Pediatric Ethics Consortium (PEC)

Mother Seeks Heart Transplant for Autistic Son

Pediatric Ethics Consortium (PEC) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 11:51:59 +0000

Mother seeks heart transplant for autistic son
Yahoo News, August 17th, 2012
This and many other news reports raises increasingly public questions about access to transplant for patients with psychiatric and developmental disabilities.

Students, Doctors Protest Easing of Gift Ban

Pediatric Ethics Consortium (PEC) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 11:46:02 +0000

Students, doctors protest easing of gift ban
Boston Globe, July 6th, 2012
Concern raised by Governor’s decision to ease State level ban on medical industry gifts to doctors.

Practice Parameters on Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Sexual Orientation, Gender-nonconformity, and Gender Discordance in Children and Adolescents

Pediatric Ethics Consortium (PEC) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 11:39:58 +0000

Practice Parameters on Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Sexual Orientation, Gender-nonconformity, and Gender Discordance in Children and Adolescents
June 16th 2012
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry has issued new guidelines that treat all these conditions as nonpathological.

Senator John Kerry Supports Health Study That Could Lift Ban on Gay Men Donating Blood

Pediatric Ethics Consortium (PEC) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 11:33:21 +0000

Senator John Kerry supports health study that could lift ban on gay men donating blood
Boston Globe, June 11th, 2012
Democrats support HHS effort to re-examine the 27+ year old policy banning gay and bi-sexual men from donating blood.

Drug Treatment for Transgender Kids Pose Difficult Choices for Parents, Doctors

Pediatric Ethics Consortium (PEC) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 11:21:11 +0000

Drug treatment for transgender kids pose difficult choices for parents, doctors
The Washington Post, May 19th, 2012
Post motivated by a recent article in the Journal of Homosexuality that comments on the ethics of gender transitioning hormonal treatment for adolescense that renders patients sterile.

Pain Treatment for Cancer Patients is Still Inadequate, and More So for Minorities

Pediatric Ethics Consortium (PEC) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 11:05:54 +0000

Pain Treatment for Cancer Patients is Still Inadequate, and More So for Minorities
Houston Chronicle, April 19th, 2012
A large study of over 3000 cancer patients across the country finds that nearly 1/3 of patients have untreated or undertreated pain, and the problem is twice as common among Hispanics and blacks as compared to Caucasians.

NY Law on Contraceptives Already in Place, and Catholic Institutions Comply

Pediatric Ethics Consortium (PEC) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 10:57:18 +0000

NY Law on Contraceptives Already in Place, and Catholic Institutions Comply
NY Times, February 10th, 2012
One of many, many articles on the controversy surrounding federal regulation developed under the Affordable Care Act that would require insurers to cover contraception. This article describes the situation in NY State, where this controversy surfaced and was sorted 10 years ago.

Sugar Land Boy in the Middle of Futile-Care Dispute Dies

Pediatric Ethics Consortium (PEC) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 10:48:29 +0000

Sugar Land boy in the middle of futile-care dispute dies
Houston Chronicle, January 12th, 2012
A 14 year old boy who had brain cancer and then anoxic brain injury from an out of hospital cardiac arrest, died at home, months after a Texas children’s hospital might have imposed the State’s futility law to withdraw life-sustaining supports.

Obese Boy Taken from Home Stirs Controversy in Ohio

Pediatric Ethics Consortium (PEC) — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 21:27:22 +0000

Obese boy taken from home stirs controversy in Ohio
TCPalm, November 29th, 2011
Boy removed from home and placed in foster care because State found that mother wasn’t doing enough to control her child’s morbid obesity.

Note From a Dragon Mom

Pediatric Ethics Consortium (PEC) — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:33:56 +0000

Notes From a Dragon Mom
NYT, October 15th, 2011
Mother of a child with Tay-Sachs disease reflects on being a mother of a child with a life-limiting disease and the different but nevertheless high value that comes from the experience.

Baltimore’s Kennedy Krieger Institute Sued Over Lead Paint Study

Pediatric Ethics Consortium (PEC) — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 20:01:37 +0000

Baltimore’s Kennedy Krieger Institute Sued Over Lead Paint Study
ABC News, September 16th, 2011
A class action lawsuit has recently been filed against The Instittute for research conducted in the 1990s that purpotedly knowingly and needlessly studied children exposed to harmful levels of lead.

Famine in Somalia Dire

Pediatric Ethics Consortium (PEC) — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 16:25:11 +0000

Famine in Somalia Dire
UNICEF, August 8, 2011
One of several articles capturing the desperation of the people in The Horne of Africa, and the people trying to help them. Even now, about 20% of people who need help are getting it.

A Disabled Boy’s Death, and a System in Disarray

Pediatric Ethics Consortium (PEC) — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 16:05:37 +0000

A Disabled Boy’s Death, and a System in Disarray
NYT, June 6th, 2011
Report on a New York State facility whose staff were abusing residents, and the State may not have been forthright in coming forward with the information.

Efforts to Ban Circumcision Gain Traction in California

Pediatric Ethics Consortium (PEC) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 21:01:30 +0000

Efforts to Ban Circumcision Gain Traction in California
NYT, June 4th, 2011
In California, groups gathering signatures for city-wide ballot measures that would ban circumcision. Discussion of whether this is anti-semitic/anti-muslim, or, is this protecting children, or, based on medical risks/benefits, circumcision ought to still be a choice new parents get to make.