Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Human Life Amendment”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 361 records · Page 20Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Diagnosis and treatment of depression in late life. Consensus statement update.

OBJECTIVE: To reexamine the conclusions of the 1991 National Institutes of Health Consensus Panel on Diagnosis and Treatment of Depression in Late Life in light of current scientific evidence. PARTICIPANTS: Participants included National Institutes of Health staff and experts drawn from the Planning Committee and presenters of the 1991 Consensus Development Conference. EVIDENCE: Participants summarized relevant data from the world scientific literature on the original questions posed for the conference. PROCESS: Participants reviewed the original consensus statement and identified areas for update. The list of issues was circulated to all participants and amended to reflect group agreement. Selected participants prepared first drafts of the consensus update for each issue. All drafts were read by all participants and were amended and edited to reflect group consensus. CONCLUSIONS: The review concluded that, although the initial consensus statement still holds, there is important new information in a number of areas. These areas include the onset and course of late-life depression; comorbidity and disability; sex and hormonal issues; newer medications, psychotherapies, and approaches to long-term treatment; impact of depression on health services and health care resource use; late-life depression as a risk factor for suicide; and the importance of the heterogeneous forms of depression. Depression in older people remains a significant public health problem. The burden of unrecognized or inadequately treated depression is substantial. Efficacious treatments are available. Aggressive approaches to recognition, diagnosis, and treatment are warranted to minimize suffering, improve overall functioning and quality of life, and limit inappropriate use of health care resources.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1985

Unexpectedly severe toxicity from intensive early treatment of childhood lymphoblastic leukemia.

In early 1984, we treated 13 consecutive patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) using an induction regimen of rapidly rotated combinations of prednisone, vincristine, asparaginase, teniposide (VM-26), cytosine arabinoside, and high-dose methotrexate (MTX) followed by leucovorin rescue. The intent of this clinical trial, designated Total Therapy Study XI, is to test the hypothesis that greater initial leukemia cell kill will decrease opportunities for the development of drug-resistant mutants, with resultant improvement in the length of disease-free survival. Five patients experienced life-threatening gastrointestinal toxicity within three weeks of the start of treatment. One died. Three other patients had severe abdominal pain, abdominal distention, diarrhea, and weight loss, but not gastrointestinal bleeding. In the remaining five patients, toxicity was rapidly reversible, and each child was able to complete the planned course of chemotherapy. The study was then amended to switch high-dose MTX from the induction phase to the consolidation phase, allowing at least one week for mucosal recovery. Among the next 28 patients who were treated, none showed evidence of severe gastrointestinal toxicity. Patients now receive high-dose MTX alone as consolidation therapy and are tolerating it adequately. Drug timing should be examined critically when intensified multiple-agent regimens are being devised for initial treatment of ALL.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Medical devices; exception from general requirements for informed consent. Interim final rule.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is issuing this interim final rule to amend its regulations to establish a new exception from the general requirements for informed consent, to permit the use of investigational in vitro diagnostic devices to identify chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear agents without informed consent in certain circumstances. The agency is taking this action because it is concerned that, during a potential terrorism event or other potential public health emergency, delaying the testing of specimens to obtain informed consent may threaten the life of the subject. In many instances, there may also be others who have been exposed to, or who may be at risk of exposure to, a dangerous chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear agent, thus necessitating identification of the agent as soon as possible. FDA is creating this exception to help ensure that individuals who may have been exposed to a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear agent are able to benefit from the timely use of the most appropriate diagnostic devices, including those that are investigational.

Device Approval↗
PubMed2006

[Functional improvement program of musculoskeletal system of the elderly in an isolated island of Kagoshima prefecture].

Under the coming amendment of long term care insurance (LTCI), the preventive activities will be more strengthened in order to ameliorate the quality of life (QOL) levels of the slightly frail elderly and then to rationalize the LTCI expenditures. The functional training of the musculoskeletal system is regarded as especially important. In order to validate its effectiveness and availability in a rural setting, we organized a physical fitness program for the slightly frail elderly in an isolated island of Kagoshima prefecture. According to the results of our preliminary study, statistically significant improvement was observed for some items of the physical fitness level, but not for life style, activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) levels or Frenchay Activities Index. In addition to the relatively small number of participants, it is thought that physical fitness training alone cannot increase the elderly activity volume. Further studies are necessary to clarify the usefulness of physical training on the ADL/IADL level of the elderly.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2004

Health impact assessment for the sustainable futures of Salford.

BACKGROUND: The Salford Health Investment for Tomorrow and the Local Improvement Finance Trust proposals for the comprehensive redevelopment of Salford Royal Hospital and the provision of four integrated primary health and social centres in the City of Salford are a response to the challenge of the NHS Plan to modernize delivery and service provision. The scale of the proposed developments will have a major effect on the quality of life in Salford. This health impact assessment was undertaken to determine how these proposals could be amended to ensure that the impacts are optimised so that potential benefits to Salford's communities are realised to maximise their health and wellbeing. METHOD: This involved a comprehensive prospective health impact assessment and a series of interviews with key stakeholders, community organisations, and local people to identify and prioritize potential positive and negative impacts of the proposals. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The assessment pointed to a wide range of positive and negative impacts that provided the basis of a set of recommendations, which were linked directly to the themes of the Salford Community Plan. These related to setting employment, education, and training opportunities to maximise health and wellbeing and improve quality of life for all communities in Salford within the framework of the plan. In presenting the findings of the health impact assessment and discussing the recommendations, the paper presents a unique approach in health impact assessment reporting by offering perspectives from the assessor and the project's steering group.

Community Health Planning↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Public health and food safety: a historical association.

Since the initial passage in 1906 of the first Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act, public health, as measured by mortality trends, has greatly improved. These acts have been amended several times, and other laws dealing with safety of foods and drinks have been enacted. Food- and beverage-transmitted infectious diseases that were so devastating after the Civil War have been controlled. Nutritional deficiencies such as pellagra are almost nonexistent. Mass episodes of poisoning of food by chemical contaminants that have plagued some other countries have not occurred in the United States. Other factors such as refrigeration and improved transportation have helped, but it is probable that food safety regulatory activities have contributed to the saving of the 1.8 million Americans who would die each year if the public health advances since 1900 had not been made. Effective use of information was a key factor in the improvement in public health. Now, as then, effective information systems are needed.

Bacterial Infections↗
PubMed2005

[Social aspects and cancer: information dedicated to cancer patients and relatives].

In response to the evolution of the information-seeking behaviour of patients and concerns from health professionals regarding cancer patient information, the French National Federation of Comprehensive Cancer Centres (FNCLCC) introduced, in 1998, an information and education program dedicated to patients and relatives, the SOR SAVOIR PATIENT program (SSP). The methodology of this program adheres to established quality criteria regarding the elaboration of patient information. Cancer patient information, developed in this program, is based on clinical practice guidelines produced by the FNCLCC and the twenty French regional cancer centres, the National League against Cancer, The National Cancer Institute, the French Hospital Federation, the National Oncology Federation of Regional and University Hospitals, the French Oncology Federation of General Hospitals, many learned societies, as well as an active participation of patients, former patients and caregivers. The information and dialogue handbook SOR SAVOIR PATIENT Social aspects & cancer partly published in this edition of the Bulletin du cancer, provides specific information regarding patient social rights and benefits extracted from the texts of laws currently in force in France. It also relies on the handbook A "Prévoir Demain, La réinsertion des patients traités pour cancers A", realised in partnership with the FNCLCC, the Coloplast foundation for quality of life and the National League against Cancer. This document is available from the FNCLCC (101, rue de Tolbiac, 75013 Paris, Tel. (0033) 1 44 23 04 68, www.fnclcc.fr). The handbook A "Social aspects & cancer A" was worked out and published in 2004. Information may change with new legal regulations. It is therefore strongly advised to refer to the texts of laws in force to check for possible amendments. This article aims to help patients and relatives to be better aware of their social rights, to locate the different social and administrative services concerned (CAF, Cotorep, etc.) and to turn to the right person and the appropriate agency in the event of social difficulties during and after the disease. This document is designed to offer health professionals a validated information digest of all resources available in order to better communicate with the patient on social aspects of cancer.

Family↗
PubMed1983

CMA abortion survey.

Responses to the question as to whether abortions should be performed at the woman's request during the first trimester of pregnancy were evenly divided. There was support for abortion on socioeconomic grounds, during the first trimester, from 61.5% of the respondents. Termination of pregnancy beyond the first trimester was supported by a majority of the respondents only in cases in which the woman's life is in danger (73.9%) or in which there is evidence of a severe physical abnormality in the fetus (70.6%) or in cases in which the woman's physical health is in danger (55.5%). Those who said they would not support abortion under any circumstances constitute, at most, 5.1% of the respondents. Support for the maintenance or the elimination of therapeutic abortion committees was addressed in two questions and in both cases the respondents were evenly divided. The responses to these two questions were compared and found to be logically consistent. Only physicians should perform abortions, and they should be performed in hospitals with the woman either as an inpatient or, during the first trimester, as an outpatient. The performance of first-trimester abortions in provincially approved abortion clinics was supported by 47.3% of the respondents. Of the 885 respondents who wished to see some amendment to the Criminal Code, 409 stated that the term "health" as used in the Criminal Code relative to the legal grounds for therapeutic abortion should be defined.

Abortion, Therapeutic↗
PubMed2003

Epoetin alfa corrects anemia and improves quality of life in patients with hematologic malignancies receiving non-platinum chemotherapy.

Anemia, a commonly occurring morbidity in patients with cancer, often leads to diminished quality of life (QOL). Numerous clinical trials have shown that epoetin alfa treatment improves hematologic and QOL variables in cancer patients. The clinical trial analysis reported here was performed to assess response to epoetin alfa in patients with hematologic malignancies. Cancer patients with anemia undergoing non-platinum-based chemotherapy who were enrolled in a multinational, randomized (2:1), double-blind, placebo-controlled trial were prospectively stratified by tumor type (hematologic, solid). Efficacy endpoints included proportion of patients transfused after day 28; change in hemoglobin (Hb) level from baseline to last assessment; proportion of treatment responders (increase in Hb > or =2 g/dl unrelated to transfusion) and correctors (patients whose Hb levels reached > or =12 g/dl during the study); and QOL. The protocol was amended before unblinding to prospectively collect and assess survival data 12 months after the last patient completed the study, and survival for the full study cohort was estimated using Kaplan-Meier techniques. Efficacy analyses of hematologic and QOL variables, as well as Kaplan-Meier estimates of survival, were performed post hoc for the hematologic tumor stratum. Among patients with hematologic malignancies, the mean increase in Hb levels was greater with epoetin alfa than with placebo treatment (2.2 vs. 0.3 g/dl). Transfusion requirements were lower in patients who received epoetin alfa versus placebo (25.2 vs. 43.1%), and the proportion of responders and correctors was higher with epoetin alfa than with placebo (75.2 vs. 16.7% and 72.6 vs. 14.8%, respectively). Patients who received epoetin alfa had improved QOL while patients who received placebo had decreased QOL. These results are similar to those seen in the full study cohort, where differences between epoetin alfa and placebo were significant (P<0.05) for all five primary cancer- and anemia-specific QOL domains evaluated. Although the study was not powered for survival, Kaplan-Meier estimates showed a trend in overall survival favoring epoetin alfa in both the full study cohort and the hematologic subgroup. Epoetin alfa treatment was well tolerated. Epoetin alfa therapy increased Hb levels, reduced transfusion requirements, and improved QOL in patients with anemia undergoing non-platinum chemotherapy for hematologic malignancies.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Depressive syndromes in dementia.

BACKGROUND: Depressive syndromes in dementia are common, treatment is challenging and controlled intervention studies are small in number. The goal of this paper is to review known information about the etiology, epidemiology and treatment of these syndromes, as summarized at the recent Canadian Consensus Conference on Dementia. METHODS: A number of Medline searches were performed (most recently updated in October 2000) using the subject categories dementia and depression, or apathy or emotional lability and other relevant articles were also reviewed. The background article was edited and amended at the Consensus Conference on Dementia. Final recommendations appearing in the summary article by Patterson et al were accepted by the group consensus process. Clinical discussion and informational updates were added for the current text by the authors. RESULTS: Depressive syndromes, ranging in severity from isolated symptoms to full depressive disorders, increase in dementia. While clear-cut depressive disorder is increased in this population, sub-syndromal disorders are even more common and cause considerable distress. Antidepressant treatment may improve the quality of life in depressed, demented people, although it is less successful than in those without cognitive impairment and carries more risk of iatrogenic effects. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians should be alert to the presence of depressive syndromes in dementia. Depressive illness should be treated and, when necessary, referral should be made to an appropriate specialist. Treatment must minimize iatrogenic effects. Although there is some support for treatment of syndromes that do not meet criteria for depressive disorder or dysthymia, the first line of intervention in these situations should involve nonpharmacological approaches.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

Quality assurance: the key for amendments of the EU-directive/s regulating veterinary training in Europe.

The free movement of persons, goods and services within the European Union (EU) is one of the major principles established by the European treaties. This free movement shall now be reinforced through the full application of the new general system for the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, in which veterinary medicine is included. The success of this measure for internal market development imposes availability of professionals with the highest possible basic training and opportunities for continuing education and specialisation. Such benchmark definition requires the establishment of veterinary training throughout the EU to focus on the qualitative aspects of the basic training they impart. New production forms, new labour markets and a higher degree of consciousness of the producers and the consumers, together with an ever-increasing load of new information and knowledge in most veterinary fields had forced changes in veterinary education strategies. These changes have led to the adaptation of curricula and the application of new pedagogical concepts ultimately leading to the design of new, exciting programmes of veterinary training. Some of them use a combination of basic education and elective terms while others have focused training in species-oriented tracks already by the time students enter the clinical level. There is general consent that the quality of basal training must enable the student to achieve a level of confidence in life-long learning so he/she would be able to follow relevant CPD's and, eventually, pursue specialisation. At the same time, veterinary establishments are concerned with their ability to achieve these goals, mostly due to the usual high costs of veterinary training that constrain their chances to maintain equality of training levels through the EU. We need to find tools to harmonise veterinary training among the establishments of veterinary education in Europe, beyond the compulsory subject and training minimum requirements laid down by the Directive 78/1027. Harmonisation requires regulations but also awareness. Establishments of veterinary education must not only comply with regulations but also become aware of the advantages of quality assurance of their basic training. The present paper is a series of personal reflections by the author who ultimately addresses veterinary educators and interest organisations such as the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE) and the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) to focus on strategies of quality assurance as the basis for claims of amendments of the EU-Directive/s regulating veterinary training in Europe.

Curriculum↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Use of a left ventricular assist device in an outpatient setting.

The vented electric Heartmate LVAD (VE-LVAD) (Thermo Cardiosystems, Inc., Woburn, MA) is a reliable, fully portable system that allows selected patients with end-stage cardiomyopathy to undergo outpatient treatment while waiting for heart transplantation. This implantable, pusher-plate LVAD is actuated by an electric motor located within the pump housing. The patient wears external batteries and a system controller, which power and control the LVAD motor through a percutaneous lead. Since May 1991, four men have been supported with the VE-LVAD. They ranged in age from 33 to 50 years (mean, 44.3 years); two had idiopathic cardiomyopathy, and two had ischemic cardiomyopathy. Of the four patients, three underwent support of 196, 219, and 504 days; support in the fourth patient is ongoing at more than 90 days. All four patients were fully rehabilitated to New York Heart Association Class I status. Because they were well and fully mobile, the protocol was amended to allow these patients to leave the hospital in a four phase program that begins with 16 hr day passes and leads to hospital discharge. When patients leave the hospital, they are accompanied by trained family members or friends. The patients who have participated in the program have performed routine activities, attended social events, and spent the night at home. The VE-LVAD system seems safe and appropriate for the outpatient setting in selected patients. Patients have been able to manage the system without assistance from medical or engineering personnel. This initial positive experience with outpatient LVAD treatment demonstrates the potential for providing long-term cardiac support with this type of implantable technology.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The medical deontological code and ethical questions regarding the end of life. A contribution to clarity from anesthesiologists and intensive care personnel].

The Medical Deontological Code (MDC) discusses ethical questions regarding the end of life, which often require anesthetists and intensive care operators to take decisions regarding patients with terminal diseases in Article 14: Intensity of diagnostic-therapeutic procedures under heading IV (Diagnostic and therapeutic procedures) and Article 37: Caring for the terminally ill under heading V (Caring for the terminally ill). The original formulation of Article 37 prompted immediate dissent among numerous anesthetists-IC operators and bioethics experts who signed a petition addressed to the Permanent Commission for the Revision of the Deontological Code in which they asked of Article 37 and proposed a reformulation. In this paper the authors outline the arguments used to back up this requests and its broad acceptance by the Commission, as shown by the amendments made to Articles 37 and 38 of the MDC and the clarifications given un the Commentary to the MDC approved on 1/9/99. These amendments correct a deontological regulation whose original formulation appeared to be contradictory and inapplicable to the terminally ill patients. This matter clearly shows the importance of bioethical questions facing. Anesthetists and Intensive Care operators and underlines the need for reflection on these themes within the profession and a more active participation in the general debate on ethical and deontological aspects of the medical profession.

Death↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Considerations on blood glucose management in Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

In recent years the benefits of more intensive management in preventing or delaying the development and progression of diabetic complications have been well documented. What is not as well documented is how to motivate the person with diabetes to manage the condition, how to set, assess and quantify glucose goals, and the glucose variables that should be routinely measured. This review discusses the importance of setting targets and communicating them in a way that the patient understands. When aiming for a glycaemia target, balance is required (1) between achieving reduction of complications and causing an increased degree of hypoglycaemia, and (2) between what is achievable and what degree of benefit is gained. Target values given in guidelines should be adapted by the clinician to take into account the patient's susceptibility to hypoglycaemia, stage and type of complications, age and life expectancy, co-morbidity, social environment, understanding of the steps required and level of commitment to the treatment. Several suggestions are given regarding possible improvements and amendments to existing guidelines for diabetes management in treating to glucose goal. For example, attention should be drawn to the need to individualize goals and to consider education, long-term support, patient needs and treatment outcome when formulating diabetes management plans. The relative properties of the different glucose variables-fasting plasma glucose (FPG), postprandial plasma glucose (PPG), glycated haemoglobin A(1c) (HbA(1c)), and glycated protein-in terms of their convenience of measurement, usefulness and relevance to the physician and patient are also evaluated. When prioritising the variables to be measured it is suggested that where feasible, HbA(1c) should be the standard measurement by which to gauge risk and treatment efficacy. Serial measurements should be made and, where possible, the use of blood glucose meters encouraged, in order to obtain a blood glucose profile for the patient.

Biomarkers↗
PubMed1977

Children can't fly: a program to prevent childhood morbidity and mortality from window falls.

"Children Can't Fly" is a health education program developed by the New York City Department of Health to combat the high incidence of child mortality and morbidity due to falls from windows. The success of the program, begun in 1972, in drastically reducing death and injury persuaded the New York City Board of Health to amend the Health Code in 1976 to require that landlords provide window guards in apartments where children ten years old and younger reside. The law is the first and only one of its kind in the nation. The program has four major components: 1) reporting of falls by hospital emergency rooms and police precincts, followed up by counseling, referral, and data collecting by public health nurses; 2) a media campaign to inform the public and elevate their awareness of the hazards; 3) community education for prevention through door-to-door hazard identification, counseling by outreach workers, community organization efforts with schools, tenant groups, clinics, churches, health care providers, etc; 4) provision of free, easily installed window guards to families with young children living in high-risk areas. Significant reduction in falls resulted, particularly in the Bronx, where reported falls declined 50 percent from 1973 to 1975. The program is one solution to an urgent urban problem which other cities might consider to avert the loss of life and limb, and the corollary financial burden for hospitalization, rehabilitation, and maintenance of the injured and permanently disabled.

Accidents, Home↗
PubMed2003

The politics of cloning: mapping the rhetorical convergence of embyros and stem cells in parliamentary debates.

In April 2001, the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (HFE Act) was amended to allow stem cell research to use human embryos. By identifying what Mulkay calls "discursive regularities" [Mulkay, M. (1993) Rhetorics of hope and fear in the great embryo debate, Social Studies of Science, 23, p. 723], this paper examines the rhetorical strategies of and manoeuvrings over the meanings of stem cells, cloning, and embryos within the parliamentary context. I focus upon the "return to the embryo question" and the significance" of this for the stem cell debates in terms of form and content. This feeds into an analysis of the ways in which two specific groups are discursively invoked and constructed--those with diseases and disabilities who have been identified as likely to benefit from stem cell therapies, and couples undergoing fertility treatment who are needed to donate spare embryos. In doing so, I draw upon similar analyses of the earlier embryo debates--those of Mulkay, Franklin, Kirejcyk and Spallone--leading up to the establishment of the 1990 HFE Act. In conjunction with these analyses, I am able to identify parallels between the rhetorical devices mobilized and the legislative outcomes.

Advisory Committees↗
PubMedDate not supplied

An improved approach to the patient with metabolic acidosis: a need for four amendments.

Clinicians should identify life-threatening issues in patients with metabolic acidosis. These threats may be present before therapy begins and/or anticipated after therapy commences. By adding four amendments, short-comings in the commonly used clinical approaches for the diagnosis of metabolic acidosis can be overcome. First, a definition of metabolic acidosis should consider not only the concentration of bicarbonate but also the content of bicarbonate in the extra cellular fluid compartment. The latter requires a quantitative estimate of the ECF volume, which can be obtained using the hematocrit and/or the total protein concentration in plasma. Second, to determine if the basis for metabolic acidosis was the addition of acids or the loss of NaHCO 3 , one must hunt for new anions, not only in plasma, but also in the urine. Third, it is important to measure the venous as well as the arterial PCO2 to assess the capacity to buffer H+ while minimizing H + binding to intracellular proteins. Fourth, to assess the role of the kidney in a patient with metabolic acidosis, the urine osmolal gap and the concentration of creatinine in the urine should be measured to provide an estimate of the rate of excretion of ammonium.

Acid-Base Equilibrium↗
PubMed2002

[Is preimplantation diagnosis legal?--on the need for harmonizing legislation].

Whether PGD is already legally permitted in Germany today is a moot point. A guidelines draft of the Germany's Federal General Medical Council, the Bundesärztekammer, on pre-implantation genetic diagnostics that--like the earlier findings of the ethics commission of the German federal state of the Rhineland-Palatinate--assumed that the method is admissible, if certain clearly-defined indications are present and a rigorous testing procedure has been established, has given the discussion a new impetus. The discussion is in full swing, with calls by politicians for the legislator to pass a regulation mounting. Of late, though, constitutional objections have been raised against a positive-law regulation. Such a simple legal move to regulate PGD, it is claimed, would violate the constitutionally-guaranteed right to inviolable human dignity. Critics, however, point out that such an absolute inviolability does not exist. According to them, not only the verdicts by the German Federal Constitutional Court, the Bundesverfassungsgericht, on the reform of section 218 of the German Federal Penal Code (StGB)--the paragraph that specifies the conditions under which an abortion is not punished--that relativize (in terms of the indication model) one claim to existence with respect to another, but also the approval in terms of pharmaceutical and medicine-products law of nidation-blocking agents, serve to show this. If the condition of being a human being were made to coincide with the completion of the genetic code upon the completion of the process of fertilisation, then one tended to forget, the critics noted, that this attendant dignity was not properly "infused with life" unless nidation had been successful. Without nidation everything were fragmentary, the total protection of human dignity according to Article 1 Section 1 of the Federal Republic's Basic Law, Germany's constitution, notwithstanding. During every in vitro fertilisation embryo transfer is conditional upon a variety of factors the presence of which is not noted until after fertilisation has taken place. On the part of the embryos, too, certain conditions have to be met whose presence at the moment of fertilisation is not assured. Thus an embryo with, for instance, defects that can be visually detected will not be transferred. With regard to these facts too the opponents of pre-implantation genetic diagnostics must be challenged to answer the question of why an embryo with visually-detectable defects should undoubtedly be allowed to be discarded, but the act of searching for "internal" defects be banned. Thus the fact remains that the mere acceptance of the loss of created embryos does not make artificial insemination a punishable offense, as long as the motive for the act is to bring about pregnancy. To achieve legal security for the couples and the physicians involved the law on the protection of embryos should be changed. The new regulations should determine under which conditions PGD is permissible. As is already the case for other norms that apply to reproductive medicine, but also for the practice of abortion, these regulations should contain an analogous right of refusal for the professionals involved. The laws relating to the healing professions, to the professional chambers, as well as the regulations of the various German federal states (which together constitute the Federal Republic of Germany) that apply to the professions should be amended accordingly.

Abortion, Induced↗