*Newly posted* 13Mar13 NYTimes: In Girl’s Last Hope, Altered Immune Cells Beat Leukemia
Emma Whitehead, 7, has been in full remission for months after scientists used a disabled form of H.I.V. to reprogram her immune system to kill cancer cells. http://nyti.ms/UvUGQy
*13Mar13*
Signing yourself up for a research study
http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/34433/title/Do-It-Yourself-Medicine/
Ethics of self-studies
http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/34690/title/Opinion---Unconventional-Standards/
25Feb13 Here's an example from today's NYTimes about stopping a clinical trial early. The research was on diet and heart disease: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/health/mediterranean-diet-can-cut-heart-disease-study-finds.html?ref=global-home
Also this story on a lung transplant for a Jehovah's Witness patient http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/us/bloodless-lung-transplants-for-jehovahs-witnesses.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130225
This current event perfectly coincides with next week's readings on global research:
http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/34325/title/Bad-Blood/
In reference to the article titled, "Bad Blood", it is hard to believe that "biopiracy" is a real issue however, in Ecuador it seems to be quite a problem. Perhaps crimes such as these seem taboo because we do not experience these type of acts here in the States. People from far away countries do not come here to the U.S. to retrieve samples of people's blood for genetic testing. However, it is important to be "extra-sensitive", as one scientist put it, about the laws and policies of other foreign nations. To the people of Ecuador, they felt as if they were simply a means to achieve success and recognition for the U.S. scientists involved in collecting their DNA samples (an infringement on Kantian ethics). Although we haven't begun any discussion over global research just yet, I found that this article definitely demonstrated how easily one can violate a foreign nation's policies if he/she is not careful.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, these are some very interesting reads. They give one a lot to think about as well as better inform us of the things going on around us.
ReplyDeleteThe Bad Blood article shows how easily foreign countries can be taken advantage of. There need to be stricter laws governing foreign research especially with full disclosure and informed consent. The major issue was that these researchers were dishonest and directly went against Ecuador's Biopiracy laws. Now any future research here will suffer scrutiny and will probably receive less cooperation.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the Bad Blood article, it seems like a problem of the the powerful taking advantage of the poor and unacknowledged. I think this "biopiracy" would be hard to get away with in the U.S. because of all the paperwork that is signed when at the doctors and so forth. Most people seem to know what their blood is being taken for when they have blood drawn. We just trust the doctors and nurses who take our blood that they our using it for what they told us and not doing anything else with it. You have to feel bad for the people that were affected by this in Ecuador. They probably viewed these Americans as trying to help them when really they lied to them and used their blood without consent for their own research. I think a 3rd independent party needs to oversee activity anytime a doctor goes to another country for research, to perform an operation or anything, just so the person the doctor is seeing isn't taken advantage of.
ReplyDeleteIn the article "Bloodless Lung Transplants Offer Hint's at Surgery's Future" I do think it is good that they are trying to complete surgeries without blood transfusions since tranfusions are associated with adverse effects, but there are also adverse effects if you do not use blood. If you are not a Jehovah's Witness it would be good to try a bloodless tranfusion considering that it is also a lot more cheaper, but you would want blood just in case you drastically needed it. The article does mention that the lady's eldest daughter (who has left the church) does not see how the church is okay on transplants, but not transfusions. I think that is also weird that they are okay with one, but not the other. Both can help save your life, both are from a different human being, and the organs that are transplanted more than likely still have some blood in them from the donor.
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