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Many people will find it hard to understand why hospital consultants in England and Wales should have rejected a deal promising a 20% rise in starting salary to new consultants and pay rises of 9 to 24% across the board. But the reality is that most doctors do not go...
'From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. ' Luke 12:48 Giving thanks is good for the soul, and a great way of lifting our spirits when we feel life's burdens...
The General Medical Council finally published its guidance on withdrawing treatment in August 2002 after a consultation period of over a year. The final version of Withholding and Withdrawing Life-prolonging Treatments: Good practice in Decision-making is a far more balanced document than the original draft, and a considerable improvement on...
Black twins to white parents? Custody disputes over frozen embryos? An embryo superstore? This summer season's fertility fiascos have further highlighted the fact that the end of providing infertile couples with babies, does not justify unethical means (Romans 3:8). Whilst welcoming ethical technologies to help infertile couples my own sympathies...
The nation's sexual health is in decline, as evidenced by rising rates of teenage conception, abortion, sexually transmitted diseases, cervical cancer and mental health problems linked to early risky sex. The government is committed to lowering the under 18 conception rate by 50% by 2010, but its policies of 'over...
Stories of out of body experiences, beliefs in life after death, or diseases affecting the brain all raise questions about whether our minds and our bodies are separate entities that have the ability to exist independently. Out of body experiences can occur under the influence of drugs, as part of...
PS: Peter, we hear that ICMDA has just appointed a new General Secretary to follow on from you. Can you tell us a little about him? PP: Ralph Sinn and his wife Barbara both graduated from the University of Alberta Medical School, Canada, in 1984. Ralph is a family physician practising...
A high profile disagreement between doctors and the parents of a baby with a rare facial disorder was finally resolved after a seven hour High Court hearing in Leeds, when the parents agreed to an urgent tracheotomy (BBC News, 7 March). Twelve week old Maria Aziz Al-Rafi, the only survivor...
A Leeds couple, Shahana and Raj Hashmi, have been given permission to create a baby to act as a bone marrow donor for their son Zain, who suffers from thalassemia. No compatible donor has been found. The couple will undergo IVF treatment with the resulting embryos being screened for both...
The House of Lords' Select Committee on Stem Cell Research has just granted permission for cloned human embryos to be produced for research on the grounds that they are necessary to develop treatments for degenerative diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and diabetes. Whether they provide the only potential means of treatment...
