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Bioethics Group and Integrated Healthcare Association Release Report on Ethical Principles and Managed Care - The Bioethics Consultation Group has published a report on Hippocratic principles and managed care in a special issue of Ethical Issues in Managed Care Quarterly. The report is the product of a physician working group convened by the Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA), a statewide leadership group of California HMOs, physician groups, and health care systems, plus academic, purchaser, and consumer representatives. PRNewswire 2/24/98

Where Science and Religion Meet - The U.S. head of the Human Genome Project, Francis S. Collins, strives to keep his Christianity from interfering with his science and politics The combination of world-class scientific researcher, savvy political activist, federal program chief and serious Christian is not often found in one person. Yet that constellation of traits is vigorously expressed in Francis S. Collins. Scientific American 2/98

Countries Sign Cloning Ban - Less than a week after an American scientist announced he would clone a child, 19 European nations signed a treaty today that said cloning people violated human dignity and was a misuse of science. ABCNews/The Associated Press 1/12/98

Compassion in Dying Seeks Penalties for Doctors Who Fail to Control Terminal Suffering - Leaders of the Death With Dignity movement called upon state medical boards today to penalize physicians who fail to give adequate pain control to terminally ill patients. In a letter to all 50 boards and their Federation of State Medical Boards, officers of the Compassion in Dying Federation suggested seven steps the boards could take to "correct some faulty perceptions" among physicians nationwide about treatment of terminal suffering. PRNewswire 1/12/98

Opposition to human cloning will 'blow over,' scientist says - A scientist who plans to clone babies for infertile couples believes any opposition to his work will be short-lived. "I think it will blow over," Richard G. Seed told CNN on Wednesday. CNN 1/7/98

When Dying Is as Hard as Birth - My sister, mother and husband died within nine months of each other last year. The cause of death: morphine. Each of them, while terminally ill with heart disease or cancer, was gently pushed over the edge because a close family member, acting as proxy, agreed to the use of morphine, which eased pain but also hastened death. This process of death by sedation, called "double effect" in the medical profession, is the physician-assisted death that occurs every day, but is largely ignored in the current debate on death and dying in America. The New York Times 1/5/98

End-of-life options explored by physicians and psychiatrists - How should physicians respond when competent, terminally ill patients request help in hastening death? A new paper, which reviews four potential interventions of last resort, concludes that each option is fraught with thorny moral and ethical questions. In a separate paper, a survey of doctors who specialise in care of the terminally ill reveals that they oppose physician-assisted death in most circumstances. The Lancet 1/3/98

Child sexual abuse: when a doctor's duty to report abuse conflicts with a duty of confidentiality to the victim - Fifteen years after she has been admitted to hospital with unexplained bruising, a woman asks to see her paediatric medical records. Professor T J David describes the dilemma surrounding her allegations of sexual abuse, and a general practitioner, lawyer, and community paediatrician offer their opinions. British Medical Journal 1/3/98

Responsibility and privacy in the age of AIDS - Seventeen years into the epidemic, certain things remain confoundingly elusive about AIDS. A sure-fire cure, of course. And a vaccine that will arrest the spread of the AIDS virus. But not all the questions surrounding the epidemic are scientific. They remain as elemental as: What responsibility do you have to inform your sex partners once you know you carry the AIDS virus? And what power should society have to force you to tell? Miami Herald 12/31/97

Swearing to care: the resurgence in medical oaths - We are witnessing a resurgence of professional interest in medical oaths and codes of conduct. In the United Kingdom the General Medical Council has reissued its professional code and, together with the BMA, the royal colleges, and other organisations, has published a document on the "core values" of medical practice. British Medical Journal 12/20/97

Some Hospitals Use Questionable Methods to Get Organs for Transplants, Panel Says - In response to an increasing demand for transplants, some hospitals have started using ethically questionable practices to retrieve organs from patients whose hearts have stopped beating but are not brain dead, an expert panel concluded yesterday. Washington Post 12/19/97

U.S. Plan Addresses Shortage of Organ Donors - The Clinton administration on Monday proposed to increase the number of organ transplants by ordering hospitals to cooperate with donor organizations. Under the plan, hospitals would be required to inform federally certified donor organizations when patients die so the organizations can ask the families about organ and tissue donations. The program would also include a wide-ranging campaign to publicize the need for organ donations. Los Angeles Times 12/16/97

The DNA Drugstore: How Genetics is Changing our Lives Part Six - Genes are drugs. Indeed, DNA is the largest and most powerful pharmacy imaginable. Its products--proteins and enzymes--repair wounds, attack infectious invaders, and destroy diseased or cancerous cells every day. Not only that, but sealed in the double helix is the ability to create every cell in the body. In Ivanof's case, scientists figured out how to tap this potential--and that is the future of medicine. (Parts 1-5 also linked at this site) The Villiage Voice 12/16/97

Caring to the end: Conscientious end-of-life care can reduce concerns about care of the terminally ill - "In the last phase of life people seek peace and dignity." That passage from the preamble to the American Medical Association's "Elements of Quality Care for Patients in the Last Phase of Life" became even more meaningful after Oregon voters decided last month to preserve the state's law allowing assisted suicide. (Editorial) American Medical News 12/15/97

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Article	Source	Date
Bioethics Group and Integrated Healthcare Association Release Report on Ethical Principles and Managed Care - The Bioethics Consultation Group has published a report on Hippocratic principles and managed care in a special issue of Ethical Issues in Managed Care Quarterly. The report is the product of a physician working group convened by the Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA), a statewide leadership group of California HMOs, physician groups, and health care systems, plus academic, purchaser, and consumer representatives.	PRNewswire	2/24/98
Where Science and Religion Meet - The U.S. head of the Human Genome Project, Francis S. Collins, strives to keep his Christianity from interfering with his science and politics The combination of world-class scientific researcher, savvy political activist, federal program chief and serious Christian is not often found in one person. Yet that constellation of traits is vigorously expressed in Francis S. Collins.	Scientific American	2/98
Countries Sign Cloning Ban - Less than a week after an American scientist announced he would clone a child, 19 European nations signed a treaty today that said cloning people violated human dignity and was a misuse of science.	ABCNews/The Associated Press	1/12/98
Compassion in Dying Seeks Penalties for Doctors Who Fail to Control Terminal Suffering - Leaders of the Death With Dignity movement called upon state medical boards today to penalize physicians who fail to give adequate pain control to terminally ill patients. In a letter to all 50 boards and their Federation of State Medical Boards, officers of the Compassion in Dying Federation suggested seven steps the boards could take to "correct some faulty perceptions" among physicians nationwide about treatment of terminal suffering.	PRNewswire	1/12/98
Opposition to human cloning will 'blow over,' scientist says - A scientist who plans to clone babies for infertile couples believes any opposition to his work will be short-lived. "I think it will blow over," Richard G. Seed told CNN on Wednesday.	CNN	1/7/98
When Dying Is as Hard as Birth - My sister, mother and husband died within nine months of each other last year. The cause of death: morphine. Each of them, while terminally ill with heart disease or cancer, was gently pushed over the edge because a close family member, acting as proxy, agreed to the use of morphine, which eased pain but also hastened death. This process of death by sedation, called "double effect" in the medical profession, is the physician-assisted death that occurs every day, but is largely ignored in the current debate on death and dying in America.	The New York Times	1/5/98
End-of-life options explored by physicians and psychiatrists - How should physicians respond when competent, terminally ill patients request help in hastening death? A new paper, which reviews four potential interventions of last resort, concludes that each option is fraught with thorny moral and ethical questions. In a separate paper, a survey of doctors who specialise in care of the terminally ill reveals that they oppose physician-assisted death in most circumstances.	The Lancet	1/3/98
Child sexual abuse: when a doctor's duty to report abuse conflicts with a duty of confidentiality to the victim - Fifteen years after she has been admitted to hospital with unexplained bruising, a woman asks to see her paediatric medical records. Professor T J David describes the dilemma surrounding her allegations of sexual abuse, and a general practitioner, lawyer, and community paediatrician offer their opinions.	British Medical Journal	1/3/98
Responsibility and privacy in the age of AIDS - Seventeen years into the epidemic, certain things remain confoundingly elusive about AIDS. A sure-fire cure, of course. And a vaccine that will arrest the spread of the AIDS virus. But not all the questions surrounding the epidemic are scientific. They remain as elemental as: What responsibility do you have to inform your sex partners once you know you carry the AIDS virus? And what power should society have to force you to tell?	Miami Herald	12/31/97
Swearing to care: the resurgence in medical oaths - We are witnessing a resurgence of professional interest in medical oaths and codes of conduct. In the United Kingdom the General Medical Council has reissued its professional code and, together with the BMA, the royal colleges, and other organisations, has published a document on the "core values" of medical practice.	British Medical Journal	12/20/97
Some Hospitals Use Questionable Methods to Get Organs for Transplants, Panel Says - In response to an increasing demand for transplants, some hospitals have started using ethically questionable practices to retrieve organs from patients whose hearts have stopped beating but are not brain dead, an expert panel concluded yesterday.	Washington Post	12/19/97
U.S. Plan Addresses Shortage of Organ Donors - The Clinton administration on Monday proposed to increase the number of organ transplants by ordering hospitals to cooperate with donor organizations. Under the plan, hospitals would be required to inform federally certified donor organizations when patients die so the organizations can ask the families about organ and tissue donations. The program would also include a wide-ranging campaign to publicize the need for organ donations.	Los Angeles Times	12/16/97
The DNA Drugstore: How Genetics is Changing our Lives Part Six - Genes are drugs. Indeed, DNA is the largest and most powerful pharmacy imaginable. Its products--proteins and enzymes--repair wounds, attack infectious invaders, and destroy diseased or cancerous cells every day. Not only that, but sealed in the double helix is the ability to create every cell in the body. In Ivanof's case, scientists figured out how to tap this potential--and that is the future of medicine. (Parts 1-5 also linked at this site)	The Villiage Voice	12/16/97
Caring to the end: Conscientious end-of-life care can reduce concerns about care of the terminally ill - "In the last phase of life people seek peace and dignity." That passage from the preamble to the American Medical Association's "Elements of Quality Care for Patients in the Last Phase of Life" became even more meaningful after Oregon voters decided last month to preserve the state's law allowing assisted suicide. (Editorial)	American Medical News	12/15/97