New drug therapies raise 'ethical concerns': EU centre
(LISBON) - Scientific advances could help fight drug addiction but new invasive treatments such as inserting electrodes into the brain raise "ethical concerns," the EU's drug monitoring centre said Wednesday.
"While research in neuroscience may hold the promise of new treatment possibilities, many of the approaches reviewed today remain untested and raise important ethical concerns," the centre said in a report.
The centre warned particularly about the ethics of carrying out neurosurgery on drug addicts and "deep brain stimulation, where electrical stimulating electrodes are inserted into the parts of the brain involved in addiction."
The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction was set up in Lisbon in 1995 to help co-ordinate Europe's struggle against drug addiction by providing scientific advice and drug information monitoring.
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA
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