The state Attorney General’s office has reached new agreements with Columbia University Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital to ensure that patients can make educated decisions about genetic testing.
“To test or not to test for a predisposition to a disease is an important question with powerful implications for patients and their families”, Attorney General [...]

A Johns Hopkins study of adult patients admitted to The Johns Hopkins Hospital showed that patients who resided in nursing homes or other kinds of long-term care facilities at any time within the last six months were far more likely than other adult patients to carry or be infected with a drug-resistant superbug.
The study, conducted [...]

Prime Minister John Howard said Friday that people with HIV should not be allowed to migrate to Australia, and that the government was investigating whether it could tighten existing restrictions.
The comments triggered anger among HIV-AIDS workers, who accused Howard of xenophobia and of blaming sufferers for their illness.
Asked in a radio interview whether people with [...]

A 35-year-old British woman left infertile after cancer treatment has lost an appeal to be allowed to to use frozen embryos fertilised by her former partner. The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday upheld the court’s earlier rejection of Natallie Evans’ submission that her human rights were infringed by British [...]

The pharmaceutical companies are learning that sleeping with the government results in more than the one-night stand they desired. Legislation to impose price controls on pharmaceuticals purchased through the 2003 Medicare drug benefit will soon hit the Senate floor.
Some drugmakers may have to learn a second time. Merck’s early efforts to mandate use of its [...]

 
A team of European researchers has developed an innovative new method of drug delivery – the teeth. Intellidrug is a dental prosthesis fitted into two artificial molars, and it automatically releases a precise dosage of medicine on a continuous basis. This is a significant advancement for patients who need a constant level of medication in [...]