Wesley J. Smith

Japanese scientists have used ES cells to grow a primordial retina. From the story:The team from the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research in Japan, first cultivated embryonic stem cells in a test tube and then added proteins to trigger them into developing. They hoped that they would form a . . . . Continue Reading »

I know I sound like a broken record: Single payer. Single payer. Centralized control. Centralized control.Obamacare begins the process of centralizing healthcare in America by giving multiple bureaucracies the power to create standards of care and insurance coverage. That’s just the opening . . . . Continue Reading »

There is an interesting book review in the WSJ of The Immortalization Commission, by John Gray, a history and analysis of science’s quest to defeat death.The idea of human corporeal immortality is (I believe) a desperate attempt by materialists to recreate the lost hope that religion offers . . . . Continue Reading »

Danger Will Robinson!  Danger! Centralized control and/or single payer lead to rationing—by invidious categories and by long waits for treatment most people in the USA receive expeditiously.  From the BBC story:Surgeons say patients in some parts of England have spent months waiting . . . . Continue Reading »

An attempt by the State of Illinois to force pharmacists to dispense emergency contraceptives against their personal religious beliefs has been thwarted by an Illinois Circuit Court.  This is an important case because of its potential U.S. Constitutional implications as its potential impact the . . . . Continue Reading »

The ERs in London, Ontario are so strained, people with serious medical issues are being urged not to come. From the story:Patients in the London area are being told to think twice about whether their problem really merits an ER visit. The London Health Science’s Centre emergency departments . . . . Continue Reading »

The days of embryonic stem cells as “the only hope” are long gone.  Sure scientists still talk about them as the “gold standard” and media still pound the drum, but the paint is fast pealing off that meme. Moreover, the field is only inching forward scientifically as it . . . . Continue Reading »

The medical research sector sure has a sense of entitlement—to the point that some seem to think that funding their work matters more than meeting basic community needs.  How else explain the hundreds of millions the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine continues to borrow and . . . . Continue Reading »

At the outset, let me say that I am in favor of mediating bioethics committees in hospitals.  I have been a member of such a committee.  The members and the good they do day in and day out helping families and professionals navigate treacherous waters cannot be quantified.But bioethics . . . . Continue Reading »

Why do people keep saying that assisted suicide is about terminal illness when nothing else can be done to alleviate suffering, when that premise is patently untrue? Latest example: A UK woman went to Switzerland for assisted suicide to ensure she did not experience the decline associated with old . . . . Continue Reading »