IN THIS WEEK'S ISSUE
Israeli Medical Association attacked over human rights
The WMA and the IMA are supposed to act as medical ethics watchdogs, but Dr Summerfield cites a 1997 article in The Lancet by the new WMA chairman, Dr Yoram Blachar, defending "moderate physical pressure" of Palestinian detainees. He claims that the IMA has consistently justified the use of torture by the Israeli Army. He also criticises Dr Blachar for scorning the principle of medical neutrality and cites a report by the Physicians for Human Rights Israel which alleges that the IMA works hand in glove with the government instead of serving universal medical ethics.
A spokeswoman for the BMA agreed that human rights abuses were a problem in Israel, but agrued that it would be better to address such issues from within the organisation.
In reply, a Sydney psychiatrist, Dr Doron Samuell, bitterly accused Dr Summerfield of tipping the scales in favour of Palestinian terrorism. "It would have been helpful for instance for you to have detailed how in fact Red Crescent Ambulances have been used on many occasions to convey terrorists and bombs. You might have also mentioned how Palestinian hospitals have been used by terrorists for bases and snipers. It may also have helped the debate to elaborate how Palestinian doctors have systematically engaged in misinformation campaigns, using patients and false information for political purposes." ~ BMJ.com, Sept 6 China upgrades to world standards in transplant ethics
According to Hong Kong experts, more organ transplants are done in China than in the US. Centres in Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Beijing are each said to be performing nearly 100 transplants each year. ~ BMJ.com, Sept 6
US addicts offered $200 for sterilisations
Although Project Prevention raises hackles everywhere, it also has influential and wealthy donors, including Dr Laura Schlessinger, the popular radio compere famed for her defence of family values, and Richard Scaife, the heir to the Mellon fortune in Pittsburgh.
Critics say that paid sterilisation is a new kind of eugenics. "Barbara Harris couldn't care less about the addicts themselves and what might be best for them," says Wyndi Anderson, of National Advocates for Pregnant Women. "And while it may be dressed up in the language of choice, for them to argue that these people come to them entirely of their own free will is totally disingenuous." ~ BBC, Sept 2 The cough syrup that carried them off
A lecturer in paediatrics at the University of South Florida, Dr Sharon Dabrow, says that "our society is so wrapped up around medications being a fix for anything. To be using it [Benadryl] on a 3-month-old is just horrible." A recent article in the Journal of Forensic Science which examined five deaths advises pathologists to conduct toxicology tests on infants who die from no apparent cause. In all five cases "the medication was not used for the benefit of the infant, but for the benefit of the person administering it," said Andrew Baker, the lead researcher. ~ AP, Sept 2 Deathbed moments calmer than they look
Adult stem cells help heart patients to recover
And in The Lancet, doctors from the Cleveland Clinic have reported the discovery of a molecule called SDF-1 which signals stem cells to report to the heart after a heart attack. Implanting these molecules into the heart acts as a beacon for naturally occurring stem cells to replace dead tissue with living cells. ~ Reuters, Sept 1; Akron Beacon Journal, Aug 29
UK IVF regulator asks for more teeth
Ms Leather insists that the issue of selecting characteristics for embryos "is an issue not just for patients or doctors or the HFEA. It is an issue for civil society and thus for Parliament." She also wants more teeth for the HFEA, with the power to fine clinics which breach guidelines. At the moment, she can only warn them or revoke their licences.
Ms Leather welcomed a recent proposal by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to allow women under 39 to get three free cycles of IVF treatment through the National Health Service. She said that this would reduce the pressure on doctors to implant multiple embryos to ensure a pregnancy. Multiple births are the greatest risk associated with IVF, she said. ~ Times (London), Aug 30
US IVF "virtually unregulated"
According to the Chicago Tribune, American IVF has grown into a US$2 billion industry that is virtually unregulated. "Even today, a woman undergoing an IVF procedure has less protection than when she has her hair done or gets a tattoo," says Dr Richard Rawlins, an IVF specialist at the Rush-Presbyterian-St Luke's Medical Center. ~ Chicago Tribune, Aug 29 
Conflict in the Middle East has overflowed into the world of bioethics. A British doctor has launched a blistering attack on the new Israeli chairman of the World Medical Association (WMA) for acting as an apologist for alleged human rights abuses against Palestinians. In an open letter to the British Medical Association (BMA) Dr Derek Summerfield, of Kings College London, has challenged the BMA to confront the WMA and the Israel Medical Association (IMA) over violations of medical ethics by Israeli doctors and to remove the new chairman. He suggests that the British should consider resigning from the world body in protest, as it did over South Africa's membership in the era of apartheid.
The sale of human organs has been banned in Shenzhen, a city of seven million in southern China, the first move towards China formally adopting international standards for the use of human organs. After October 1, all organ transplants will be handled by the Red Cross. Other Chinese cities, including the provincial capital Guangzhou, are expected to follow suit.
An American organisation which offers drug addicts and alcoholics US$200 to be sterilised has become a nationwide program with a presence in most major cities. The BBC reports that over the last five years Project Prevention has paid 1,050 addicts -- 98% of them women -- in an effort to reduce the social cost of caring for their children. "If they spend the $200 on drugs, they spend it on drugs," says founder Barbara Harris. "It's none of our business what they do with the money we give them."
After a dozen cases in the US of child care workers sedating children with cold medicines and cough syrup, some parents are lobbying for a law to ban giving medication without permission from a doctor or a parent. Last month a Florida woman was sentenced to eight years in jail because she gave a 31/2-month-old girl a lethal dose of Benadryl to quiet her. Four other children have died in similar incidents.
Britain's regulation of the IVF industry is outdated and too lax, says the head of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). Suzi Leather says that the 13-year-old legislation does not cover new techniques such as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and "saviour siblings". It needs to be overhauled to ensure that patients are properly protected.
More and more young American doctors are shaping their careers to satisfy lifestyle choices rather than to garner pay or prestige, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. Medical students now want to work fewer hours per week and have fewer nights on call. They are also selecting specialties which offer better defined hours, such as anaesthetics, dermatology and radiology. There has been a big slump in doctors wanting to be GPs, general surgeons and obstetricians. ~ Reuters, Sept 2
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Australasian Bioethics Information
ISSN 1446-2117
Website:www.australasianbioethics.org
Director: Dr Amin Abboud
Editor: Michael Cook
New Zealand Associate: Carolyn Moynihan