Westport-news.com, 01/28/2022

--Don't pay too much attention to guesses about how US Supreme Court will vote on abortion rights – experts are often wrong

"The potentially historic case challenges a Mississippi law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. This case could overturn or uphold the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which protects women’s right to abortion before the third trimester of pregnancy." Hank Greenly, provides his knowledge on the Affordable Care Act. 

Businessinsider.com, 01/25/2022

--A Boston hospital is the latest to deny an organ transplant to a patient who refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19

"A 31-year-old father lost his opportunity for a heart transplant because he refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19, according to CBS Boston."Alyssa M. Burgart, MD - Clinical Associate Professor, explains  the importance of diseases occuring in patients that are looking to recieve transplants.

Businessinsider.com, 01/22/2022

--The first pig-heart transplant patient was denied a human heart after failing to follow doctors' orders

"David Bennett Sr. became the first human to have the heart of a genetically modified pig transplanted into his body this month at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. Alyssa M. Burgart, MD - Clinical Associate Professor, provides her expertise on medical compliances on the determination of care.

Humsci.stanford.edu, 01/14/2022

--Q&A: New ethics and society review addresses ethical and societal impacts of proposed research

 This article discusses "Interdisciplinary team of Stanford researchers develop ethics and society review to prompt researchers to consider proactively the ethical and societal impacts of their research and how to mitigate potential harms." David Magnus is quoted on IRB processes, research revolving around technology and its importance.  

Healthpolicy.fsi.stanford.edu, 01/14/2022

--A Look at the Supreme Court Ruling on Vaccination Mandates

"Two Stanford law, labor and health experts explain the legal and health implications of the Supreme Court ruling that struck down the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for large companies, while upholding another federal regulation calling on health-care workers in federally funded facilities to be vaccinated." Dr. Michelle Mello provides her expertise on legal matters regarding mandates on COVID-19.

4/29/2022

Ethical Gaps in Autism Genetics: A Conversation with Holly Tabor

"Most autism genetics studies tout the possibility of more personalized treatments following a genetic diagnosis, but with such treatments not yet a reality, scientists need to reconsider their stated goals. . . How do we not have another 20 years of research that doesn’t significantly impact the lives of people with autism?"

Holly Tabor, Associate Director for Clinical Ethics and Education for SCBE and Co-Chair of the Ethics Committees at Stanford Hospital and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, is interviewed. Read more here. 

4/13/2022

What Happens When Computers Can Write like Humans?

"An increasing amount of written communication is being created by aritifical intelligence. A professor of communication discusses the implications."

Russ Altman, Kenneth Fong Professor of Bioengineering, Genetics, Medicine, Biomedical Data Science and (by courtsey, Computer Science), is quoted. Read more here.

4/01/2022

Bringing Principles of Ethics of AI and Drug Design

"Over the years, researchers have used AI to analyze troves of biological data, scouring for differences between diseased and healthy cells and using the information to identify potential treatments. But with AI's potential in drug development comes a slew of ethical pitfalls -- including biases in computer algorithms and the philosophical question of using AI without human mediation."

Russ Altman, Kenneth Fong Professor of Bioengineering, Genetics, Medicine, Biomedical Data Science and (by courtsey, Computer Science), is quoted. Read more here.

5/31/2022

Why my ability to have a child might die alongside Roe v. Wade

In a post-Roe America, could losing fertilized eggs in unsuccessful IVF treatments be considered manslaughter? Could more states outlaw the destruction of unused embryos, like in Louisiana, requiring patients to budget for storing fertilized eggs in perpetuity? "The end of Roe will not necessarily affect IVF or other assisted reproduction by itself. It may give some more political encouragement to pro-embryo forces to try and regulate it. . . Prepare, but don't panic," Henry Greely, Chair of SCBE's Steering Committee, Professor of Law and by courtesy, Genetics, specializing in health law and policy, tells the San Francisco Chronicle. Read more here.

5/23/2022

Stanford biomedical ethicists among panelists updating law on definition of death

Experts propose revising the legal and medical standards on declaring someone dead based on respiratory function and likelihood of consciousness rather than cessation of brain function.
"Even though we've had a lot of philosophical disagreements about brain death, we've also had a lot of overlapping agreement about what —at a practical level—a new law ought to look like," David Magnus, Thomas A. Raffin Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Ethics, and Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine and by Courtesy of Bioengineering at Stanford University, director of SCBE, and Associate Dean of Research, tells the Stanford Medicine Magazine. Read more here.

6/27/2022

Supreme Court Overturns Federal Abortion Rights. Stanford Law Professor Analyzes Potential Impact of Ruling

In an interview prior to Friday's decision, Hank Greely, the Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law and Professor, by courtesy, of Genetics, predicted that the court would completely overturn Roe v. Wade and say there is no federal constitutional right to an abortion. He provides a legal analysis of this decision, and said socially and politically, it is unclear how the Supreme Court decision will play out, but predicted that the most passionate advocates will become even more politically active. Read more here.

6/20/2022

Grief, Loss, and a Brighter Path Foward

In this episode of The Doctor's Art podcast, Dr. Stephanie Harman shares the story of how she discovered palliative care through the death of someone close to her and what it looks like to transform what are often the moments of greatest patient suffering into moments of profound meaning and humanism. Stephanie Harman is the founding medical director of Palliative Care Services for Stanford Health Care, a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, and a faculty member in the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics. Listen here.

6/13/2022

New panels want to talk ethics, rules of climate tinkering 

Tinkering with the planet's air to cool Earth's ever-warming climate is inching closer to reality enough so that two different high-powered groups - one of scientists and one of former world leaders - are trying to come up with ethics and governing guidelines. This month, the American Geophyiscal Union, the largest society of scientists who work on climate issues, announced it was forming an ethics framework for "climate intervention" that would be ready for debate during the major international climate negotiations in November in Egypt.

While determine ethical actions will be slow and difficult, inaction, with no cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, no carbon dioxide removal, and no solar geoengineering - "that's the worst outcome and also the path of least resistance," said Hank Greely, the Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law and Professor, by courtesy, of Genetics at Stanford University, tells the telegraph. Read more here.

6/6/2022

Genetic testing is becoming more accessible -- and its raising difficult questions 

Many patients don't realize they're going to be screened for a particular mutation when they first decide to undergo genetic testing. But as genetic testing becomes cheaper and more accessible, questions are raised concerning how much information patients should have and how they should receive it.

"It's all going to depend on both the medical circumstances and the personal circumstances. If there's an 80% chance of getting a cancer that is very, very hard to treat and very likely to kill you, that's one thing. If there is a 5% chance instead of a 1% chance of getting a cancer that is relatively treatable, that's a very different kind of situation," Hank Greely, the Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law and Professor, by courtesy, of Genetics at Stanford University, tells NPR. Read more here.