Wesley J. Smith

The Oregon Department of Health is reporting that the recession will push more Oregonians than ever onto the Oregon Health Department’s system of rationed care. From the press release: The forecast laid out in stark detail how economic factors affect the work we do. Our analysts calculated . . . . Continue Reading »

This escaped my notice until it was brought to my attention by a regular SHS reader. Last month, Tim Kaine the Governor of Virginia, signed into law a bill that prohibits the state from funding embryonic stem cell research. From the story: Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, the chairman of the Democratic . . . . Continue Reading »

The science journal Nature pushes the brave new world agendas of cloning and embryonic stem cell research with gusto and zealotry. That is why I find the below quote from a 1987 editorial that decried the use of the phony term “pre-embryo” so interesting. From the editorial, “IVF . . . . Continue Reading »

Either Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi doesn’t know what is actually happening in biotechnology or she doesn’t care. Actually, I think it may be both. The other day on her home turf of San Francisco, she went into utter hype mode about ESCR that was reminiscent of the bad old days . . . . Continue Reading »

The headline of this story from the Times of London—“Blind to be Cure with Stem Cells”—is really putting the cart before the horse—it hasn’t even been tried yet, after all. But such hype is par for the course. From the story:British scientists have developed the . . . . Continue Reading »

Either Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi doesn’t know what is actually happening in biotechnology or she doesn’t care. Actually, I think it is both. The other day, she went into utter hype mode about ESCR that was reminiscent of the bad old days when the only agenda of the Democrats and . . . . Continue Reading »

The UK is permitting terminally ill patients to be listed on a register so that they are not resuscitated by paramedics in the event of a medical emergency. From the story:Health Service paramedics have been told not to resuscitate terminally-ill patients who register on a controversial new database . . . . Continue Reading »

Al Gore is set to head a venture capital foray into the very promising field of induced pluripotent stem cell research. From the story : Former vice president Al Gore is entering the stem cell arena with an announcement today of a $20 million biotech venture in the hot area of “induced . . . . Continue Reading »

The NIH has released its proposed rules regarding funding for ESCR in the wake of the Obama revocation of the Bush funding restrictions. The media pretends that they contain firm ethical limits. From the story:The guidelines restrict funding of work on cells made using certain more experimental . . . . Continue Reading »

This is subtle, but I think, very alarming. The Family Caregiver Alliance touts itself as a resource for people providing care for family members and others. From its “End of Life Choices” published on the FGA Web site:Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA) seeks to improve the quality of life . . . . Continue Reading »