EurekAlert! News by Subject: Policy & Ethics

Policy & Ethics

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 24-Oct-2026 10:15 ET (24-Oct-2026 14:15 GMT/UTC)

27-Apr-2026

Medical scientists apply the strictest ethics – at least in theory

Linköping University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Medical scientists are stricter while natural, social and humanities scientists are more permissive. The attitude to ethically problematic ways of conducting research differs clearly between disciplines, according to a study from Linköping University, Sweden.

Journal: Research Policy

27-Apr-2026

Medicaid expansion helped enrollees’ long-term financial health, study finds

Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study shows that enrollees in Michigan's Medicaid expansion program had large drops in medical debt in collections and in rates of sub-prime credit scores

Journal: JAMA Network Open
Funder: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

27-Apr-2026

Scientists esteemed by public, with vaccine scientists seen as similar to scientists in general

Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania
Reports and Proceedings

An Annenberg Public Policy Center survey finds that nearly 7 in 10 Americans trust vaccine scientists a moderate or greater amount to act in the best interests of “people like you."

27-Apr-2026

Scrapped inheritance tax linked to stronger growth in private firms with heirs, Swedish study shows

Stockholm School of Economics
Reports and Proceedings

After Sweden removed inheritance and gift taxes in 2005, private firms with potential family successors grew faster, invested more, and paid higher corporate taxes than firms without natural heirs, according to a new white paper from the Stockholm School of Economics. The study adds empirical evidence in a policy debate often dominated by ideology and comes as several European countries debate inheritance tax reforms.

27-Apr-2026

Novel study maps changes in US immigration policy landscape since 9/11

Elsevier
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a comprehensive analysis of state and local sanctuary and anti-sanctuary policies, researchers have mapped the rapidly evolving legal immigration landscape in the US from 2000 to 2021. The dataset sheds light on trends in immigration legislation including ”punitive” preemption, state government tendencies to enact laws that are ideologically opposed to the current federal administration, and conservative states using preemption to control liberal localities. The findings of the study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier, can be used to examine how changes in state and local immigration policies drive health outcomes among immigrants and their communities.

Journal: American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Funder: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities

24-Apr-2026

The ISSCR urges continued NIH investment in human embryonic stem cell research to sustain scientific progress and therapeutic innovation

International Society for Stem Cell Research
Business Announcement

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) has submitted a formal response to a Request for Information (RFI) issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) regarding its pause on new submissions to the NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell (hESC) Registry and considerations to reduce reliance on hESCs in federally supported research.

24-Apr-2026

Scientists call for integrating three energy demand goals into climate policy by 2035

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study published in Science argues that governments should adopt three integrated energy demand goals by 2035, warning that climate policy will fall short unless it focuses not only on how energy is produced, but also on how it is used.

Journal: Science