US SupCt Overall Assessment Turner-Wyatt

Commentary about the general state of affairs regarding health care & health insurance:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/04/embarrass-the-future/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120405

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/opinion/down-the-insurance-rabbit-hole.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120405

US SupCt Day 3 Pennekamp-Spriggs

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june12/scotusday3_03-28.html

US SupCt, Day 2 Luipold-Norman

US Sup Ct, Day 1 arguments (Chambers-Huggins)

U.S. Supreme Court Case: Affordable Care Act, group 1

Allen to Capella post here on background information about the case.  Major provisions of the law.

26Mar12 Affordable Care Act at the U.S. Supreme Court
Overview coverage:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/03/26/149218060/4-questions-that-could-make-or-break-the-health-care-law

Background info on the U.S. Affordable Health Care Act & the ensuing court battles
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/03/19/us/guide-to-supreme-court-challenges-to-obama-health-care-law.html?ref=affordablecareact

Genetics -- further discussion

*new* Genetic mutations and autism
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/health/research/scientists-link-rare-gene-mutations-to-heightened-risk-of-autism.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120405

Our guest last week led us into a discussion of gene patenting. . . here are related articles about the U.S. Supreme Court overruling the patenting of genes (the case involves those BRCA genes that our genetics counselor guest spoke of a few weeks ago):
* http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/business/high-court-orders-new-look-at-gene-patents.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120327
* http://www.cfnews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/ap/2012/03/26/High_court_throws_out_human_gene_patents/

Social Justice & HC (4 April)

*new* 24April12 Philosopher Peter Singer's 2009 essay on rationing health care.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/magazine/19healthcare-t.html?pagewanted=all

16April12 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/04/health-reform-on-the-brink-sick-in-missouri.html

Case 38 IVF, Embryo Splitting, and Delayed Twinning

Case led by Nicole, Brooke, Katie.

Current Events Mar/April 2012

*new* 9 April 12 Unnecessary Medical Tests?
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/09/opinion/do-you-really-need-that-medical-test.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120409
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/04/top-45-ways-to-cut-health-care-costs-according-to-medical-groups.html

28 Mar 12 Face Transplant
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17534646

26Mar12  Research on Bird Flu
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/03/26/149357569/bird-flu-studies-getting-another-round-of-scrutiny-by-panel

End to Chinese prisoner organ donation
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-17485103

U.S. Supreme Court case re: IVF children conceived after their father had died (and whether they are eligible for federal survivor benefits)
http://www.npr.org/2012/03/19/148935151/justices-weigh-ivf-technology-against-1939-law

IVF conception & citizenship
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-03-19/in-vitro-citizenship/53656616/1

McMahan's "Killing Embryos for Stem Cell Research"

Questions for discussion:
1. What is the moral status of embryos?
2. What is McMahan's argument?
3. What does it mean, according to McMahan, to exist as an early embryo?
4. Did you or I exist as an early embryo?

Case 30 (Stem Cell Research)

(Fatmah, Colleen, Morgan)

Case 30:

                This case presents the arguments about which stem cell lines should be used in research. The arguments are based on the presidential decisions of Barack Obama and George W. Bush. Bush’s decision limited federal funding to already destroyed embryos. Obama’s decision was to lift the Bush restrictions and used the National Institute of Health to define the ethical guidelines to which stem cell lines should be used. The National Institute of Health limited federal funding to stem cell lines created from excess fertility clinic embryos, given that the parents were not offered any incentives to giving up their embryos.

                There are different views about the moral status of the embryo. Groups are divided in their beliefs of when the embryo is considered a human being.  The differing views are:

1.       Fertilization onward

2.       14 days after fertilization

3.       Increasing status as it develops

4.       Birth

5.       Embryo has no moral status

Questions:

1.       What status should the embryo hold?

2.       Did Bush put too many restrictions on embryo stem cell research?

3.       Between the decisions of Bush and Obama, which one was more morally grounded?

4.       What conditions would limit federal funding of stem cell research?

Genetics -- basic info

We'll watch this first one in class on 14 March, but I wanted you to have the link:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/paul_root_wolpe_it_s_time_to_question_bio_engineering.html
Bio of speaker
http://www.ted.com/speakers/paul_root_wolpe.html 

TED Talk by James Watson, who co-discovered structure of DNA
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/james_watson_on_how_he_discovered_dna.html

Basic primers on genetics; we'll watch in class on 14 March.

 http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/WhoAmI/FindOutMore/Yourgenes.aspx

http://www.eyeondna.com/2008/01/19/dna-video-23andme-genetics-101-part-1/(4.25min)

http://www.eyeondna.com/2008/01/19/dna-video-23andme-genetics-101-part-1/ (< 2min)

http://www.eyeondna.com/2008/02/02/dna-video-23andme-genetics-101-part-3/ (4.14 min)

http://www.eyeondna.com/2008/02/09/dna-video-23andme-genetics-101-part-4/ (~2min)

Other resources
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/barry_schuler_genomics_101.html (21min)

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/understandingcancer/geneticvariation/page1 (individual slides; go at your own pace)
http://www.ted.com/talks/david_bolinsky_animates_a_cell.html 
       (especially the last 3 minutes of animation within a cell) 
http://www.biology-online.org/2/13_genetic_engineering.htm 
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/genetic_engineering/index.html