[People's Daily] When Xiao Luo arrived in south China’s Guangzhou city in May last year, the 30-year-old was struggling to raise her 6-year-old son alone in Hunan Province. Her husband never showed up soon after a business failure. “I was devastated that my husband abandoned us just like that, leaving dunners knocking on the door [...]

[NYTimes] When Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, appeared in public recently for the first time in months, he revealed that he had received a liver transplant from the victim of a car crash. “I wouldn’t be here without such generosity,” Mr. Jobs said, adding that he hoped that many people would become organ donors.  [...]

[medscape] As US leaders tackle healthcare reform, many conflicting goals and interests vie for supremacy.
Although the overall aim is to lower the nation’s healthcare costs and create access to healthcare for America’s 46 million uninsured, many aspects of the plans could have a huge impact on physicians.
Several healthcare reform plans are being proposed. Major discussions [...]

[Prehospital and Disaster Medicine] There have been great efforts on the federal and local levels to prepare for the specter of a severe influenza pandemic, however knowledge gaps and operational challenges remain. It is critical to assess if current top-down efforts actually are improving and/or likely to improve the ability of on-the-ground clinicians to respond [...]

(Business Wire) At a time when the competition between hospitals is at a fevered pitch, a new survey of 800 Massachusetts adults shows that consumers are questioning the longstanding practice of taking their doctor’s advice about where to go for medical care. They also are conducting their own research to determine where to receive their [...]

[Medical News Today] It is unethical to stop healthy people from taking methylphenidate (Ritalin) to enhance their mental performance, says John Harris, Professor of Bioethics at the University of Manchester, in an article published on bmj.com today. He adds that society “ought to want [enhancement]” and that “it is not rational to be against human enhancement.” 
In total [...]

[NYTimes] WASHINGTON — For years, the Food and Drug Administration has withheld information about drugs and medical devices from the public when their makers cite trade secrecy — even in cases where the agency suspects that the products are causing serious illness or death.
Now the new leadership at the F.D.A. may change that. The Obama [...]

[WSJ Health Blog] Can a sperm bank be sued for selling sperm that causes a child to be born with a genetic disease? Yes, a federal judge has ruled. Here’s the opinion.
The case was brought on behalf of a 13-year-old girl with fragile X syndrome, a common inherited form of mental retardation.
While the judge dismissed [...]

[sandiego6.com] It was less than 5 years ago that seniors had a great way to buy cheaper drugs. Stores opened up locally, selling access to Canadian pharmacies. Seniors saved up to 50% on drugs — until the FDA ordered the stores closed, citing safety.   The FDA said seniors were at risk but could not produce [...]

The below BBC article highlights the increasingly prominent and beneficial role of the hospital ethicist, albeit for interesting reasons. It focuses more on how ethics improves the bottom line and prevents lawsuits than on how it improves the quality of care.  There is no specific mention that ethics and quality care are inseparable, but there is a connection [...]