CedarEthics

Can medical missionaries engage in clinical research? Are there potential conflicts of interest between the goal of reaching nationals for Christ and engaging in medical research studies? We talk with Dr. Don Thompson, Director of the Global Health Outreach, the medical missions arm of the Christian Medical and Dental Association.

For more information: Global Health Outreach

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Research and Ethics on the Mission Field [ 19:22 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Fall Edition of CedarEthics Online, our Web-based journal of top undergraduate student papers in bioethics, is now available. This edition features two new contributions :

1) Tia Zirkle’s piece, “The Tao and the Art of Feminine Beauty,” is a thoughtful reflection on Elizabeth Elliot, C.S. Lewis, natural law, and femininity.

2) Christina Kinch, in her essay, “Let Them be Heroes,” gives a theologically provocative defense of the use of frozen embryos for research. Now let’s make one thing clear: neither Christina nor her professor (me) agree with the conclusions of her inventive article, but she helps give a sympathetic face to “the other side” in these debates.

These articles, as well as earlier ones, can be found at: CedarEthics Online.

By Center for Bioethics Fellow Dr. Heather Kuruvilla.

A recent update reminds us that applications of adult stem cells to treat human diseases continue to progress. Cellerix is a biotechnology company that has adult stem cells in various stages of human testing. This means we may see new therapies on the market within a few years. Some of these treatments may help patients with Crohn’s disease, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and other inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cells come from adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells, are found in the adipose (fat) tissue of adults.

This news comes on the heels of a development just last month, where scientists announced they had successfully isolated colon stem cells from biopsy samples. The inability to culture certain human stem cell types from adult cell lines is one of the main arguments for using embryonic stem cells (which requires the destruction of frozen embryos). These new  developments weaken the argument that embryonic stem cell research is essential to cure certain diseases that plague humanity.

The clinical trials cited above are by no means rare.  A Google search of adult stem cell therapy brings up many therapies already in clinical use. Search [adult stem cell clinical trial] and you will find even more therapies in various stages in development. Some of sources of adult stem cells in these therapies include cells derived from bone marrow, central nervous system, and fatty tissue of adults, as well as cells derived from umbilical cord blood or cells of placental origin, obtained after birth.

For those of us who morally object to embryonic stem cell research, the fact that new and successful clinical treatments use alternative sources of stem cells is a great encouragement. As more biotech companies develop such  treatments, there will be less pressure to terminate the lives of human embryos for the sake of scientific progress.

References:

1. Cellerix Secures 4.95M for Phase III Study of Allogeneic Adult Stem Cell Therapy: http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/cellerix-secures-4-95m-for-phase-iii-study-of-allogeneic-adult-stem-cell-therapy/81245764/?kwrd=Adult Stem Cells
2. Researchers Isolate and Expand Elusive Human Colon Stem Cells from Biopsy Samples: http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/researchers-isolate-and-expand-elusive-human-colon-stem-cells-from-biopsy-samples/81245626/?kwrd=Adult Stem Cells
3. Is the Progression of Adult Stem Cell Therapies into the Clinic a Good Sign for Technology? http://www.genengnews.com/analysis-and-insight/is-the-progression-of-adult-stem-cell-therapies-into-the-clinic-a-good-sign-for-technology/77899325/?kwrd=Adult Stem Cells

In a recent broadcast of the 700 Club, the Reverend Pat Robertson shocked many of his listeners with his response to a plaintive letter from the friend of a husband whose spouse has Alzheimer’s Disease (link). The man’s wife no longer recognized him, and he claimed that his wife as he knows her is gone. So he was wondering about seeing another woman. Pat Robertson responded this way:

That is a terribly hard thing. I hate Alzheimer’s . . . That person is gone. They’re gone. They are gone.  What he says basically is correct. I know it sounds cruel, but if he is going to do something, he should divorce her and start all over again.

Predictably, the interviewer responded with a question about marriage vows. The Reverend Robertson replied:

If you respect that vow, ‘until death do us part,’ this is a kind of death . . . I can’t fault him for wanting to have some kind of companionship. If he says, in a sense she’s gone, he’s right. It’s like a walking death. But get some ethicist besides me to give you the answer because I recognize the dilemma . . .

To his credit, the televangelist is not guilty of complete abandonment, since he did remark that the husband should take care to provide proper custodial care. But otherwise his comments have drawn almost universal criticism from religious and secular commentators alike. Here are three reasons why Pat Robertson is just plain wrong:

• The traditional marriage vow “until death do us part” is not directly from Scripture, but it is consistent with the Bible’s covenant view of marriage. The “one flesh” of Genesis 2:24 connotes a deep, long-lasting bond. The Lord Jesus, in referring to this text in Matthew 19:4, said, “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate” (NIV).
• Marriage is about more than two people sharing their lives together; it is a testimony to the relationship of Christ to His church. Ephesians 5: 23 says: “For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.” Verse 25 goes on: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Faithfulness within marriage is therefore a representation of Christ’s faithfulness to His church. And if we would stretch the metaphor, we His church were certainly dead in sin, yet He did not abandon us.
• Speaking of death, the wife is not dead yet! Of course such sloppy thinking is very much in line with the functional view of human personhood, where those who cannot think rationally or make decisions for themselves have less value than the rest of us. So we continue to marginalize the poor, the infirm, the elderly, and the voiceless in our midst, rather than seeing each human being as a valuable person, uniquely created in God’s image.

At the heart of all this is a soft-hearted but poorly thought out concept of compassion. Such “compassion” is a poor substitute for Christian justice, and for a true understanding of the poor in spirit, merciful, and pure in heart of Matthew 5:1-11. Real mercy, love, and biblical compassion begin with a genuine understanding of biblical truth. Unfortunately, this was sadly lacking in Reverend Pat Robertson’s remarks.

Volume 10, Issues 1 and 2 of CedarEthics Online is now available. Each year for the past ten years, CE Online has published outstanding student papers in bioethics from the previous academic year. Publication in this online format is by invitation only, and represents written research of unusual quality and broad interest.

The newest papers cover a broad spectrum of topics, and are listed below:

The Nazi Research Data: Should We Use It? – Sarah Wilson

Safeguarding Genetic Privacy – Anna-Marie Struble, Emily Valji, and Jennifer Lilly

Altered Nuclear Transfer Violates Natural Law Ethics – Thomas Bertagnoli

Of Violinists and Fetuses – Dylan Black

Virtue Ethics for Christians – Benjamin R. Kilian

Third-Party Gametes and the Christian – Emily Valji

A recent post at the  “Ohio Life Wire” blog points out a strange irony for our times.

A man from the Columbus area recently pled guilty to attempted murder. His crime? He tried to force his girlfriend at gunpoint to have an abortion against her will. When they arrived at the abortion facility, she passed a note to the clinic personnel. They called the police, and the man was arrested. So according to Ohio law, if a woman wants to have an abortion, it’s a legal procedure; if she is forced to have the abortion, that makes it murder. The legal status of the unborn child completely depends on the attitude of the mother.

Now it turns out that the woman was never at risk to have an abortion, since clinic personnel would not perform the procedure without her consent. Her baby has been born, and is in good hands. Yet her boyfriend could spend up to 20 years in prison for wanting the baby dead.

This is another strange example of our schizophrenic legal system that fails to afford all unborn children equal protection under the law, as specified in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Our podcast this time is an interview with Dr. Mark Smith, Associate Professor of Political Studies at Cedarville University, and director of the University’s Center for Political Studies. We discuss the history of abortion-related legislation and how it has been handled by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Abortion and the Supreme Court (24) [ 16:45 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Does Scripture teach the value of human life in the womb? If so, how far back does this extend? Can we “prove” the idea that human beings are valuable and protectable at the earliest stage, namely an embryo? Center for Bioethics director Dr. Dennis Sullivan digs deeply into Luke Chapter 1 to find the surprising answers to these questions.

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Theme Music: Gli Uccelli (The Birds), Part I. Prelude (Allegro moderato), by Respighi, courtesy of Shockwave Sound.

Except as noted, all additional music courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network.

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The Embryonic Miracle of Christmas (23) [ 11:58 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Council of Europe, composed of 47 member countries, will soon debate a resolution to “regulate the right of conscientious objection” in health care. If the resolution passes, this would have chilling effects for European health care professionals. The measure outlines three key provisions in regard to abortion:

1) The obligation to perform the procedure “in case of emergency”
2) A prohibition for persons participating “indirectly” in the procedure to exercise their right of conscience
3) The establishment of an official list of conscientious objectors

Hmm, this means that pro-life doctors might be mandated to perform abortions in some circumstances, in spite of their moral scruples. Furthermore, nurses and allied health professionals will be obligated to assist in all such procedures — no right of conscience for them. And finally, there will be a list — a “black list” if you will, of “objectors,” exposing such individuals to discrimination and recrimination. If this doesn’t bother you, just think of the McCarthy era in America in the 1950′s to better picture how this might work.

Pay attention as this issue plays out, for as the Council of Europe goes, so will the United States go in the near future.

I have added my name to a petition to appose these draconian measures, that violate the Hippocratic tradition of medicine that has held sway for 2400 years (see petition link below). Please also consider signing, and join me in prayer.

Petition (in French, but click on the British flag to review in English)