Wesley J. Smith

Well, this was a nice surprise.  On Tuesday the 31st, my wife, San Francisco Chronicle syndicated columnist, Debra J. Saunders, and yours truly will be the guest hosts on the Dennis Miller’s syndicated radio program.  This is a real treat.  Debra is a regular . . . . Continue Reading »

Scientists recently announced that they are perfecting a maternal blood test that will permit technologists to map the entire genome of the developing fetus. Unlike amniocentesis, which requires the insertion of a needle into the womb to obtain amniotic fluid, the test would come earlier in the pregnancy and put the fetus at no risk”unless that is, it reveals unwanted genetic conditions or propensities. In such cases, the fetus’s very life would suddenly be at material and immediate risk… . Continue Reading »

PETA is quaking in their vegan . . . . Continue Reading »

Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition has taken a closer look at the new Dutch euthansia statistics—which I commented about here—and finds that the truth is that rather than holding steady, doctor-induced deaths are way up.  From his blog:The rate of . . . . Continue Reading »

I think this is the right decision.  A federal judge has ruled that stem cell treatments that manipulate the cells into another form are drugs for purposes of FDA oversight.  From the New Scientist story:It’s official: stem cells are drugs. At least, that’s the opinion of the . . . . Continue Reading »

I have frequently criticized the conceit in science that only scientists should determine what is and what isn’t ethical in science, a conceit that is the science sector’s equivalent of clericalism. Now, apparently THE SCIENTISTS think that scientists should also have the full . . . . Continue Reading »

I often say that if you want to see where and how society will next go wrong, just look at the articles on ethics and culture currently being published in the world’s top medical and bioethics journals.  Latest case in point, an article in the New England Journal of Medicine urging . . . . Continue Reading »

Good for UC Davis.  It has punished two medical professors for conducting unethical medical experiments on brain cancer patients.  From the Associated Press story: Two University of California, Davis, neurosurgeons have been banned from performing medical research on humans after they . . . . Continue Reading »

Nat Hentoff is a celebrated individual libertarian and had a storied career as a columnist at the Village Voice—hardly a precursor to the Weekly Standard.  He has a good column out warning about the cost of Obamacare to the individual. First, he notes the rarely-discussed tax on medical . . . . Continue Reading »

A lesbian woman wants to become pregnant through artificial insemination using sperm from a friend. The FDA says no. From the San Francisco Chronicle story:She is dating a woman. She is trying to conceive a child. She wants to use free sperm from a man she trusts. But the U.S. Food and Drug . . . . Continue Reading »