Wesley J. Smith

A bill in Congress would outlaw invasive medical research on chimpanzees. This is folly. Chimps are highly intelligent and social creatures, and we should not use them in research blithely. But chimps are the closest genetically to humans in the natural world, meaning that in limited circumstances . . . . Continue Reading »

President Obama does not know what he is talking about on health care.  During last night’s press conference, he both accused physicians of performing unnecessary surgery because of the money—which if true, his reforms wouldn’t fix—and exhibited a profound cluelessness . . . . Continue Reading »

President Obama’s attack on the alleged venality of physicians last night was both unwarranted and boneheaded at the same time. Here is what he said:  Right now, doctors a lot of times are forced to make decisions based on the fee payment schedule that’s out there. ... The . . . . Continue Reading »

Penn bioethicist Art Caplan and I have had our differences, although sometimes we agree—as with most organ transplant issues.  Today, he has a piece out, what he calls “a reform reality check.” As do most bioethicists, he justifies rationing, and I think it is an inadequate . . . . Continue Reading »

As President Obama pretends (weakly) that his health care reform plans won’t involve health care rationing, bioethicists are chomping at the bit to see it instituted. Last Sunday, Peter Singer had a long apology for health care rationing in the NYT Magazine . Now, Dan Brock urges rationing . . . . Continue Reading »

I used to be a supporter of a Canadian style single payer health care plan for the USA.  Then, I began spending time in Canadia and found out it doesn’t work well at all. This ad is effective, because from what I have seen, it is true.The woman’s name is Shona Holmes. She is suing . . . . Continue Reading »

Global warming may or may not exist—I suspect not, at least not of the earth-flooding-bake-caused-by-us kind—but the gas emissions from its advocates among the hyper-elites show that the real game afoot is massive income redistribution in the name of science. Latest example . . . . Continue Reading »

The last line of defense for some suicidal people is the dedicated mental health professional committed to helping their patient stay alive through profound darkness and pain. But a subversive movement within psychiatry, psychology, and social work holds that only “irrational” suicides . . . . Continue Reading »

I will be interviewed tomorrow on the nationally syndicated America’s Morning News radio show with Melanie Morgan and John McCaslin. I will be on at 5:30 AM Pacific Time, which is 8:30 AM in the East, 7:3o Central Time—well, you get the picture. Our topic: My piece in the Weekly Standard . . . . Continue Reading »

Much is apparently being made of Regina Benjamin, President Obama’s nominee for Surgeon General, being overweight.  From the story:[T]he full-figured African-American nominee is also under fire for being overweight in a nation where 34 percent of all Americans aged 20 and over are obese. . . . . Continue Reading »