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.

dying with dignity

The article I got my information from was:
http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/massachusetts-debates-death-with-dignity/


This article tells about how a few states in the US are considering making physician assisted suicide legal. Of course with such a thing considered people are going crazy with debates and picket lines. I believe that PAS should be made legal and all doctors should be educated about it. PAS should be allowed in cases where a person is in severe pain and will definitely die within weeks or months. It will be at the doctor's discretion to do it so they should not take the decision lightly. If they feel a person is being forced into PAS by family members the doctor should be allowed to deny the patient PAS. PAS should at least be an option for people because, while it is not for everyone, other people deserve the choice of how they are going to die.
The story that one wife shares about her husband being diagnosed with ALS is extremely touching. I cannot imagine being diagnosed with a disease and knowing that there was no hope for survival. It really should have been a choice for this man and for everyone with diseases like ALS to choose the easy way out. There is no shame in not wanting to suffer at the end of your life.

Diabetic Mice Cured by Stem Cells

The article I learned about this issue from was:
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/247346-Stem-Cells-May-Help-Reverse-Diabetes

Diabetes is currently plaguing the United States. Children are being born with type 1 and more and more older people are developing type 2 diabetes. The fact that this can be cured by stem cells may change a lot of people's minds on the topic. I am a firm believer in stem cell research and treatment. If a person saves their placenta cord blood I think they should be allowed to use it to treat any diseases they have such as diabetes. For children who were born with type one diabetes it really is not fair for them to be told that they cannot be treated and that research will not be done for them. Advancing this area of science can only improve the lives of so many people in the United States and around the world.

Designer Babies

I got my information from this article:
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/247262-World-s-First-Genetically-Modified-Babies-Born

First of all, I did not even know that this was legal. If cloning children is illegal then I definitely think this should be. People should not be allowed to design their own children. It completely degrades normal children and that shouldn't happen because all children are beautiful. Would the people who choose to do this love their children any less if the child did not come out perfect. People may dream of what their children will be like, but would you really hate your child if he/ she did not look just like or if they were not good at sports like you. People go into parenthood with expectations that are never met and they may be exceeded but they still love their children. This is completely unethical and needs to be stopped. What would be next?

Home HIV test

The article I used for this entry is:

http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/15/11721214-at-home-hiv-test-raises-ethical-questions-bioethicist-says

The author disapproves of home HIV tests and thinks that they are unethical.
Home HIV tests are now readily available in most stores. Some people have questioned whether or not these tests are ethical because if people test positive they are not required to go to counseling from the doctor who tests them. I think the fact that people would not have to go to these counselors is the reason that people would get tested. People who are embarrassed of getting tested, or young people who would not want their parents to know would resort to these home tests. Home tests may be the only way people would get tested, and it is the only way that they would find out if they had HIV. The key argument against these tests is that the person getting tested would not be with a doctor who could tell them about safe sex and what to do about their disease. If someone goes out and buys an HIV test then they must know a little bit about the disease, or at least how it is caught. For further information the test can provide a brief pamphlet on the disease and give a website for further information. Because people would then know general knowledge about the disease they should know to go to their doctors for treatment. Those people who choose not to go to their doctors will at least have the knowledge to practice safe sex to prevent spreading it to other people. Knowing is the only that people would actively try to prevent spreading the disease to other people.
 The benefits vastly out weigh the possible cons. The only drawback is that people may not go to their doctors after testing positive, but these people would not go to their doctors to get tested in the first place.

Avian Flu Research

The article I used for this post is:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120502143852.htm

The author of this article, obviously supports the spread of the information obtained by researchers and further research done one the H5N1 virus.

Viruses spread from animals to humans all the time, but they are not always dangerous. For the past 15 years researchers have been studying a bird flu virus called the H5N1. Not known at the time but this virus could be even more deadly than the H1N1 virus with more than 50% of the people who caught it dying. Though not many people have caught it so far, researchers indicate that only a few more mutations of the virus are needed to make it wide spread among humans. At first people were trying to hide this information, but it was released to the general public in May.

The fact that people tried to hide this from the general public and stop research on it is a huge shock to me. Now that people can see how bad this virus can be if it mutates they can prepare and other scientists can also do research. With other scientists doing research they could find a vaccine, or prevent it from mutating as quickly. Many different groups of scientists working on it definitely beats just one private group. 

This virus is definitely something to watch out for in the coming years. 

New To Blogging

Hi everyone!
So I'm new to the whole blogging thing so bear with me. This is actually an extra credit assignment for my bioethics class, so let's hope I can get the hang of this. This is a place to discuss controversial advances in science and why they are stirring up such a problem in society.