Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving weekend and found something for which to be grateful. (After all, we all know that expressing gratitude heightens well-being and that a conscious focus on blessings may have emotional and interpersonal benefits ). While we were taking a well-deserved break and counting our blessings, some notable stories with a bioethics theme came out over the last few days:
Our colleague, Paul Root Wolpe , has some interesting bioethical questions about manned space travel -- here's a sampling:
* What would we do if a crewmember became violent because of a
traumatic brain injury or mental illness?
* Do we include a straitjacket as standard issue on the craft?
* How much medical training is adequate for the crew as a whole?
* What if the designated physician gets sick?
* What level of treatment is enough?
*If a crewmember is disabled in space, who becomes their surrogate
decision maker? Their spouse? NASA physicians? Other crewmembers on the
craft?
The full article can be seen here .
The latest on deep brain stimulation for treatment of brain disorders, courtesy of PBS, Wired Science and YouTube .
From the NY Times, " Are Scientists Playing God? It Depends on Your Religion ."
And, also from the Old Grey Lady, a psychiatrist examines how taking money from pharma can cloud your judgment, despite going into the deal with eyes wide open -- the article, Dr. Drug Rep .
Happy reading and remember, as the Washington Post suggests, if you start feeling too stressed out from the end of semester crunch or the holidays, take a deep breath and practice going "Om for the Holidays."
Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving weekend and found something for which to be grateful. (After all, we all know that expressing gratitude heightens well-being and that a conscious focus on blessings may have emotional and interpersonal benefits ). While we were taking a well-deserved break and counting our blessings, some notable stories with a bioethics theme came out over the last few days:
Our colleague, Paul Root Wolpe , has some interesting bioethical questions about manned space travel -- here's a sampling:
* What would we do if a crewmember became violent because of a
traumatic brain injury or mental illness?
* Do we include a straitjacket as standard issue on the craft?
* How much medical training is adequate for the crew as a whole?
* What if the designated physician gets sick?
* What level of treatment is enough?
*If a crewmember is disabled in space, who becomes their surrogate
decision maker? Their spouse? NASA physicians? Other crewmembers on the
craft?
The full article can be seen here .
The latest on deep brain stimulation for treatment of brain disorders, courtesy of PBS, Wired Science and YouTube .
From the NY Times, " Are Scientists Playing God? It Depends on Your Religion ."
And, also from the Old Grey Lady, a psychiatrist examines how taking money from pharma can cloud your judgment, despite going into the deal with eyes wide open -- the article, Dr. Drug Rep .
Happy reading and remember, as the Washington Post suggests, if you start feeling too stressed out from the end of semester crunch or the holidays, take a deep breath and practice going "Om for the Holidays."