Does the Pharmaceutical Sector Have a Coresponsibility for the Human Right to Health?

The highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental human right, which has been part of international law since 1948. States and their institutions are the primary duty bearers responsible for ensuring that human rights are respected, protected, and fulfilled. However, more recently it has been argued that pharmaceutical companies have a coresponsibility to fulfill the human right to health. Most prominently, this coresponsibility has been expressed in the United Nations (UN) Millennium Goal 8 Target 4. “In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries.

Corporate Responsibility and Corporate Philanthropy

The Millennium Development Goals Report 2011 gives good grounds for optimism: "lives have been saved or changed for the better;" "poverty continues to decline in many countries and regions;" and "targeted interventions have succeeded in reducing child mortality". Yet in spite of continuing national and international efforts to alleviate poverty, the sad reality is that over a billion human beings continue to live on USD 1.25 or less a day. The scale and complexity of tackling this greatest social challenge of our time requires that national governments, the international community, business and civil society each commit their share of resources, skills and know-how to achieving sustainable solutions

The Inner Work of Liberty: Cudworth on Desire and Attention

Ralph Cudworth’s goal in his manuscript writings on freewill is to argue that our actions are in our own power in a robust sense that entails the power to do otherwise. Cudworth’s unorthodox views about desire threaten to undermine this project, however. Cudworth maintains that only desire is able to distinguish good and evil and, consequently, that desire alone motivates our actions. Therefore, since Cudworth holds that desire itself is not in our own power, he appears committed to the conclusion that our actions are not in our own power either. Cudworth’s solution, I argue, is to emphasize our inward responses to desire, which he does take to be in our own power. I focus in particular on attention: by directing attention differently in response to desire, Cudworth holds that we are able actively to influence the way in which desire motivates our actions. Our actions are in our own power, therefore, only because such inward responses to desire are in our own power

Locke on Persons and Other Kinds of Substances

Locke's commentators are divided about whether Locke thinks that the idea of a person is a substance idea or a mode idea. I use Locke's theory of kinds to argue for an intermediate interpretation on which the idea of a person is a substance idea that contains a mode idea. As a result, while proponents of the substance interpretation correctly claim that ‘person’ designates a kind of substance, proponents of the mode interpretation are nonetheless correct in insisting that mode ideas play an important role in Locke's account of persons and personal identity

Bioethics Here and in Poor Countries: A Comment

There has been a tremendous increase in interest in bioethics, which has come in direct response to the substantial advances in biomedical research and medical technology over the past 30 years. The more sophisticated medical science and technology becomes, the more sophisticated are questions that are raised: Who has the right to decide whether a medical treatment should be initiated, continued, or stopped? How much information are healthcare professionals required to give to patients? When should a patient's right to confidentiality be violated? When, if ever, is active or passive euthanasia or abortion justified, and who has the right to decide on these issues

An Examination of Preimplantation Embryos and Endometrium Developed During Induced Aluteal Cycles in the Mare

Changes to the embryonic environment that occur within the first few days of development can have significant effects on subsequent fetal development. The following studies investigate the effects of progesterone-deprivation during the early preimplantation period in the mare. The first study described embryo morphology (diameter, stage, and quality grade) collected from mares with induced aluteal cycles. The second study evaluated the effect of induced aluteal cycles on the future fertility of embryo collections as a potential method for cycle manipulation of embryo donor mares. The third study characterized embryonic and endometrial transcript expression of progesterone-mediated transcripts as well as those related to normal embryo growth and pregnancy establishment during induced aluteal cycles. Finally, the fourth study evaluated the potential for the successful establishment of pregnancy when preimplantation embryos were deprived of progesterone. Embryos developed in a progesterone-deprived environment were developmentally delayed by all parameters evaluated. A significant effect was seen on the transcript expression of embryos and endometrium collected from progesterone-deprived cycles in the mare. Embryos deprived of progesterone during the early preimplantation period demonstrated delayed embryonic vesicle growth compared to control cycles. No effect was seen on the future fertility of embryo collections after utilizing progesterone-deprived cycles. The results of these studies elucidate the significance of adequate progesterone levels beginning immediately post-ovulation in the mare

Escherichia coli utilizes methanesulfonate and l-cysteate as sole sulfur sources for growth

Twenty-three Escherichia coli strains were tested for their ability to use taurine, methanesulfonate, l-cysteate and other alkanesulfonates as sole sulfur sources for growth. One strain was unable to use any of the alkanesulfonates offered as sole sulfur sources for growth but grew with sulfate. Seven strains (class I) used alkanesulfonates for this purpose, but not methanesulfonate or l-cysteate. A further seven strains (class II) grew with all compounds tested, except with l-cysteate, and eight strains (class III) utilized all compounds tested as sulfur sources. Sulfur assimilation from methanesulfonate and l-cysteate was absolutely dependent on the ssuEADCB operon that encodes an alkanesulfonate uptake system (SsuABC) and a two-component monooxygenase (SsuDE) involved in the release of sulfite from alkanesulfonates. Long-term exposure of class I strains to methanesulfonate and of class II strains to l-cysteate selected for derivatives that utilized these two sulfur sources as efficiently as sulfate. The nucleotide sequence of the ssuEADCB operon in the methanesulfonate- and l-cysteate-utilizing derivative EC1250Me+ was identical to that in the class I wild-type EC1250. Gain of the ability to utilize methanesulfonate and l-cysteate as sulfur sources thus appears to result from increased expression of ssu genes rather than from a change in the quality of one or several of the Ssu protein

Locke’s Diagnosis of Akrasia

I argue for a new interpretation of Locke’s account of akrasia. On this interpretation, akrasia occurs on Locke’s account because certain cognitive biases endemic to the human mind dispose us to privilege present over future happiness. As a result, we end up irrationally pursuing present pleasure and the removal of present pain even as we simultaneously judge that doing so runs contrary to our own greater good. In this sense, I argue that Locke seeks to diagnose akrasia by identifying its underlying psychological causes