Barbara Pfeffer Billauer
Genetic embryo screening for health issues and IQ inch closer to reality. Here’s a primer on what you can expect
The world of IVF has introduced a host of ethical quandaries. For now, Alabamians will be spared grappling the latest, ...
‘Judges as gatekeepers’: Court rejects ‘predatort’ lawyers’ claim that Lexapro used during pregnancy led to children’s autism
Judicial opinions don’t evidence a clear enough understanding of the scientific method and invite push-back from an aggressive bar ...
Viewpoint: Ketamine for mental health is being abused. We need more regulatory oversight
While some extol the psychological benefits of psychedelics and bemoan their unavailability, at least one FDA-approved agent with psychedelic properties, ...
Rethinking artificial sweeteners? Fake sugars may not cause cancer but they’re not great for losing weight either
Let’s start by noting that the World Health Organization (WHO) recently warned against using artificial sweeteners for weight control. What? ...
Part II: Science and the courts clash over different views about human life and on what limits should be set on human embryo laboratory research
The US Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision striking down the constitutional right to abortion (which has sparked a renewed debate over ...
Part I: 14 days or 28 — What should the standard be for research on lab-grown human embryos?
For four decades, scientists world-over have self-imposed a moratorium on doing laboratory research on human embryos 14 days post-fertilization. It's ...
‘You have to prove the dose’: Why courts are rejecting payouts for exposure to alleged carcinogens like talc or actual ones like asbestos
Personal injury lawyers are either revered or reviled. Sometimes purveyors of junk science, they often prey on a vulnerable and ...
A legal defense grounded in genetics: Is DNA testing the magic wand to winning (or losing) a negligence case?
Among the four elements required to establish liability for the tort of negligence is causation. In addition to proving that ...
Far-fetched idea of ‘head transplants’ sparks an ethical debate
Far from being far-fetched, human head transplantation is theoretically possible and merits an entry in Wikipedia. One neurosurgeon claims this will be a doable ...
Health and autonomy: How COVID has challenged already-tenuous balance among public health, religion and personal values
Exactly two years ago, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. At the time, 118,000 cases and 4,000 deaths ...
Legislating nicotine reduction? Some smoke, mostly mirrors
The Biden administration recently announced plans to reduce nicotine in cigarettes to “minimally or non-addictive levels.” This is not a ...
Fertility fraud: Direct-to-consumer DNA tests show thousands of women are illegally impregnated every year by deviant doctors. The laws need updating
To thousands of women gifted with childbirth through assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and their children - the practice can only ...
Viewpoint: Ethical concerns abound over plans for uterine transplants for trans women
Cis and Trans are words I first learned in chemistry. They describe different isomers — compounds with the same chemical ...
Viewpoint: Anti-vaccine backlash is not going away — and its long term consequences are grim
As of January 25, 2022, some 40% of Americans [1] have not been fully vaccinated. [2] This, notwithstanding valiant efforts ...
Henrietta Lacks’ immortal genes are now the subject of a legal battle
Remarkable in life, a stylish Black woman who loved to cook and dance, Henrietta Lacks is even more remarkable in her ...
When the US was hit by polio and smallpox epidemics, the public embraced vaccines with little resistance. What changed?
The year was 1947 – the last smallpox invasion in America. Ground zero: New York City. The carrier: an ex-pat ...
Bereitschaftspotential effect: Brain-to-computer interfaces are all the rage, but legal issues about how and why we act complicate risks
As I’ve written recently, a spate of devices enabling people with quadriplegia to move their extremities have been approved by ...
Viewpoint: ‘Magic promised by genetically pruning ‘defective’ embryos has fairy-dusted the eyes of even the most intelligent’ — Maybe it’s time to hit the pause button
Advances in genetics have been revolutionized in the last few years. First came CRISPR, which can edit single genes, possibly ...
Can anything be done to counter anti-vaccination activists?
Recently, anti-vaxxers protests shut down the mass vaccination program underway at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. In Israel, the global poster child ...
Will cruise ships be found liable for passengers testing COVID positive during or after a cruise?
Dozens of suits have now been brought against cruise lines… The industry is responding by defending their sterilization and cleaning ...
