The Point Blog Archives – Page 3 of 3 – Christian Medical & Dental Associations® (CMDA)

Exciting Technologies and Ethical Applications

Some scientists have said one reason they don’t consult bioethicists or think about the ethical implications of their research is because ethicists usually say “no” to new technologies, or that ethics is arbitrary. But what they are really avoiding is the necessity of setting rational limits on science, thinking they can thereby avoid any limits on their work. Limits that protect all human beings, even nascent human life, are not arbitrary and actually say “yes” to some exciting—and ethical—applications of new technologies.

Autonomy Quickly Translates to Tyranny

It’s one thing to expect physicians to do everything possible to advance healing for patients. It’s quite another to insist that whatever the patient wants, the patient gets—so the physician must provide it at risk of his or her career. Whenever one group gets its way regardless of the impact on others, that is not autonomy; that is tyranny.

Mistaken Identity: There is No Straight or Gay

Satan attacks identity, striving to separate us from who we are made to be. Mistaken identity is costly. In this week’s The Point blog, Dr. Andre Van Mol explores the concept of mistaken identity, the false identity of GLBT, and how it makes a difference in both medicine and science.

New Chinese Study Opens Ethical Can of Worms

A recent report of a “serious blood disorder” corrected by “chemical surgery” sounds like a dream come true. Ian Sample’s article in The Guardian also made the process sound efficient and clean, even sterile. However, a look behind the headline reveals some important facts to consider. Dr. Joy Riley explores the ethical issues in this week’s blog.

Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

The top 10 causes of death in the U.S., after heart disease and cancer, are Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), accidents, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, chronic renal disease and suicide. Some of these conditions are not preventable, so a more pertinent question is, what are the addressable risk factors for morbidity and premature death in general? And how do we focus on them with our patients?

“Choose, You Lose” Prescription Threatens the Conscience Rights of Every Professional

Affordable Care Act architect Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel and University of Pennsylvania professor Ronit Stahl advocate barring from medicine all physicians who would decline a patient’s demand for morally controversial services such as abortion. However, a “patient comes first” rule turns medicine into a patient dictatorship with no checks and balances.

Sustaining Our Joy in Practice

My eldest child left for college this fall, having chosen to attend school in Scotland. Yes, that’s right. Scotland. It’s a long way away. It’s also a place I had never previously visited. We went on a family trip to Scotland in March—partly to visit the school he now attends, and partly to have one last bang-up family vacation before we became a family that no longer lives under one roof. On that trip, we had not one, but two, flat tires on our rental car. A consequence of our struggles driving on the left side of the road, perhaps?

Gene Editing to Make Better Human Beings?

Gene editing has potential for great benefit but also for great evil. In the medical realm, great advances are possible, but this dual-use technology also could be used to design children, weaponize biological agents or even alter or dehumanize our concept of humanity. Dr. David Prentice explores how gene editing can be dangerous for healthcare professionals and their patients in this week’s blog post.

In Defense of Healthy Children: Recent Papers Expose the Truths About Dangerous Gender Dysphoria Treatments

According to new research by three expert physicians from Johns Hopkins, the most popular therapies to treat gender dysphoria in children are dangerous and biased. CMA Government Relations Fellow Anne Foster dives into this topic and how this should impact parents making their children’s health decisions.

Influencing Legislatures Captive to Rainbow Ideology

Opponents of therapy for minors—and ultimately anyone—wanting to overcome undesired same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria have feverishly worked to enact bans against what is pejoratively labeled “conversion therapy.” Change therapy—be it called reparative therapy, sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE) or the more recent nomenclature of SAFE-T (Sexual Attraction Fluidity Exploration in Therapy)—has been in the cross-hairs for years, as I wrote about here, and the false claims against it have registered with the public and legislatures alike.

Crossing the Bright Red Line: Editing Human Beings

This blog originally appeared on the Tennessee Center for Bioethics and Culture blog. It is being republished with permission. For more information, visit www.tennesseecbc.org.

A “Bot” Too Far

In our technological world, it’s easier sometimes easier to have conversations with computers than with people. Dr. David Stevens just spent 35-minutes having a conversation about end of life options with Emily, an artificial intelligence robot. He shares how this is bad for you, as both a healthcare professional and as a patient.

Gratitude Journals and Healthcare: How Can They Help?

I am very much a can-do person—attacking the tasks in front of me with an astonishing willpower. We’re all like that, right? We wouldn’t have made it through medical school and residency otherwise! But when push comes to shove, I am not necessarily grateful or optimistic. I can tend toward the negative if left to my own human nature. In contrast, I know some people who just seem to have been born genetically positive and optimistic. They are resilient in the face of difficulty, always expect the best from every person or situation, and seem to have an easier time trusting God in their daily lives than I do. Maybe it’s just the outside appearance, but those positive people seem to enjoy life more than I often do.

Life—Artificial or Natural?

There continue to be reports of new attempts to create life, sometimes labeled “synthetic” or “artificial” because the entity is not created the old-fashioned way, i.e., by fertilization of an egg with a sperm. The most recent report involved combining two different types of stem cells to form an embryo-like structure that was labeled “artificial.”

Applying Pressure to the 14-Day Rule

Conducting research on embryos beyond 14 days’ gestation is against the law in 12 countries, including the United Kingdom; the U.S. has only “guidelines” recommending the 14-day limit. Now researchers and others are pushing against that limit. They find it too confining. Where did this rule/guideline originate?

Applying Pressure to the 14-Day Rule

Conducting research on embryos beyond 14 days’ gestation is against the law in 12 countries, including the United Kingdom; the U.S. has only “guidelines” recommending the 14-day limit. Now researchers and others are pushing against that limit. They find it too confining. Where did this rule/guideline originate?

Narcissism in Healthcare

I was looking up some information on the American Association for Physician Leadership website when an article caught my eye: “Are You a Narcissist?” I hadn’t decided what I was going to blog about this month; not surprisingly, narcissism was not on the list of things I was considering. But the article piqued my interest, so I clicked on the link and read the entire thing. There was even a quiz I could use to find out if I am a narcissist. You will be relieved to know I “passed” the quiz with a non-narcissist score! That was reassuring, but I was curious as to why this article interested me so much.

Artificial Wombs and Modern Incubators

Sometimes what seems like science fiction can actually be science fact, and sometimes new technologies can have the potential for both good and bad uses. So-called “dual-use technology” is most often thought of in connection with potential military as well as civilian use, e.g., weaponized forms of viruses or bacteria vs. using such altered pathogens for vaccine development.

Chechen Government Reportedly Abusing Men Having Sex with Men

An April 10 story in The Daily Mail was headlined, “Chechnya opens world’s first concentration camp for homosexuals since Hitler’s in the 1930s where campaigners say gay men are being tortured with electric shocks and beaten to death.”

Facing the Rise of Suicides in Healthcare

As a second year medical student, a member of my medical school class committed suicide. I didn’t know him well, but his death impacted me. Made me ask a lot of questions. Why didn’t I know him better? Had I gotten to know him, could I have made a difference?

Christianity and Science: Are They Opposed?

Christianity versus science is a popular false dichotomy promoted to the aggravation of believers as well as non-believers with an eye on history. Add to that the assertion that the church provided the Dark Ages? There were no Dark Ages. It’s a myth.

My Doctorate in Secret-Keeping

Preparing to meet my next patient, I pick the next chart up off the counter. “Bob Smith,” married middle-aged patient, chief complaint: STD check. “Weird,” I think, “Mary Smith’s husband’s name is Bob, too. What a coincidence.” I open the exam room door, and Mary Smith’s husband, Bob Smith, is sitting inside.

Federal Policy Top Priorities in 2017

The Washington Office of CMDA focuses on the fundamental issues of the right to life and freedom of faith, conscience and speech, which serve as the foundation for all other rights and freedoms. Here are some of the top priorities for the new year.

When Pro-Gay Science is Anti-Gay

A study in last month’s Social Science & Medicine reported not being able to replicate the results of Columbia University study showing a shorter life expectancy for LGBT individuals who face prejudice. In this week’s blog, Dr. Andrè Van Mol says it’s another case of non-reproducible results broadcast globally to ideological ends.

Physician Substance Abuse

According to a 2009 article in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, “Approximately 10% to 12% of physicians will develop a substance use disorder during their careers, a rate similar to or exceeding that of the general population.” But while our addiction rate may be similar to the rest of the country, the characteristics and consequences of our addictions are not.

Techno-Babies: Some Assembly Required?

Science fiction is no longer fiction—the first three-parent baby was born a few months ago. Last month in The Point, Dr. Robert E. Cranston raised a series of important questions about the safety and ethics of the technique; now more information—and more questions—have arisen. As a reminder, the concept of creating a baby with three parents came as a proposal to “treat” individuals with mitochondrial genetic diseases, i.e., mutations in the mitochondrial DNA that lead to sometimes lethal physiological problems.

Post-Christian Paganism and Christian Opportunity

A 50-foot reproduction of the entry arch to the Temple of Baal went up in London this year and is soon to be in New York City. Yes, that Baal, the Canaanite “Lord” of fertility, rain and agriculture, thus wealth. Baal worship involved ritual sexual activity, sacred prostitutes of both sexes and infant sacrifice (see Jeremiah 19:5; Deuteronomy 12:31; Deuteronomy 18:9-10; and 2 Kings 23:7).

The Three-Parent Child

Imagine the heartache of learning that your new baby will die slowly and painfully before the age of seven, or much sooner, with the same disabling, degenerative disease that killed your last two children. Now, imagine all of this could be prevented by a newly developed technique that a world-renowned physician is willing to perform on your eggs to ensure your child’s good health. Does this sound too good to be true? Dr. Robert Cranston explains the ethical issues surrounding this new procedure.

What you need to know and do about the new HHS transgender mandate

The transgender mandate, promulgated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the assumed authority of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), went into effect July 18, 2016.

Placebos: Can we use them? Should we use them?

The word “placebo” actually comes from a mis-translation of the Bible. Psalm 116:9 in the Latin Vulgate roughly states, “I shall please the dead in the land of the living.” Later translations better reflected the original Hebrew with, “I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living,” (KJV) but in the Middle Ages, the Latin Vulgate was the only Bible most people knew.

Slip Sliding Away: Death By Organ Donation

Proponents of physician-assisted suicide/euthanasia adamantly maintain the slippery slope does not exist. The U.S. is not like the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and now Canada, they claim. They point out how well assisted suicide is working in states here.

Healthy Healthcare Marriages

Doctors have had a bad rap on the marriage front for a number of years. We’ve long been accused of having a much higher divorce rate than the general public. For many years, there was not a lot of data on healthcare marriages, but strongly held popular opinion characterized a high percentage of us as overworked divorcees whose devotion to our patients cost us our marriages.

Doctors, States challenge new “Transgender regulation”

“No doctor should be forced to perform a procedure that he or she believes will harm a child,” said Lori Windham, senior counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. “Decisions on a child’s medical treatment should be between families and their doctors, not dictated by politicians and government bureaucrats.”

Political Parties Contrasted on Life Issues

Both major political parties recently issued new platforms that communicate contrasting core values to the American people. Following is a breakdown of where each party stands on the life issues of particular concern to readers of this blog: abortion, sex education, embryos and stem cell research and assisted suicide.

The Court of Last Resort

Though I have two in my extended family, I never wanted to be a lawyer. But I admit, I have desired more legal knowledge over the last few months as CMDA has taken legal action as a last resort to deal with threats to our members and our patients.

Women in Healthcare Still Earn Less than Men

And so begins a New York Times article about the recent JAMA Internal Medicine analysis of physician pay disparities. The central message of the analysis is that women in healthcare, on average, earn $20,000 less per year than their specialty-matched male colleagues.

IVF and Aging Parents

On April 19, 2016, Mohinder Singh Gill, age 79, and his wife Dajinder Kaur, 72, gave birth to their first child. Kaur, long past menopause, and Gill conceived their child with the help of Dr. Anurag Bishnoi’s IVF Clinic, reportedly employing their own egg and sperm.

Physician Burnout

It was a relatively slow evening at work when I got the text. My phone vibrated on the clinic countertop as I was looking over a chart. “Are you busy? Can you talk?” I figured those words couldn’t be good, coming as they did from a young intern I mentored when she was a medical student. I found myself wondering if she had lost a patient.

Growing Human Embryos Outside the Womb: New Record, Old Questions

There needs to be a pause for a deeper discussion about just why such research is being done, and if there are any ethical lines that should not be crossed. How many lives are worth sacrificing? One? One thousand? One million?

Assisted Suicide Trend Portends Thousands of Deaths

“In the past two years the number of deaths as a result of physician-assisted suicide in Oregon has nearly doubled,” said Ryan T. Anderson, who researches and writes on physician-assisted suicide at The Heritage Foundation.

Doctors Impacted by New Obamacare Gender Rules

Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act cites decades-old federal laws that prohibit any individual from being denied benefits or discriminated against in any health program or federally funded activity on the basis of race, color, nationality, sex, disability and age. However, the Office of Civil Rights is now interpreting “sex” to include “gender identity” and “sex stereotypes.”

Facing Burnout in Healthcare

Excerpted from “Study: Doctor burnout may increase effect of biases on care,” UPI. January 13, 2016 — A national survey of doctors shows job burnout and personal bias have continued to increase in recent years, and researchers suggest the growth of both could affect the quality of care patients receive.

British Scientists to Genetically Modify Human Embryos

It remains illegal for these genetically altered embryos to be implanted in a woman. It is hoped the experiments will improve our understanding of the earliest stages of embryo development. The research, which was approved by the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority, will use excess embryos donated by couples who have had in vitro fertilization treatment.

The Use of Psychotropic Drugs in Survivors of Human Trafficking

As psychiatrists who are also Christians, we evaluate and treat patients who have experienced many types of trauma, including trauma in childhood, adolescence, and trauma extended into adulthood. Prolonged, chronic trauma can be particularly damaging, affecting the minds, brain, spirits and bodies of victims, sometimes causing persistent physical and mental health problems, even when people are living under the Grace and Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Obama Advancing Gender Ideology Through Regulations

This proposed rule, if implemented, would endanger religious liberty and create concerns for the privacy and safety of our most vulnerable citizens: the homeless and other people seeking emergency shelter for the night.

Trafficking Victims: No Health Professional Helped Me

Recent research indicates that more than 80 percent of trafficking victims in the United States have contact with the healthcare system in the course of being trafficked. Some are even brought to the clinic by their trafficker.

Opening the Conversation About Death

Excerpted from “How doctors want to die is different than most people,” CNN. August 11, 2015 — Dr. Kendra Fleagle Gorlitsky recalls the anguish she used to feel performing CPR on elderly, terminally ill patients. “I felt like I was beating up people at the end of their life,” she says. It looks nothing like what people see on TV.

Human Trafficking Report Inflated by U.S. State Department

n the weeks leading up to a critical annual U.S. report on human trafficking that publicly shames the world’s worst offenders, human rights experts at the State Department concluded that trafficking conditions hadn’t improved in Malaysia and Cuba. And in China, they found, things had grown worse. The State Department’s senior political staff saw it differently — and they prevailed.

Research Shows Use of Medical Marijuana not Always Beneficial

The evidence wasn’t as strong to support marijuana’s use for nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy, sleep disorders, HIV-related weight loss and Tourette syndrome. Also, any benefits of marijuana or cannabis use must be weighed against the risk of side effects, which include dizziness, dry mouth, nausea, sleepiness and euphoria, according to the study’s lead author.

Questions Arise in Brittany Maynard’s Suicide

The fact that she ultimately took her own life the next day, just 24 hours after saying she wasn’t really ready, is still one of the most perplexing twists in the saga surrounding her life and death. Now, a psychologist who is affiliated with a group working to stop a bill in the legislature in California, Maynard’s home state, from legalizing assisted suicide, is asking some serious question about whether Maynard may have been pressured by her family to commit suicide before she was truly prepared to do so.

Senate Passes Human Trafficking Bill

It took a month of back-and-forth between Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the bill’s author, and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to find a compromise. They settled on creating two funding streams in the bill. One collects fines from traffickers and uses them for survivor services, excluding health care.

The Point Washington Update – April 2015

Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests.

The Point Washington Update – March 2015

In this issue: Abortion and human trafficking, Marriage merits, and Religious freedom.

The Point Washington Update – February 2015

Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests.

The Point Blog – February 2015

Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests. In this issue: Measles outbreak raising national concerns, The death of physician-assisted suicide in Colorado, and Illinois approves child use of medical marijuana.

The Point Washington Update – January 2015

Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests. In this issue: Assisted Suicide, Pro-life march, and Human Trafficking.

The Point Washington Update – November 2014

Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests. In this issue: Ebola death, Pro-life election gains 2015, and Assisted suicide.

The Point – November 2014

Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests. In this issue: In this edition: Terminally ill patient ends her life, Tennessee passes abortion amendment, and Public supports quarantine for Ebola health workers.

The Point Washington Update – August 2014

Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests. In this edition: Human trafficking, Contraceptive mandate, and Marriage debate.

The Point Washington Update – April 2014 (Second Edition)

Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests. In this edition of The Point: CMDA members, staff raise awareness of human trafficking, CMDA members in NEJM on conscience, and New health care reform agenda.

The Point Washington Update – April 2014

Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests. In this edition of The Point: Researchers harvest stem cells from cloned human embryos, Assisted suicide advocates make their case in JAMA, and SCOTUS hears case on free speech re: abortion in Obamacare.

The Point Washington Update – March 2014

Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests. In this edition of The Point: CMDA religious freedom commentary on Fox News, Supreme Court hears religious freedom, contraceptives cases, and Quebec election 2014 may speed euthanasia legalization; doctors protest.

CMA Submits Congressional Testimony on Health Care Law

A commentary from CMDA CEO David Stevens, MD, MA (Ethics) about CMDA’s testimony before Congress regarding the Affordable Care Act. Excerpted from written testimony by the Christian Medical Association submitted to the United States House of Representatives, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Subcommittee on Health Care, District of Columbia, Census and the National Archives. The Subcommittee held a hearing July 10, 2012, “The Affordable Care Act (ACA): Impact on Doctors and Patients.”

The Point Blog – October 2013

Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests. In this edition of The Point: New Poll Results on Physician-Assisted Suicide, Obamacare May Trigger Exodus of Christian Doctors, and Doctors Look For A Way Off The Medical Hamster Wheel.

The Point Washington Update – September 2013

Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests. In this edition of The Point: CMDA human trafficking expert teaches doctors and students, Washington Post: Zygote is not a “living being” and Lawmakers focusing on abortion and harms to women.

The Point Washington Update – June 2013

Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests. In this edition of The Point: High court rules on two cases on same-sex marriage, and SCOTUS strikes “prostitution pledge” requirement for AIDS, human trafficking grants.

The Point Blog – May 2013

In this edition of The Point: CMDA physicians on human cloning study revelation, Vermont to legalize physician-assisted suicide, Use Of Embryo Donation As A Family Building Option.

The Point Special Edition – April 2013

The heroes are the best-known acronyms in the world of AIDS (PEPFAR, UNAIDS, WHO), the Global Fund and a host of NGOs. Together, these organizations have waged total war against AIDS in Africa—or what looks like total war if you compare it to efforts devoted to other diseases.

The Point Blog – April 2013

In this edition of The Point: Assisted suicide bill set aside, for now, Plan B One-Step without age restriction, and First state personhood amendment.

The Point Washington Update – April 2013

Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests. In this edition of The Point: Video chronicles abortion clinic horrors, Administration invites help in battling human trafficking, and CMDA and others urge HHS to reconsider contraceptives mandate.

The Point Washington Update – March 2013

Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests. In this edition of The Point: CMA human trafficking commentary published in Washington Times, House pushed to pass conscience protections, and Miss America promotes sexual risk avoidance education.

The Point Blog – February 2013

In this edition of The Point: Opt-out of the contraception mandate, Problem with Medical Student Debt, and Blind twins euthanized.

The Point Blog – January 2013

In this edition of The Point: Spiritual care rare at end of life, Medical killing in U.S. and Europe, and Free Condoms in Schools.

The Point Washington Update – January 2012

Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests. In this edition of The Point: Human trafficking, International health, and the Contraception mandate.