Advances in Medical Technology

Do you think we'll ever see the types of major advances in medical technology that are depicted in science fiction movies? Right now, the buzz around Star Trek is quite strong. When I went to see the movie, people from a local fan club were displaying some movie props. It was fun to play with some of the medical tricorders. If you don't know what a tricorder is, you may want to look at this post: Star Trek and Medical Computers

Who's going to develop the first medical tricorder? I'm willing to bet that it will be someone at MIT.

Fascinating Jim.

The ACLU Sues Over Patents on Cancer Genes

CNN: "Patents on two human genes linked to breast and ovarian cancers are being challenged in court by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which argues that patenting pure genes is unconstitutional and hinders research for a cancer cure." According to the ACLU, "Myriad's patents give it exclusive right to perform diagnostic tests on the genes -- forcing other researchers to request permission from the company before they can take a look at BRCA1 and BRCA2."

What do you think about this?

Scientists are identifying more cancer genes all the time. We already know that several forms of breast and ovarian cancers are linked to specific genes (like BRCA1 and BRCA2) that can be detected through special genetic tests. Oncologists and geneticists often struggle with the ethical dilemmas that frequently complicate genetic testing. Image source: CNN

FDA Recall: Face Paint Made in China

I hate to sound like I'm giving China such a hard time about their manufacturing standards. I've been to China several times and I even have some very good friends who are living there.

Well, the FDA has issued another consumer product recall. This time, it's on water-based face paints. Symptoms associated with these face paints included: rashes, itchiness, burning sensation, and swelling where the face paints were applied.

Fun Express, Inc. recalls children’s face paint associated with adverse events. Fun Express Inc., is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oriental Trading Co.

Health Data Hacked at UC Berkeley

This doesn't sound good. Data security breaches are occurring all over the country (see: Hacked: Medical Data on 8 Million Virginia Residents)

Hackers (or maybe there's just one hacker) have compromised personal health information on over 160,000 individuals at the University of California Berkeley. The hackers attacked restricted computer databases in the campus' health service center and probably gained access to personally identifiable information used for billing, such as Social Security numbers, and non-treatment medical information such as immunization history, UHS medical record numbers, dates of visits or names of providers seen. Image source: Health IT News