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Medical-Ethics Developments Prominent in Week’s News

Nov 3rd, 2008 • Posted in: News

An assisted-suicide law is on the ballot in Washington State; obesity-related illness rates continue to soar; critics worry that new, high-powered fetal screening tests will be used to vet fetuses for traits associated with beauty and intelligence

VARIOUS DATELINES
From assisted suicide to DNA testing to rampant diabetes, medical ethics made headlines last week. Among the top stories:

• Washington State is set to decide on Election Day whether to adopt an assisted-suicide law. The New York Times reports that the ballot initiative, modeled on one in Oregon, would allow mentally competent, terminally ill adults to obtain a medical prescription for a lethal dose of medication. According to the Times, the measure has wide support, although religious groups, some advocates for the disabled, and some physicians have gone on record as opposing it on ethical grounds.
• Powerful new DNA tests to screen fetuses for genetic deformities are raising ethics questions about whether the results will increase abortions and confuse and frighten many couples, according to a report from the Washington Post. The Post’s Rob Stein writes that in addition to those fears, some worry “that the technique could be used to hunt for the rapidly growing list of genetic markers that signal merely an increased risk for cancer, diabetes, mental illness, obesity, addiction, and other conditions later in life. Someday, similar tests could perhaps even vet fetuses for traits associated with beauty, personality, or intelligence.”
• The rate of type 2 diabetes, which is strongly linked to obesity, has nearly doubled in the United States over the past decade, according to a report from U.S. News & World Report. The increase adds to the ethical controversy over obesity, which incurs higher healthcare costs and threatens quality of life. If current trends continue, virtually the entire U.S. adult population will be overweight or obese by 2048, according to one researcher quoted in the article.

Sources: New York Times, Oct. 30 — U.S. News & World Report, Oct. 30 — Washington Post, Oct. 29.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Sep. 22 — Related Newsline story, July 7 — Related Newsline story, June 23 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 5, 2007 — Related Newsline story, June 18, 2007.

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2 Responses »

1. Ethics Newsline® » News » Medical-Ethics Stories Featured in Week’s News on December 22nd, 2008 at 10:43 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, Nov. 3 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 6 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 6 — [...]

2. Ethics Newsline® » News » Possibility of Testing Fetuses for Autism Prompts Ethics Debate on January 19th, 2009 at 7:59 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, Nov. 3, 2008 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 22, 2008 — Related Newsline story, [...]

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