Viewpoints: Natural Childbirth Isn’t Always All It’s Cracked Up To Be; Is Doctor-Assisted Suicide Really Safe?
Editorial writers tackle these issues and others.
The New York Times:
The Problem With The Natural Childbirth Movement
The natural-parenting movement, like the anti-vaccine movement, relies on our forgetfulness about what life was like before the innovations that it denounces. Having a baby without medical help may be natural, but so is obstetric fistula and hemorrhaging to death. (Michelle Goldberg, 7/31)
Chicago Tribune:
Safeguards Aren't Sufficient In Physician-Assisted Suicide
For centuries, assisted dying was abjured by most societies and specifically prohibited by the Hippocratic oath (“I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan.”). It became a legitimate movement in the 1970s, the product of an aging society, the emerging Western concept of patient rights and the gradual acceptance of the idea by the lay and medical communities. (Cory Franklin and Victoria Tiller, 7/30)
Stat:
Medical Schools Need To Teach Cost Counseling And Stewardship
In my third week as a medical intern, I learned a vital lesson about the realities of everyday medicine that textbooks and professors hadn’t taught me: how profoundly the financial cost of care affects patients. (Henry Bair, 7/31)
Stat:
BIOSECURE Act Should Focus On Robust Data Protection By All
The BIOSECURE Act, now rolling through Congress, aims to protect the DNA data of Americans from companies with perceived national security risks. That is a noble goal. But the legislation’s misguided approach would single out a small number of companies, including the California-based company I founded in 2005, Complete Genomics, despite the fact that we have no access to such data. It would also let many companies with large volumes of DNA data sell or transfer this data without any legal protections. (Radoje Drmanac, 7/31)
