Wesley J. Smith

This is funny, given our recent conversation about bioethicist Julian Savulescu’s support for “morally enhancing”  people through drugs or implants.  Apparently the UK Government plotted to do the same thing to Hitler by feminizing him with estrogen. From the Telegraph story: Now it . . . . Continue Reading »

I am worried that we are going full circle around the bioethical issue informed consent.  Where once, patients and families weren’t allowed to decide to stop heroic medical efforts—the dreaded “paternalism,” as it came to be called—today a neo paternalism movement . . . . Continue Reading »

There has been a lot of justifiable worry expressed about moral decay in the wake of the UK riots.  Apparently, the issue has also been on the minds of two among bioethics’ most notorious notable utilitarian practitioners, who are having a collegial disagreement about whether the field . . . . Continue Reading »

The New York Times editorialists sure are dense.  Today, they decry the inability of Medicaid recipients to sue governments to prevent cuts in compensation to doctors and hospitals, and hope the Supreme Court will order that such suits be permitted.  From “A Scalpal, Not An Ax for . . . . Continue Reading »

There may really be no such thing as a magic bullet, but hospitalists were supposed to be the medical equivalent.  Unfortunately, a new study casts significant doubts that the system is working as well as hoped.First, a little background: In hospital treatment used to be directed by a . . . . Continue Reading »

By a 2-1 vote—the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals—with two Democratic to one Republican appointees—has ruled Obamacare’s invidual mandate to be unconstitutional. From the Detroit Free Press story:A federal appeals court panel on Friday struck down the requirement in President . . . . Continue Reading »

So an 83-year-old woman has given herself implanted, what my generation used to call, “falsies.”  From the CBS story:Marie Kolstad, of Orange County, is the mother of four, the grandmother of 12 and great-grandmother to 12. Last month, Kolstad decided she needed a little boost . . . . Continue Reading »

Baby selling is a form of human trafficking, and as such, it needs to be stopped whenever and wherever it is tried.  Now, a San Diego “reproductive law” attorney and biological colonialist, Theresa Erickson and her gang, have been busted for selling babies.  Three guilty . . . . Continue Reading »

I understand why people who care about the poor support government single payer plans.  I once did too.  No more.  Single payer permits coverage refusals and restrictions that would never be permitted by private polices have turned me away from the centralized approach.Fact: States . . . . Continue Reading »

Art Caplan—very pro choice—has an interesting article out warning against fetal testing technologies that can lead to sex selection and other eugenic pregnancy terminations.  The context is a story in which sex can be determined in a blood test of the pregnant mother. From . . . . Continue Reading »