NEW YORK—When Ana Lita was a child in Romania she used to sing to her father’s mentally ill patients.
She was afraid of patients who would attempt to touch her. “But my father told me ‘to replace that fear with love, for they have an incurable illness,’” she recalled.
From her childhood in a small Romanian village to her current role as executive director of the nonprofit, Global Bioethics Initiative …

On the 27th of November at the French National Assembly in Paris, a panel discussion on the ethical issues related to organ trafficking and transplant tourism in China was led by Member of Parliament for the Bouches-du-Rhône, Valérie Boyer and by Dr. Harold King, the contact person for Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH) in France.
The discussion was held by French medical professionals, including transplant surgeons who shared their …

The iconic billionaire CEO of Apple Inc., Steve Jobs, is one of the most visible organ transplant patient in the world. Jobs health problems were widely publicized and most media outlets reported on his liver transplant in 2009. In most cases the waiting list for organ transplants are long and people generally receive the surgery after waiting on line for years. However Jobs was able to get a transplant in …

By Julie Killian
December 11, 2013 will mark the first G8 Dementia Summit in London, United Kingdom. The summit is interested in creating an international approach to dementia research and policy.
Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) has issued a policy brief for the summit, which uncovered the number of people living with dementia to be about 44 million in 2013 worldwide. The brief also projects that this number will grow to 76 million …

By Julie Killian
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is attempting to implement a new regulation that would redefine bone marrow as an “organ.” This new regulation is generated by the issue of compensation for bone marrow donation which has had historical tribulations. Doreen Flynn who has three children with Faconi anemia, a genetic disorder that can lead to bone marrow failure, needed the donation for the survival of her children. Flynn has fought in court …

NEW YORK, October 28, 2013: Global Bioethics Initiative in partnership with HBO Documentary Films Division organized a special private screening event of ” Tales from the Organ Trade” followed by an expert panel discussion and cocktail reception at The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM). “Tales from the Organ Trade” is directed by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ric Esther Bienstock. This documentary explores the shadowy world of black market organ trafficking from …

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 18, 2013 (IPS) – With a rise in diseases worldwide that affect the liver, kidney, heart and pancreas, organ trafficking remains a challenge for the international community—a subject that Global Bioethics Initiative (GBI), a non-profit organization, has examined in great detail. As part of a launch event last week, GBI assembled a panel of speakers in the fields of medicine, national security and research to discuss this booming industry and …

NEW YORK, Feb 14, 2013: Poverty, widespread violence, lack of educational opportunities and limited access to resources are marginalizing large segments of the population globally. Vulnerable people become easy prey to illicit trafficking, often leading to terrorist recruitment. The black market for organs and body parts is flourishing in India, China, South America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe in which the poor and desperate find their sole escape in selling their organs to …