Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann’s story about a woman who claimed that her daughter suffered “mental retardation” after receiving a vaccine against HPV could fetch the woman’s family thousands of dollars. But the family can only collect if Bachmann or the unnamed woman can prove the story is true.
 
Two bioethics professors have offered to pay more [...]

Dr. George Amofa, Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS)has urged medical practitioners to strictly adhere to the core values of the profession to help improve health care delivery.
He mentioned the six core values as people sensitivity, professionalism, teamwork, discipline, innovation and integrity.
Dr. Amofa gave the advice when he launched a magazine by the [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

On a blustery January day, Rhett Davis relaxes in a recliner at Johns Hopkins Hospital as clear fluid drips from a hanging bag, through a tube and into a vein in his left arm. The 30-minute process is anticlimactic, considering what his family and his doctor went through to get the drug for him.
Davis, 32, was [...]

Should a hospital be able to handle a medical emergency?
The answer may seem self-evident. But patients at some hospitals may find the staff resorting to what someone might do at home in a crisis: call 911 for an ambulance.
That happened recently in Texas, where a 44-year-old man named Steve Spivey developed breathing problems after spine [...]

Behind the county hospital’s tall cinderblock walls, a 27-year-old tuberculosis patient sits in a jail cell equipped with a ventilation system that keeps germs from escaping.
Robert Daniels has been locked up indefinitely, perhaps for the rest of his life, since last July. But he has not been charged with a crime. Instead, he suffers from [...]