In 1951, doctors removed Henrietta Lacks’s cells without her consent. More than half a century later, companies have made millions from her cell culture, while few of Lacks’s descendants can even afford insurance.
[Newsweek] The unsettling story of Henrietta Lacks begins with an everyday occurrence: a trip to the doctor’s office. The 30-year-old African-American’s 1951 diagnosis [...]

[WSJ] Editors of some of the world’s top medical journals will soon begin to demand more stringent, uniform reporting of conflicts of interest by researchers.
The requirements will go beyond existing disclosure rules at many medical journals to include items such as financial relationships involving spouses, partners or minor children. Also required will be disclosure of [...]

[NPR] Whether diabetes — or any health condition — should be a factor in the nomination of a Supreme Court justice is being raised by President Obama’s choice of Sonia Sotomayor.
 Sotomayor was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 8 years old. People with the condition have shorter life spans — seven to 10 years [...]

AUSTRALIA has rallied behind the German-born doctor at the centre of a heartless Immigration decision to deny him and his family residency because their son has Down syndrome.
Herald Sun readers and people across Australia moved by the plight of Dr Bernhard Moeller and his son, Lukas, have protested. Premier John Brumby yesterday joined the [...]

LA state Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie, is considering paying poor women $1,000 to have their Fallopian tubes tied to limit their reproduction capabilities while simultaneously encouraging wealthy college-educated individuals to have more children through tax incentives.  Labruzzo proudly states that he is aiming to reduce ”the number of people that are going from generational welfare to generational welfare”, [...]

Alabama state employees will be required to undergo obesity screenings, along with other medical screenings, starting in January 2009. Those found to be obese will be allotted one year to lose their weight or face a $25 increase in their monthly insurance premiums, reported WebMD (article below).  The bioethicist in me questions what the effects of this new requirement are on [...]

A pair of doctors have said that British parents should have fewer children, because kids cause carbon emissions and climate change. The two medics suggest that choosing to have a third child is the same as buying a patio heater or driving a gas-guzzling car, and that GPs should advise their patients against it.
Writing in [...]

[NYT] Regulators are cracking down on companies that sell genetic tests directly to consumers, threatening to crimp the growth of one of the hottest sectors of the biotechnology industry.
The California Department of Public Health sent “cease and desist” letters to 13 genetic testing companies two weeks ago, telling them they could not solicit business from [...]

“Patients are grateful – it is reasonable for hospitals to ask them to help out… but it is impolite and erodes trust for hospitals not to ask specifically if patient information can be shared for fundraising.” said Professor Robert Baker of Union Graduate College and panelist for NYC-based Bioethics International’s United Nations-affiliate conference when interviewed about Hospitals [...]