Refusal to Give Out Polio Vaccines

Article:http://www.bioedge.org/index.php/bioethics/bioethics_article/10126

The world has never been closer to eradicating polio. Now that we are closer than ever, a Taliban leader in Pakistan has begun refusing to give out the vaccines to young children in his area as a way to stop the United States from attacking them by drones. Already 161,000 children have been refused the vaccine until the United States stops.

It really is not fair for the man to take out what the United States does on the children. Because of this, polio may become rampant around the world again. It is vitally important to stop him before children there start dying. It is completely unethical for the man to take control of his power. He is using the children to save himself because the drone attacks are aimed at him. The United States or someone in Pakistan needs to eliminate the man to save all of the children there. 1 man should not be responsible for the loss of 161,000 children.

Force Feedings

Article:http://www.bioedge.org/index.php/bioethics/bioethics_article/10131


Not only is this judge taking away this girls rights, he is not ruling in a way that will actually make her better. Anorexia is not just a girl looking for attention who needs to be put in her place. It is an actual mental disease. Just because this judge orders that she be fed a few times until she is no longer dying does not mean she is going to be cured. If anything the whole experience will be emotionally scarring for the girl. She will be back to the way she was if not worse in less than a month because her mental disorder has not actually been treated. The judge is acting completely uneducated , he should learn about mental disorders before deciding on treatment for them. The proper thing to do would be to send her to rehab or to get actual help.

Right to Die

Article: http://www.bioedge.org/index.php/bioethics/bioethics_article/10133

Tony Nicklinson who had a stroke seven years ago now suffers from locked in syndrome in the UK. He thinks just like you or I would but can only blink his eyes. He expresses his desire to die over twitter where he describes what life has been like for him the past seven years. For a man who is locked into his own body we must feel sympathy for the man. While PAS is still controversial in the UK the man should consider moving to a country where PAS is not as controversial. The tweets that everyone can see are causing quite a disturbance though, so there may be hope for a change in the laws in the UK. Others are arguing that now that the man can use twitter he has something to live for. Imagine being locked in you own body and the only thing you can do is tweet about your life on twitter. I really doubt anyone would want to live that way. Someone should really help the man.

Scientists In Trouble

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/health/22iht-scientists.html?_r=1

This article describes two scientists who are facing big trouble. Jean-Michel Dubernard of France has been caught rushing into ground breaking surgery when it is not yet needed. Hwang Woo Suk of South Korea is charged for ethical lapses and for publishing news last summer that was not entirely true. These two scientists have both been praised multiple times for their ground shaking work in the science field, but pushing two hard is what got them in trouble. Other scientists reflect throughout this article that the two other scientists were responding to the pressure of the media to constantly put out ground breaking work, when in reality it takes a lot of time and sometimes decades to come out with something that amazing. When scientists rush studies mistakes are made and people may be treated badly. The two are both amazing scientists and hopefully will not get into too much trouble, but they need to slow how fast they study things. 

Catholics v. Obama

Article: http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/06/16/usa-healthcare-contraceptives-idINL1E8HG03B20120616

This article explains how the Catholic groups and churches have such a huge problem with Obama's plans allowing money to go towards contraception with the insurance his plan gives. They asked Obama for special allowance that in their companies the insurance does not support birth control or other contraceptives. I do not understand why they want people to go out of their way to make sure that birth control is not supported on their plans. If their companies really are that religious no one would use it anyway, so why does it matter if the insurance supports it?

Voluntary Amputee

Article:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18496357

This young woman lost the use of her hand in a car accident a few years ago. Now that she has fully recovered from all other injuries in the crash the woman has decided that she wants to remove her right hand. She will have it replaced with a prosthetic hand after the surgery has healed. Through this surgery the woman hopes to have a more functional right hand than she currently has.

A leading reason people disagree with PAS is because doctors have to take an oath that they will only heal and will not harm patients. Could the way this woman's doctor is willing to remove this woman's hand, even though it is healthy, be a breach in this oath. If this doctor is willing to push the terms of the oath here, then why not PAS? In what cases is it right to push the terms of the oath and in what situatios is it not right?

3 Year Old Burn Victim To Survive Because of Skin Cloning

The article I got my information from was:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/3-year-old-south-african-burn-victim-who-received-cloned-skin-to-leave-hospital-soon/2012/06/26/gJQAKeFv4V_story.html

First of all I just want to say that this little girl is a fighter. Burn victims rarely ever survive let alone make it out with the success she did. She received skin grafts nearly all over her body and did not die of an infection. That is really impressive. I am really happy that she will make it and be able to go home next week.
The reason this little girl is going to survive is because scientists were able to clone her skin using mice. This method of cloning is not as controversial as others, but people still debate it.  The word cloning is like the ding of a bell at a boxing match. It brings the fighter out in people, well the debater that is. In this case stem cells are not being used to clone the girls skin but the cells are replicating at a rapid rate. Quicker than they would be able to on her own body. There is a better success rate here because her own skin is being put on her body rather than a donated graph from someone else. This  3 year old  girl is able to survive because of the cloning methods used and no one else was hurt by it. I think that this is a true miracle and this method should always be used for burn victims and those in need of a skin graft.