The debate on NHS compensation is plagued by misconceptions, argues Daniel Sokol […]
Daniel Sokol
Daniel Sokol: William Osler’s lasting influence on medical ethics
One hundred years ago, on 29 December 1919, Sir William Osler died in Oxford from a haemorrhage following an operation to treat his empyema. He was 70. In his obituary of […]
Daniel Sokol: War Doctor—haunting, disturbing, and uplifting
There is a certain moral simplicity to medicine: a person with a set of skills helps another who is suffering. In contrast, in war men inflict suffering on each other. […]
Daniel Sokol: Assisted dying is compatible with the Hippocratic Oath
Geoff Whaley, a terminally ill man with motor neurone disease recently travelled from the UK to a Dignitas facility in Switzerland to end his own life. Shortly before his death, […]
Daniel Sokol: Reflections on Bawa-Garba—a symbol of the medical profession’s discontent
The true significance of the Bawa-Garba case lies in what it represents: a profession in crisis […]
Daniel Sokol: A database of medical, ethical, or legal cases with valuable lessons for clinicians
When I visited the clinical ethics department at Washington Hospital Center some years back, I was impressed by how acute ethical dilemmas, once resolved, led to presentations in the affected […]
Daniel Sokol: The Charlie Gard case—an ethicist in the courtroom
Daniel Sokol provides an ethicist’s point of view on the latest hearing in the case of Charlie Gard […]
Daniel Sokol: Should doctors be saints?
Lavinia Woodward, 24, is a medical student at Oxford University. She is an aspiring heart surgeon with an excellent academic record. On 30 September 2016, under the influence of drink and […]
Daniel Sokol: The ethics of the on-call rota
A colleague is sick. Someone is needed to cover him tomorrow. There are no locums and no volunteers. Who should be selected? Few issues generate more passion and cause more […]
Daniel Sokol: The messiness of medicine
Last week I attended a conference for surgeons. In the hall, a poster described the case of a neurology patient who had, literally, inhaled a chicken sandwich. The surgeon, with […]