Forty Years After First IVF Baby, Ethicists Are Still Fielding Panic Over Humans ‘Playing God’ With Children

The New York Times: Scientists Can Design ‘Better’ Babies. Should They?
For nine frustrating years, Lesley and John Brown tried to conceive a child but failed because of her blocked fallopian tubes. Then in late 1977, this English couple put their hopes in the hands of two men of science. Thus began their leap into the unknown, and into history. On July 25, 1978, the Browns got what they had long wished for with the arrival of a daughter, Louise, a baby like no other the world had seen. She came into being through a process of in vitro fertilization developed by Robert G. Edwards and Patrick Steptoe. Her father’s sperm was mixed with her mother’s egg in a petri dish, and the resulting embryo was then implanted into the womb for normal development. (Haberman, 6/10)

In other national health care news —

The New York Times: Anheuser-Busch To Pull Funding From Major Alcohol Study
Brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, one of five alcohol companies underwriting a $100 million federal trial on the health benefits of a daily drink, is pulling its funding from the project, saying controversy about the sponsorship threatens to undermine the study’s credibility, the company announced Friday. The company announced its decision in a letter to Maria C. Freire, president and executive director of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, a nongovernmental entity that is authorized to raise money from the private sector for N.I.H. initiatives and manages the institutes’ public-private partnerships. (Rabin, 6/8)

The Washington Post: Controversy Surrounds Research On State Department Employees Sickened In ‘Attacks'
Something mysterious and disturbing has happened to State Department personnel, first in Cuba and now in China. Strange high-pitched sounds — “buzzing,” “piercing squeals,” “grinding metal,” as the Cuba staffers later told doctors — preceded an eruption of health problems, including headaches, dizziness, confusion, ear pain, hearing loss, insomnia and fatigue. Last year, then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson referred to what happened in Havana as “attacks.” Numerous news stories and opinion columns speculated about “sonic attacks” using some kind of unknown acoustic weapon. The mystery spread this spring to China: A staffer in Guangzhou experienced “subtle and vague, but abnormal sensations of sound and pressure,” in the words of the State Department. (Achenbach, 6/8)

The Associated Press: Flu Season Was One Of The Deadliest For US Children
The past flu season was the deadliest for U.S. children in nearly a decade, health officials said Friday. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said they had received reports of 172 pediatric flu deaths since October. That surpasses the 2012-2013 flu season, when there were 171. An average season sees about 110. There were more deaths in 2009-2010, but that was when a rare flu pandemic occurred involving a new strain. More than 300 children died that season. (6/8)

The Washington Post: Using Virtual Reality To Distract People From Pain Gains Traction In Hospitals.
Despite being in and out of hospitals since the age of 16, one of Harmon Clarke’s biggest fears is having an intravenous line inserted into his arm. The 34-year-old resident of Los Angeles has had more than 30 surgeries related to his Crohn’s disease, but getting stuck with an IV needle has never gotten less stressful. “Because of my Crohn’s I get really dehydrated, which makes it really challenging to get an IV in,” Clarke said. “One time, literally eight different IV nurses had come into my room trying to get a line in, and I’m in tears. I can’t do my procedure or surgery until we get this done, and it was just like a nightmare.” (Kim, 6/9)

The New York Times: Salmonella Outbreak That Sickened 60 Is Linked To Pre-Cut Melons
A salmonella outbreak that sickened dozens of people last month has been linked to pre-cut melons from a food distributor in Indianapolis, spurring a recall of products in eight states. Packages of fresh-cut watermelon, honeydew melon, cantaloupe and mixed fruit have been recalled in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. An investigation is underway to see if other products or states were affected. (Fortin, 6/9)