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While the clinical promise of much stem cell research remains largely theoretical, patients are nonetheless pursuing unproven stem cell therapies in jurisdictions around the world—a phenomenon referred to as “stem cell tourism.” These treatments are generally advertised on a direct-to-consumer basis via the Internet. Research shows portrayals of stem cell medicine on such websites are overly optimistic and the claims made are unsubstantiated by published evidence. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that parents are pursing these “treatments” for their children, despite potential physical and financial risk. Physicians are in a unique position as they can be expected to be involved in, or privy to, such decisions. In this paper, we consider what duties physicians may have toward minor patients whose parents/guardians wish to engage in stem cell tourism on their behalf. We use the Canadian perspective to address the broadly relevant issues raised by this trend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors comment on the argument by L. Shavelson and colleagues for equal access to medical aid in dying (MAID). Topics discussed include their argument on not providing equal access to people whose diseases make unassisted self-administration impossible, argument on Shavelson et al's focus on the self-administration safeguard procedure in MAID, and implication of the growth in the number of people killed by MAID from 2016 to 2021.

The author wonders wether health care practices and practicing health care ethicists will accept the challenge to examine their own practices and roles in relation to Canadian Indigenous patients. She shares her encounter in a role of clinical ethicist with an indigenous patient and agrees with the timeliness of comparing the seven gifts of Ojibway people to Western virtues. Emphasis is given on the need to address multigenerational trauma of Indigenous people of Canada.

The author presents a response to insights about his paper on policy development for health care decision making in critical-care settings. Topics covered include the importance of enabling the maintenance of trust among parties in decision making, the capacity of health professional organizations in developing authoritarian policy statements for critical care and the use of the scope of customary critical care practices plus as part of a dispute resolution process.

Contemporary bioethics recognizes the importance of the culture in shaping ethical issues, yet in practice, a process for ethical analysis and decision making is rarely adjusted to the culture and ethnicity of involved parties. This is of a particular concern in a health care system that is caring for a growing Aboriginal population. We raise the possibility of constructing a bioethics grounded in traditional Aboriginal knowledge. As an example of an element of traditional knowledge that contains strong ethical guidance, we present the story of the Gifts of the Seven Grandfathers. We note a resemblance of this Ojibway teaching to virtue ethics in European traditions, but we suggest that there are also important differences in how these two traditions are currently presented. We hope that further engagement with a variety of indigenous moral teachings and traditions could improve health care involving Aboriginal patients and communities, and enrich the discipline of bioethics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) remains a controversial technique, one that has elicited a variety of regulatory responses throughout the world. On March 29, 2005, Canada's Assisted Human Reproduction Act came into force. This law prohibits a number of research activities, including SCNT. Given the pluralistic nature of Canadian society, the creation of this law stands as an interesting case study of the policy-making process and how and why a liberal democracy ends up making the relatively rare decision to use a statutory prohibition, backed by severe penalties, to stop a particular scientific activity. In this article, we provide a comprehensive and systematic legal analysis of the legislative process and parliamentary debates associated with the passage of this law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the ban on somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) by the Canadian Assisted Human Reproduction Act. It is suggested that the protection of the health and safety of women was the reason for criminal ban on SCNT, rather than moral status as suggested by Caulfield and Bubela. The article also mentions that the Act allows for SCNT research but bans the creation of a hybrid for reproduction purposes and the transfer of a hybrid into any other kind of life form.

The author discusses the Canadian ban on somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). The author argues that research to derive human embryonic stem cells (hESC) is permitted under Assisted Human Reproductive Act of Canada. According to the act supernumerary embryos originally created for reproduction using in vitro fertilization (IVF), and embryos may be created to improve or provide instruction in assisted reproduction procedures. The author mentions that there is absolute no protection for embryos.