Ethical decisions at the edge

Medicine grows incrementally in its ability to treat patients and at the growing edge it poses problems about the appropriateness of treatments that are different from those where good practice conforms to widely agreed standards. The growth of access to medical knowledge and the diversity of contemporary theoretical and clinical medicine have spawned deep divisions in the profession and divergent opinions about what constitutes reasonable care. That hallmark of acceptable practice is also under pressures from the threat of litigation, a highly commercialised contemporary medical environment, patient demands based on medical journalism and the internet and the exponential growth of bio-medical technology. Patient empowerment can result in complaints arising in new and complex areas and expert opinion can often differ markedly depending on where on the medical spectrum the experts are aligned. This column lays out some broad-brush principles to assess the adequacy of medical advice in such a climate.     

徘徊在十字路口的中国法学

这个题目 ,显得有点危言耸听 :中国法学不是正一日千里、阔步前行吗 ?予谓不信 ,可到法学书店那琳琅满目的书架上或各类书店的法学专柜前看一下啊。是的 ,只要抱有公允立场的人 ,绝不会对二十余年来 ,特别是 1 988年以来中国法学的艰难发展、创新视而不见。本文强调中国法学徘徊在十字路口 ,恰好是在对这一人所共见的进步肯定基础上的立论。十字路口 ,道路纵横 ,东西南北延伸 ,是每每令不知就里的行人左顾右盼、踯躅徘徊之所。它一般意味着 ,人们已经走过了相当长的一段路 ,但当寻求目标的人们遇到这个十字路口时 ,其选择只能是 :要么原地不…     

基层化妆品监管问题分析及监管对策

近些年来化妆品市场迅猛发展，新产品不断涌现，新问题层出不穷，化妆品卫生监管工作面临新的问题，现行《条例》及《细则》越来越不适应市场监管需要。为了弥补监管漏洞，探求有效的监管方法，作者对基层化妆品监管中存在的问题进行了分析，并提出了应对之策。     

Public Opinion at the Turn of the Century

The horizon is an arbitrary, subjective concept. It is determined, moment by moment, by the position of the observer and where he stands above sea level. What one can see depends on the means available and one's experience at observation. The same can be said of a time horizon, especially when we face, as we do now, the biggest break accessible to the naked eye, the turn of a century. (The two or three generations encompassed by a century can be retained in living memory, whereas the turn of the millennium occurring at the same time can only be an object of chronological speculation.) Measures of human or social action, the succession of generations, political errors, or peaks of popularity are undoubtedly real. Every period of time, whether measured in years or months, has its own pace and structure, its own "time." Such a measurement as a century seems quite artificial, imposed from without and bearing no relation to reality. But any social process that takes place in the real world relies on the attention, imagination, and will of people. One function of these processes is to structure time, not only time filled with actual deeds and plans but "empty" time as well. A "century" is structured by imagination, expectations, and so on—not so much practical as ideological (social or mythological) in nature. In human (public, mass) perceptions, the very events that are mythologized are the ones declared "historical": the victories, disasters, breakthroughs, intrigues, disappointments, victims, and so on give meaning to the flow of events.     

Understanding race at the frontier of pharmaceutical regulation: an analysis of the racial difference debate at the ICH

Looking closely into how the differences among populations are debated at the ICH, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive account on what actually occurs when states with different cultural backgrounds encounter one another at the frontier of pharmaceutical regulation, where neither West nor East shall exist.     

Comparison of the battles at the Little Bighorn and at Isandhlwana. Medicolegal and forensic aspects.

Compared are two great and remarkably similar battles that occurred less than 3 years apart: the U.S. Cavalry versus the Plains Indians in the battle at the Little Bighorn in Montana Territory of the United States, and the British-Zulu battle at Isandhlwana in the Natal Province of South Africa. Computer evaluation, which was especially helpful in evaluating artifacts at the Montana site, could be an excellent tool to use in other such large-scale investigations.