If Tennessee inmates consent to receiving a free vasectomy or birth control implant, Judge Sam Benningfield has ruled that they can have their jail time reduced by up to thirty days. Critics are claiming that the initiative violates inmates' constitutional rights, amongst them the American Civil Liberties Union and numerous district attorneys. Advocates are claiming that the [...]
Nonprofit organization Disability Rights Advocates has filed a class-action lawsuit against Uber, claiming that the ride service discriminates against riders with disabilities in New York City. Filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Tuesday, July 18th, the suit is founded on the accusation that Uber does not supply enough available wheelchair-accessible cars [...]
Published in the Journal of Law and the Biosciences, a report on "The Limited Effect of Electroencephalography Memory Recognition Evidence on Assessments of Defendant Credibility" suggests that American jurors can properly apply the results from brain-based memory recognition technology used on criminal defendants in order to fairly assess the defendants’ testimonies. As summarized by ScienceDaily, the research measured "the effect of neuroscientific evidence on subjects' [...]
A London High Court judge has ruled that terminally ill infant Charlie Gard can be examined by a doctor from the United States, amidst his parents' battle to pursue experimental therapy abroad instead of the terminated life support prescribed by his British doctors. The 11-month-old infant was born with mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, a rare genetic condition that causes muscular degeneration, respiratory failure and motor skill [...]
Four notable American ethicists have been appointed by Pope Francis to his bioethics advisory board, and are projected to potentially “temper the group’s conservative views on sexual morality and life issues,” according to the National Catholic Reporter. The group is among 45 international members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, composed of both renewed and newly [...]
Pharmaceutical company Endo has declared that it will be retracting its opioid Opana ER, a potent and addictive pain medication, from the market in light of a June 2017 FDA withdrawal request. Citing the drug’s “public health consequences of abuse,” the FDA appeal historically marked the first time the administration has cited drug abuse concerns [...]
The government of Texas has passed a bill permitting clinics statewide to use experimental stem cell therapies on select chronically and terminally ill patients. Signed by Governor Greg Abbott, the legislation is akin to the “right to try” laws that have emerged in other states, and sidesteps FDA regulations that prohibit the marketing of unapproved [...]
Global Bioethics Initiative (GBI) is dedicated to fostering public awareness and understanding of bioethical issues, and to exploring solutions to bioethical challenges. Through its events and activities, which include annual summer schools on global bioethics, GBI seeks to keep the international community, policy decision-makers, the media, and the general public aware of important bioethical issues [...]
The GBI Summer School proved to be even better than anticipated or described. As a newcomer to the discipline, I had expected the course to provide a broad overview of topics and speakers. Indeed, while broad, the degree of expertise and timely subject material provided an excellent and comprehensive survey of the discipline in [...]
by Anaeke Paschal Chinonye I am a Ph.D. of Philosophy student at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. I am the winner of a partial scholarship, which gave me the possibility to attend this unique and very interesting program organized by GBI. Friday, June, 23 was our first day of field trips at the International Bioethics Summer School. First we [...]
