Just before Washington’s collective attention turned to inaugural festivities, House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Fortney (Pete) Stark, D-Calif., dropped legislation aimed at overhauling the U.S. healthcare system through advances in technology. Stark introduced a similar bill in the 110th Congress — much of which was culled from a proposal that emerged from the…
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Special investigation: Who is testing your DNA?
Peter Aldhous and Michael Reilly report: […] Test Infidelity is just one of dozens of US companies offering to test DNA taken without the knowledge of the people concerned. Many firms advertise infidelity testing services or offer “discreet” paternity tests. These allow a man to determine whether he is the father of a child without…
Gov’t. should lead in reducing medical ID theft: report
Joseph Conn / HITS staff writer reports: Both patients and information technology systems should play a role in detecting and reducing medical identity theft, but the federal government has a part to play as well, researching and organizing a national response to the problem, authors of a government-funded study have concluded. National security and defense…
UK: Data watchdog urged to examine legality of NHS database
A GP who is campaigning against the NHS Care Records Services is calling on the watchdog for NHS data to examine the legality of the government’s proposals for the NHS database. Dr Paul Thornton, a GP in Warwickshire, has written a 15 page report for the National Information Governance Board for Health and Social Care…
Shame on WikiLeaks for its file on Steve Jobs
WikiLeaks‘ home page proclaims, “We help you safely get the truth out.” Their editorial board seems to have abandoned any reasonable standards for “truth” this week. Despite noting that certain materials “are probably, but not certainly, fabricated,” and that the source of the purported materials did not seem to exist at the time the materials…
Ca: Privacy concerns slowing research
It’s a ghoulish fact that early medical research had to be conducted on stolen corpses. The problem in those days was a heightened sense of privacy about the human body. Feelings ran so high that medical schools were forced to hire grave-robbers to provide anatomical specimens. Michelangelo ransacked morgues to carry out his physiology research….