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Turning 26 Is A Potential Death Sentence For People With Type 1 Diabetes In America

July 22, 2019

Forced off their parents’ insurance and faced with high insulin prices, young adults dangerously ration, stockpile, and turn to the black market for the medication they need to stay alive

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Turning 26 Is A Potential Death Sentence For People With Type 1 Diabetes In America

Monday, July 22nd, 2019

On the day Jathan Laverty turned 26, he was working at a Columbus, Ohio, coffee shop and freelancing as a corporate event technician, hoping to get a foot in the door of the event planning industry. This birthday turned that search for a full-time job into something urgent.

Laverty has Type 1 diabetes, and as of that day in 2017, he was no longer eligible for coverage under his parents’ health insurance. He found himself needing medication to live that he could not afford.

“It’s a human necessity for me,” Laverty, now 28, told BuzzFeed News. “It’s my life or death every time I do or don’t take insulin.”

…continue reading ‘Turning 26 Is A Potential Death Sentence For People With Type 1 Diabetes In America’

Thumb image via Buzzfeed news – Courtesy Jathan Laverty

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Buzzfeed News

The Four Ordinary People Who Took On Big Pharma

July 22, 2019

They tried to warn us about the dangers of OxyContin. Almost two decades later, we’re finally listening

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The Four Ordinary People Who Took On Big Pharma

Monday, July 22nd, 2019

ROANOKE, Va. — In the beginning, there were just four: the Godfather from Philly, the Army sergeant from Georgia, the professor from California and the feisty mom from Florida.

It was the early 2000s, and they usually talked over old-school computer message boards. Occasionally they gathered in person, carrying posters of their children and middle-aged spouses — all dead from OxyContin overdoses.

Today we know just how dangerous this drug is. Purdue Pharma, the company that made OxyContin, the first extended-release opioid to be widely prescribed, may finally be held to account. Some 200,000 people have died from overdosing on prescription opioids, and around 2,000 lawsuits attempting to make opioid makers and distributors pay for the damage unleashed by careless overprescribing are wending their way through the courts. But experts predict it will take more than $100 billion to turn the crisis around, and it’s hard to feel optimistic when you know the story of how long and hard these four labored in obscurity before anyone listened to them.

…continue reading ‘The Four Ordinary People Who Took On Big Pharma’

Thumb image via NYT: Charlotte Kesl for The New York Times

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NY Times

Remembering Daniel Callahan

July 19, 2019

Ruth Faden reflects on his extraordinary accomplishments and legacy

Obesity and Hunger Often Go Hand In Hand, Hopkins Bioethicist Writes

July 19, 2019

US must do more to address issues of food insecurity, Bloomberg Distinguished Associate Professor, our Jessica Fanzo says

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Obesity and Hunger Often Go Hand In Hand, Hopkins Bioethicist Writes

Friday, July 19th, 2019

Obesity isn’t a problem of overabundance. In fact in many cases, obesity and hunger go hand in hand—and both are rooted in poverty, writes bioethicist Jessica Fanzo.

A Bloomberg Distinguished Associate Professor of global food and agriculture ethics and policy at Johns Hopkins, Fanzo is an expert in food systems and how agriculture, environment, and climate affect human health and nutrition. In an op-ed for Bloomberg, Fanzo notes that roughly 40 million Americans are considered food insecure, meaning they have difficulty buying enough safe and nutritious food to meet their household needs.

The problem of food insecurity has been linked with obesity, and “many of the same people who struggle with extra weight also regularly go to bed hungry,” Fanzo says. Food insecure people are 32% more likely than others to be obese, and children in households with food insecurity—numbering about 540,000 in the U.S.—are more likely to be overweight or obese.

…continue reading ‘Obesity and Hunger Often Go Hand In Hand, Hopkins Bioethicist Writes’

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HUB

‘Room for Wisdom’ STEM Ethics Convening

July 19, 2019

Our Debra Mathews was among 10 scholars from 8 universities presenting on science, ethics, and society during this June 3rd event

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‘Room for Wisdom’ STEM Ethics Convening

Friday, July 19th, 2019

On Monday, June 3rd 2019, the Henry Luce Foundation hosted a convening, in recognition of the Clare Boothe Luce Program’s 30th Anniversary, of noted higher-education, institution-based ethicists and representatives from select Clare Boothe Luce (CBL) grantee institutions. Ten presenters from eight universities and colleges were joined by participants from thirty different institutions and members of Henry Luce Foundation staff, either in-person or via ZOOM video conference.

The goal of the convening was to launch a conversation on STEM Ethics and generate content ideas for the “Room for Wisdom: Clare Boothe Luce Program Participants’ Perspectives on STEM Ethics and Society” blog. The 30th anniversary blog aims to draw upon the collective wisdom of the CBL community, and to discuss and share examples of practices to address questions of STEM Ethics. Select posts will be compiled into a “Room for Wisdom” book at the end of the year.

The meeting addressed the following topics, shared by the presenters below:

…continue reading ”Room for Wisdom’ STEM Ethics Convening’

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Luce Foundation

Brain-Machine Interfaces Are Getting Better and Better

July 19, 2019

And Neuralink’s new brain implant pushes the pace. If you haven’t been paying attention, brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) that allow people to control robotic arms with their thoughts might sound like science fiction. But science and engineering efforts have already turned it into reality

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Brain-Machine Interfaces Are Getting Better and Better

Friday, July 19th, 2019

Elon Musk grabbed a lot of attention with his July 16 announcement that his company Neuralink plans to implant electrodes into the brains of people with paralysis by next year. Their first goal is to create assistive technology to help people who can’t move or are unable to communicate.

If you haven’t been paying attention, brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) that allow people to control robotic arms with their thoughts might sound like science fiction. But science and engineering efforts have already turned it into reality.

In a few research labs around the world, scientists and physicians have been implanting devices into the brains of people who have lost the ability to control their arms or hands for over a decade. In our own research group at the University of Pittsburgh, we’ve enabled people with paralyzed arms and hands to control robotic arms that allow them to grasp and move objects with relative ease. They can even experience touch-like sensations from their own hand when the robot grasps objects.

…continue reading ‘Brain-Machine Interfaces Are Getting Better and Better’

Image via the conversation/ neuralink

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The Conversation

Daniel Callahan: In Memoriam

July 18, 2019

Daniel Callahan, a national voice for responsible health and science, who pioneered the field of bioethics, died Tuesday, two days before his 89th birthday. In 1969, Callahan cofounded The Hastings Center with Willard Gaylin

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Daniel Callahan: In Memoriam

Thursday, July 18th, 2019

By Mildred Z. Solomon,

Upon hearing the news of Dan Callahan’s death, one word kept appearing in my thoughts: gratitude. Gratitude for his prodigious thinking, his commitment to listening across difference, his use of accessible language to illuminate complexity, his more than 47 books that advanced the parameters of debate, and his generous mentorship of generations of scholars. Over nearly five decades, Callahan advanced new foundational ideas, offered practical wisdom, influenced international health and science policy, stimulated the creation of the interdisciplinary field of bioethics, and supported its growth across the United States and the world. Perhaps most importantly in this era of polarization and hyper-individualism, he called on us to work together to discuss vying notions of the good and build solutions to promote human flourishing.

Callahan was motivated by a fundamental wariness of human power. He was deeply struck by the human proclivity for self-deception, especially concerning the potential for irresponsible use of such power in the life sciences and in the realm of biomedical technology. His work demonstrates a deep sense of how fundamental moral sensibility is to our humanness and how vulnerable and naked we would be—and are—in a society of merely self-interested stakeholders engaged in merely instrumental cooperation.

…continue reading ‘Daniel Callahan: In Memoriam’

Image: By Chip Porter – www.thehastingscenter.org, CC BY 3.0, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25392960

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Hastings Center

Scientists Find New Way to Kill Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes

July 18, 2019

Scientists say they nearly eliminated disease-carrying mosquitoes on two islands in China using a new technique. The downside: It may not be practical for larger areas and may cost a lot of money

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Scientists Find New Way to Kill Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes

Thursday, July 18th, 2019

NEW YORK — Scientists say they nearly eliminated disease-carrying mosquitoes on two islands in China using a new technique. The downside: It may not be practical for larger areas and may cost a lot of money.

In the experiment, researchers targeted Asian tiger mosquitoes, invasive white-striped bugs that can spread dengue fever, Zika, and other diseases. They used a novel approach for pest control: First, they infected the bugs with a virus-fighting bacterium, and then zapped them with a small dose of radiation.

Zapping is meant to sterilize the mosquitoes. And releasing mosquitoes infected with a bacterial strain not found in wild mosquitoes would stop them from reproducing. Mosquitoes need to have the same type to make young that will survive.

…continue reading ‘Scientists Find New Way to Kill Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes’

Thumb image via STAT – GUANGZHOU WOLBAKI BIOTECH VIA AP

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STAT

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Turning 26 Is A Potential Death Sentence For People With Type 1 Diabetes In America

Turning 26 Is A Potential Death Sentence For People With Type 1 Diabetes In America

The Four Ordinary People Who Took On Big Pharma

The Four Ordinary People Who Took On Big Pharma

Remembering Daniel Callahan

Obesity and Hunger Often Go Hand In Hand, Hopkins Bioethicist Writes

Obesity and Hunger Often Go Hand In Hand, Hopkins Bioethicist Writes

‘Room for Wisdom’ STEM Ethics Convening

‘Room for Wisdom’ STEM Ethics Convening

Brain-Machine Interfaces Are Getting Better and Better

Brain-Machine Interfaces Are Getting Better and Better

Daniel Callahan: In Memoriam

Daniel Callahan: In Memoriam

Scientists Find New Way to Kill Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes

Scientists Find New Way to Kill Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes

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