Gene-editing summit supports some research in human embryos — Nature News
By Sara Reardon
3 December 2015
Read here.
Gene-editing summit supports some research in human embryos — Nature News Read More »
Shifting Gears on Physician-Assisted Suicide?
D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A.
How “neutral” can one be regarding assisted suicide? How about a medical organization? This past week, The Tennessee Center for Bioethics & Culture sent a letter of concern to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization:
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2015 12:52:22 -0500
Subject: Physician-assisted suicide
Dear Board Members and Staff of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization:
It has come to my attention that you, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), are now considering changing your position statement from “opposing” physician-assisted suicide (P-AS) to taking a “neutral” ...read more
Shifting Gears on Physician-Assisted Suicide? Read More »
Slip Slidin’ Away
D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A.
I doubt that Paul Simon had Physician-Assisted Suicide (P-AS) in mind when he penned the words to “Slip Slidin’ Away,” but they seem strangely apropos. The terms in the debate are the first to slip, slide away: the Hemlock Society became Compassion and Choices. The latter, which is involved in the Tennessee debate, is hopeful that physician-assisted suicide will become “aid-in-dying”; that is, before it slips into voluntary euthanasia, and then slides away into involuntary euthanasia.
What would happen if physician-assisted suicide (P-AS) were legal?
The role of physicians would be drastically altered. Guaranteeing ...read moreSevering Our Roots
The Little Fool by Karen Swenholt. Image by Ian Riley Photography.
D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A.
A couple of years ago, I was encouraged to meet a figurative artist (sculptress, in this case). So I drove many hours to meet Karen Swenholt, and the drive was worth it. One of her pieces is pictured above. It is a metaphor that resonates with many of us: the man feels rooted, bound to the earth, or his circumstances, etc., and yearns to be free. So he takes an instrument into his hand — a knife — to free himself from his hateful condition, not ...read more
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Physician-Assisted Suicide: NOT Exactly What Its Proponents Advertise It To Be
This Australian stamp was issued in celebration of the General Assembly of World Medical Associations almost 50 years ago. At that time, the hypodermic syringe was a symbol of cure. Now, the picture of gloved hands administering an injection can represent something much more menacing.
D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A.
The topic of physician-assisted suicide (P-AS) is a persistent one, especially when people are in pain or are worried about impending death. We need to think deeply and well about this issue. To help, the Tennessee Center for Bioethics & Culture is addressing P-AS from a different perspective for the second time in as many ...read more
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Book Review: Ghost Boy
D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A.
How do we treat the vulnerable among us? Ghost Boy, by Martin Pistorius with Megan Lloyd Davies, is an excellent book to help us explore this question.
Martin Pistorious was a 12-year-old South African school boy when he became ill in 1988. Over the next year, he became wheelchair bound and mute, and spent much of his time over the next 14 years in institutions. That is not the end of the story, however, and he, with Megan Lloyd Davies, tells the story of his awakening and subsequent life in Ghost Boy (Nashville, TN: Nelson Books, 2013).
Martin’s inability to ...read more
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Lord Robert Winston’s Fertility Warning — TVNZ ONENEWS
Lord Robert Winston’s TVNZ Breakfast Interview is here.
Lord Robert Winston’s Fertility Warning — TVNZ ONENEWS Read More »
Public Comment before the FDA Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee, 25 February 2014
Good afternoon, Members of the Advisory Committee, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am Dr. D. Joy Riley, the executive director of The Tennessee Center for Bioethics & Culture, an educational not-for-profit organization headquartered in Nashville, TN, dedicated to promoting human dignity in the face of challenges to what it means to be human, and to informing and equipping people to face the vital bioethics issues of the 21st Century.
I am a physician by training, and hold a graduate degree in bioethics as well. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today. I have no conflicts of interest to report.
It is remarkable ...read more
Justices, 9-0, Bar Patenting Human Genes — NYT
By Adam Liptak — read the story here
Published 13 June 2013
Justices, 9-0, Bar Patenting Human Genes — NYT Read More »
Myriad Genetics CEO Claims He Owns Your Genes — Forbes
Steven Salzberg, Contributor
Published 13 April 2013
Article here.
Myriad Genetics CEO Claims He Owns Your Genes — Forbes Read More »