[Slate] If you’re angry about the AIG scandal or Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, check out what’s happening to the infertile couples and surrogate mothers involved in a California womb brokerage. It’s a familiar tale of vanishing funds and defaulted obligations. But this time, the potential loss is bigger than property. It’s pregnancy.
Whose pregnancies are at [...]

[PioneerPress] A bill that would expand the public reporting of gifts, royalties and other payments to Minnesota physicians was tabled Wednesday by a Senate business committee that feared its impact on medical research and job growth.
Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, argued that expanded reporting would expose the conflicts of interest that occur when doctors receive anything [...]

Jennifer Miller, Executive Director of Bioethics International, discusses with CNA Clinton’s comments regarding President Obama’s decision to lift the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
(CNA).- Former President Bill Clinton’s recent comments about embryo fertilization and stem cell research have been “confused” and call into question his credibility on the issue, two bioethicists [...]

Is eight (8) great?  No I’m not talking about octoplets or the octomom, I’m writing about Obama’s 8 principles for healthcare reform.  The great 8 are below, along with commentary by Politico.  — JEM, BEI

Protect families’ financial health
Make health coverage affordable
Aim for universality
Provide portability of coverage
Guarantee choice
Invest in prevention and wellness
Improve patient safety and [...]

[NYT] While praised by scientists, President Obama’s decision to lift restrictions on federal financing of embryonic stem cell research could cause state governments and philanthropists to pull back on billions of dollars they have pledged for such work.

A number of states and philanthropies rushed in to fill the gap after PresidentGeorge W. Bush imposed the restrictions in 2001. California [...]

[Globe] It was the kind of meeting that is taking place in restaurant kitchens, small offices, retail storerooms, and large auditoriums all over this city, all over this state, all over this country.
Paul Levy, the guy who runs Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, was standing in Sherman Auditorium the other day, before some of the [...]

President Barack Obama fulfilled a campaign promise today by signing an Executive Order lifting the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. In his remarks, printed below, Obama ambitiously looks for a day when the words ‘“terminal” and “incurable” are finally retired from our vocabulary.’ 
[Obama's remarks] Today, with the Executive Order I am about [...]

[AP] President Barack Obama is signaling that he’s open to compromise on overhauling the nation’s health care system. Obama told participants at the end of a health summit that although he offered a plan during last year’s campaign, he isn’t wedded to that proposal. He told Republicans and Democrats, doctors and insurers — “I just want [...]

Last week President Barack Obama’s administration took a first step to rescind the current ’conscience clause’ law, a mandate that allows health care professionals to refuse to provide services that violate their moral consciences, such as abortions and prescribing contraceptives.
Other Obama actions include asking Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to serve as secretary of the US Department of Health and [...]