The outbreak of a serious infectious disease is not just a biomedical event. It affects people and their communities, says Julian Sheather […]
Julian Sheather
Julian Sheather is specialist adviser (ethics and human rights), policy directorate, BMA.
Julian Sheather: The effect of anti-terrorism legislation on the provision of healthcare globally
Anyone who reads a fair amount will know those lovely moments when one piece of writing arcs across to another. Synchronicity, happenstance, call it what you will. Recently a colleague […]
Julian Sheather: Medicine, trauma, and sexual violence—healing the wounds of war
The shadows fall early in the crumpled hills surrounding Sarajevo. It is 25 years since UN intervention finally brought the war here to a close. In May I was invited […]
Julian Sheather: What role for conscientious objection in medicine?
What do we mean by conscience? What part, if any, should it play in medical practice? Should health professionals be free to object to providing lawful treatments on the grounds […]
Julian Sheather: Reviewing the Mental Health Act—we need to talk about autonomy
The Government is reviewing mental health legislation for England—the 1983 Act and its bolt-ons. From an ethics’ perspective, front and centre is the issue of autonomy: the decision-making rights of […]
Julian Sheather: Turkey attacks its medical profession
It doesn’t seem like much—hardly an offence. A national medical association calling attention to the public health consequences of armed conflict. Business as usual, surely? But not in Turkey. Not […]
Julian Sheather: Unrest
The award-winning cinema documentary Unrest explores the stories of people living with ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Ahead of its UK theatrical release on 20 October, Julian Sheather, Specialist Adviser, Ethics and […]
Medicine is still a victim of war—we desperately need new ideas
What we are witnessing is war without restraint. But what do we do to stop it? […]
Julian Sheather on why we must retain the Human Rights Act
When we sicken in the UK most of us turn to the NHS for care. The majority of doctors here have also been trained in the NHS. Medicine in the […]
Julian Sheather: Extremity piled upon extremity—where next for medical neutrality?
In times of war, said Cicero, the law falls silent. Afghanistan. Iraq. Syria. Yemen. Somalia. Ukraine. Libya. Chad. An irregular patchwork of violent conflict lies across great swathes of the […]