News by Subject Policy & Ethics

Scientists have found that sperm DNA from the testicles of many infertile men is as good as that of ejaculated sperm of fertile men. This may explain a major cause of male infertility and opens the possibility of using sperm taken directly from the testicles of these men; to overcome their infertility.

In the decade since the federal government's electronic health record (EHR) initiatives first became law, nearly all US hospitals have adopted some form of EHR technology. Now, focus is on how a comprehensive EHR can enhance outcomes. Yet, little is known about the sociotechnical factors that can shape the relationship between advanced EHR adoption and quality of care.

In a survey of Catholic hospitals throughout the country, researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus found many did not advertise their religious affiliation and the majority did not explain how that affiliation results in health care restrictions.

A University of Otago bioethicist has added his voice to a global plea for a moratorium on heritable genome editing from a group of international scientists and ethicists in the wake of the recent Chinese experiment aiming to produce HIV immune children.

Today, leading scientists and ethicists from seven countries have called for an international moratorium on the use of genetic editing to modify the human germline for clinical purposes.

Addiction to prescription opioids has reached a crisis level in the United States. Now the drug is causing concern across the Atlantic. Researchers from Denmark, Norway and Sweden urge caution after discovering that prescriptions for the pain medication oxycodone have significantly increased during the last decade.

No, and doing so can undermine efforts to promote patient-centered health care, write three Hastings Center scholars in the March issue of Health Affairs.

As if expecting mothers didn't have enough to worry about, a new study published in Risk Analysis: An International Journal found that the quantity of delivery complications in hospitals are substantially higher during nights, weekends and holidays, and in teaching hospitals.

A survey of Colorado home health care clinicians (HHCs) revealed that 60 percent said they had not received enough information to guide patient treatment while 52 percent said patients often had unrealistic expectations of the kind of care they would receive.