News from Bioethics International (BEI)

Twins separated at birth... for research: The identical twins were separated at birth and adopted by different families, as part of a psychological study. In her early 30s Schein started looking into information about their birth mother and in the process found out that she had a twin. The women were re-united, happily, via an adoption agency in 2004. Read on

Schools ponder role as child nears death: Kids' Do Not Resuscitate orders prompt debate: As the school bus rolled to a stop outside her Lake County home, Beth Jones adjusted the bright yellow document protruding from the pouch of her daughter's wheelchair, making sure it was clearly visible. In bold letters it warned, "Do Not Resuscitate." The DNR order goes everywhere with Katie, including her 2nd-grade classroom.... Now, district officials find themselves in the unusual position of having planned the steps its staff will, or won't, take to permit a child to die on school grounds. Although DNR orders are common in hospitals and nursing homes, such life-and-death drama rarely plays out in schools, where officials realize how sensitive and traumatic the situation could be for nurses, teachers and students. Read on

Doctors' life-view a factor in baby deaths:

Doctors who fear their own death are more likely to speed up the death of sick newborns, according to new research. The study found doctors were more likely to help poorly babies die when it was obvious further medical treatment would be futile or that they would be severely disabled. Read on

Prenatal care weighs needs of 2 patients: The American Medical Association (AMA) provided commentary on maternal-fetal-societal conflict management, and in particular how clinicians should respond when a pregnant woman's habits impact her fetus. Read on

The pitter patter of tiny carbon footprints: Writing in the Medical Journal of Australia, two academics made world headlines this week by endorsing a Chinese model of population control to reduce the human carbon footprint. Barry Walters, a professor of obstetrics at the University of Western Australia, has called for a carbon tax on newborns. He who pollutes must pay: "Every newborn baby in Australia represents a potent source of greenhouse gas emissions for an average of 80 years, not simply by breathing, but by the profligate consumption of resources typical of our society", Walters explained. His solution? A "baby levy" of AUS$5,000 on third and subsequent children, plus an annual tax of AUS$400 to AUS$800 annually for the life of the child to purchase and maintain the four hectares of trees needed to sequester 17 metric tons of carbon dioxide. Read on

Banking adult stem cells for $7,500 plus:
Mark Weinreb, a onetime bagel baron from Long Island, has his sights trained on one of medicine's hottest commodities:

He plans to collect and store adult, or mature, stem cells from people across the country. With scientists racing to find ways to use stem cells to fight disease, Weinreb heads a new company - Manhattan-based NeoStem - that plans to harvest those cells from the blood of Long Islanders for a $7,500 fee, a plan not without skeptics. NeoStem will store the cells indefinitely in case the donor ever needs them. Read on

In Hospice Care, Longer Lives Mean Money Lost: Hundreds of hospice providers across the country are facing

the catastrophic financial consequence of what would otherwise seem a positive development: their patients are living longer than expected. Over the last eight years, the refusal of patients to die according to actuarial schedules has led the federal government to demand that hospices exceeding reimbursement limits repay hundreds of millions of dollars to Medicare. Read on

Electric pulse stimulation awakens man barely conscious for 5 years: A 38-year-old man who spent more than five years in a mute, barely conscious state as a result of a severe head injury is now communicating regularly with family members and recovering his ability to move after having his brain stimulated with pulses of electric current, neuroscientists are reporting. Read on

Google-funded 23andMe launches, offers $999 DNA test: Google Inc-funded 23andMe launched on 11/19/07 and began offering a DNA saliva test for $999 per person, which would help U.S. users of the online site learn about disease risk, inherited traits and their ancestry. Eventually users, who sign up for the saliva test online and receive it by mail, will also be able to participate in research.... Those who are tested may choose to learn their risk for developing certain cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and other illnesses, and get a referral from 23andMe to genetic counselors. Read on

The benefits, and potential side effects of sharing medical records online: from Google to Microsoft: Microsoft launched HealthVault, a free web-based service that allows users to store their medical records online and eventually share them with doctors and health care professionals.... These latest developments - and dozens of similar initiatives - could push the online sharing of personal health information into the mainstream. Read on