Trouble in the Gap: A Bioethical and Sociological Analysis of Informed Consent for High-Risk Medical Procedures - Springer

Trouble in the Gap: A Bioethical and Sociological Analysis of Informed Consent for High-Risk Medical Procedures - Springer: "we argue that “informed” consent is a process that is usually incomplete, despite trappings and assumptions that help to create the illusion of completeness."

Why the TGA should make it harder for people to get Xanax

Why the TGA should make it harder for people to get Xanax: "This class of drug poses significant risks of misuse and dependence, paradoxical reactions, disinhibition, amnesia and intoxication"

parabens, ''endocrine disruptors'' in 'personal care' products linked to cancers

But while most of the concern about parabens has focused on their possible effects on breasts, emerging research suggests they might affect sperm, too. A 2010 study of men attending a US fertility clinic found a link between levels of parabens and DNA damage - although it's early days and more studies need to be done. Still, some companies have withdrawn parabens from their products and ''paraben-free'' is now appearing on many packages.

In 2011, Denmark prohibited their use in personal care products for children under three, says Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith, senior adviser to the community environmental organisation the National Toxics Network.

But, as she points out, parabens are just one of many chemicals in our environment that come under the heading of ''endocrine disruptors'', meaning they're capable of affecting our hormones.

''Most of these chemicals have never been assessed,'' Lloyd-Smith says. ''You have governments still struggling to understand the effects of single chemicals - so how can we know what the effect of a mixture of these chemicals might be on human health?

''Even if the oestrogenic effect of parabens is mild, you'd think that would be enough to say, 'Why take this risk when you can make cosmetics without them?'''

Lloyd-Smith isn't a lone voice. In February, the World Health Organisation released a report, State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, which didn't mince words on the subject of potential harm from endocrine disruptors.

Rates of hormone-related cancers, including breast, ovarian, testicular, endometrial and prostate cancer, have risen worldwide over the past 50 years, yet of the almost 800 chemicals known to be capable of interfering with human hormones, or suspected of doing so, only a small fraction has been investigated, the report says.
Parabens, 'endocrine disruptors' in personal care products linked to cancers