This Week — CBHD Fellow Dr. Greg Rutecki comments on a recent initiative by an insurance carrier in California that threatened the nature of doctor-patient confidentiality, in "Christian-Hippocratism, Confidentiality, and Managed Care: a volatile mix."

Podcast

Quote of the Week —

"It's not just another piece of property that we own, like a watch. . . we do have a high degree of autonomy as individuals, but our bodies are not something we can alienate from ourselves. We don't have the right to sell parts of our own body. Indeed, we may have scars or tattoos, but we don't have UPC codes that can be scanned to show a price. 'Who owns the body?' There are just some things that are not to be bought or sold, not marketable quantities. Some, in their religious or cultural views, regard as sacred or holy things that we say `aren't for sale.' For example, our own moral integrity, it's not for sale."

The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity is pleased to present a debate free to the public at the Irene P. Flinn IMAX Theatre at the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix, Arizona as part of the Extending Life: Setting the Agenda for the Ethics of Aging, Death and Immortality conference.

Please join us on Thursday, March 6, 2008 at 7:30 pm in Phoenix as S. Jay Olshansky, PhD, and Aubrey de Grey, PhD, deliberate about the issues surrounding immortality.

Watch this video to learn more about the question “Do you want to live forever?” (video)

Are you a Member of CBHD? Would you like to become one?
Annual membership with the Center includes a subscription to Dignitas (the Center's quarterly newsletter) and Ethics & Medicine: An International Journal of Bioethics, as well as discounted registration for all Center conferences. If your membership has recently lapsed or you would like to become a member, please visit our website at: http://www.cbhd.org/membership/.

Summer Internships with NIH
The Office of Biotechnology Activities at the National Institutes of Health is accepting applications for paid summer internships for students interested in gaining hands-on policy experience in a Federal government office in the areas of biosecurity, gene transfer, genetic technologies, and clinical research policy. Applications will be accepted until March 1, 2008.

America's Broken Healthcare System
The 2008 International Bioethics Conference
February 21-22, 2008 at the
Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa in Honolulu, Hawaii

Emerging Problems in Neurogenomics: Ethical, Legal & Policy Issues at the Intersection of Genomics & Neuroscience
February 29, 2008
Cowles Auditorium, Hubert H. Humphrey Center
University of Minnesota

Medical Professionals Conference: Balancing Faith, Family and Practice
April 10-12, 2008
A Focus on the Family Event
Tel: 800/ 232-6459, or download Conference Brochure

Ethical Challenges in Surgical Innovation
May 8-9, 2008
InterContinental Hotel & Bank of America Conference Center
Cleveland, OH
Tel: 216/ 932-3448

5th International Symposium of the Definition of Death Network
May 20-23, 2008
Plaza America Convention Center
Varadero Beach, Cuba

Emerging Issues in Embryo Donation and Adoption
May 29-31, 2008
Marriot Crystal Gateway
Arlington, Virginia

ASBH 10th Annual Meeting-Future Tense
The ASBH 10th Annual Meeting will take place October 23-26, 2008 at the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel in Cleveland, OH. The Call for Proposals will be open soon on the ASBH Web site and will be open until March 1, 2008. The theme for the meeting is Future Tense. We invite you to think about the many meanings one might extrapolate from this term, for instance looking ahead to the future of bioethics and the medical humanities or what about bioethics and the medical humanities may make the future tense or uncertain or perhaps even looking back over the last 10 years to discuss the major issues and changes, what was resolved and what might the future still bring. If anyone plans to attend the conference please let us know at CBHD (info@cbhd.org), so that we can coordinate an informal gathering time together.

Mothers freeze own eggs for use by infertile daughtersThe plans for women to give birth to their half siblings have, however, been criticised by some ethicists who fear that it could cause the daughters psychological problems, while the resulting children could be confused about their relationship to their mother and grandmother. (Times Online)

The Race to Read Genomes on a Shoestring, Relatively Speaking
A person wanting to know his or her complete genetic blueprint can already have it done — for $350,000.

But whether a personal genome readout becomes affordable to the rest of us could depend on efforts like the one taking place secretly in a nondescript Silicon Valley industrial park. There, Pacific Biosciences has been developing a DNA sequencing machine that within a few years might be able to unravel an individual’s entire genome in minutes, for less than $1,000. The company plans to make its first public presentation about the technology on Saturday. (New York Times)

Monday, February 11, 2008

Embryonic Debate
If a human embryo were something other than a human being in the embryonic stage of development—an embryonic human being—what could it be? (National Review Online)

Could women grow their own sperm?
As Parliament debates changes to the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, the Government is under pressure to include an amendment to allow the use of eggs and sperm that have been grown in the lab from stem cells. (Telegraph)

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Op-Ed: The messy biology of human embryos
Are embryos morally equal to people? I say no. Robert George, a member of President Bush’s bioethics council, and his colleague Christopher Tollefsen say yes. In their new book, Embryo: A Defense of Human Life, George and Tollefsen conclude not only that embryo-destructive stem-cell research should be defunded but that any research involving embryos should be banned if it even slightly risks an embryo’s health. They propose to halt the common practice of producing extra embryos during in vitro fertilization and to require that every IVF embryo be transferred to a womb. (Slate Magazine)

Doctors balk at request for data
The state’s largest for-profit health insurer is asking California physicians to look for conditions it can use to cancel their new patients’ medical coverage. (Los Angeles Times)

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

2 Reports At Odds On Biotech Crops
Dueling reports released yesterday — one by a consortium largely funded by the biotech industry and the other by a pair of environmental and consumer groups — came to those diametrically different conclusions. (Washington Post)

German Parliament to Discuss Reforming Stem Cell Law
Some scientists and politicians believe the 2002 law restricting the use of stem cells in German research is no longer in sync with modern medicine. Opponents to a change in the law fear abuse of human embryos. (Deutsche Welle)

Thursday, February 14, 2008

South Korean company begins commercial pet dog cloning
The company has already received its first order from a U.S. woman who is ready to pay $150,000 to clone her pet pit bull terrier, Booger, who saved her life when another dog attacked her and ripped off her arm. (RIA Novosti)

Ethicists, philosophers discuss selling of human organs
In nearly every country in the world, there is a shortage of kidneys for transplantation. In the United States, around 73,000 people are on waiting lists to receive a kidney. Yet 4,000 die every year before the lifesaving organ is available. (Harvard University Gazette)

Friday, February 15, 2008

Each week the top news stories, as determined by the staff at The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity are sent out via email.

[Note: News stories and events do not represent the Center's views. For additional commentary on many of the issues they raise, please see the CBHD web site at www.cbhd.org.]

Please visit http://www.bioethics.com for daily posts on bioethics news and issues.