Entries from August 2009

August 27, 2009

Mitochondrial Gene Replacement and Egg Manipulation: Research Ethics in the News

Researchers in Oregon have transferred DNA from the nucleus of one macaque monkey egg and deposited it in another egg prior to fertilization. The results? Baby macaques born free of inherited defects in mitochondrial DNA—including twins, Mito and Tracker. The full method is reported in August 26 online edition of the journal Nature. In the [...]

August 26, 2009

Center News, August 2009

This month at the Indiana University Center for Bioethics (IUCB) wraps up a busy summer break and begins a new academic year.
Health Care Reform
Eric M. Meslin (IUCB director) and Aaron Carroll contributed to the nation’s focus on health care reform. Meslin participated in a public debate hosted by Smaller Indiana and also contributed to the [...]

August 20, 2009

New report: Do Americans believe the “myths” about health care reform? Yes, they do.

What do you believe about health care reform? Will a “’public option’ will increase health care costs, not lower them”? Will the government “require the elderly to make decisions about how and when they will die”? A new report from the Indiana University Center for Bioethics (IUCB) and the Indiana University Center for Health Policy [...]

August 19, 2009

Disclosing Adverse Clinical Trials Results: Research Ethics in the Academic Literature

In a recent “target article” for an AJOB Open Peer Commentary, S. Matthew Liao, Mark Sheehan and Steve Clarke make a case for a moral duty to disclose all adverse clinical trial results to potential participants. They argue, in short, that consent is not “informed” when participants lack risk information. Pharmaceutical companies, however, have an [...]

August 7, 2009

Ghost-writing: Research Ethics in the News

Documents unearthed in lawsuits against Wyeth regarding the cancer risks of its hormone drugs Premarin and Prempro expose how ghost-writers (hired guns from the company DesignWrite) wrote the bulk of several articles published in 18 peer-reviewed, medical journals. The New York Times reports the papers were published under the names of “top physicians” solicited as [...]