By Dr Peter Carter GLP‑1 weight‑loss drugs are promoted as life‑changing treatments. They help people lose weight quickly and offer a sense of control that many have not felt before. But is this view too short-termist? The central issue is durability. These drugs work while people take them, but the benefits can evaporate when treatment […]
Category: Bioethics
Hoping for MAiD
By Maya Ishikura Last March, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) released a report illustrating their concerns with Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) law. Committee Expert, Rosemary Kayess, explained that Canadians with disabilities were seeking MAiD due to unjust social conditions that the state should be addressing. Directing […]
No person is an island: Incidental findings in a world of relationships
By Max Tretter One of my favorite TV series of all time is Breaking Bad. Most people probably know the show—and if you don’t, it is well worth watching. Early in the series, the protagonist Walter White, a quiet high school chemistry teacher and father, receives devastating news: he has advanced lung cancer. Confronted with […]
Appetite apocalypse
By Professor Ed Jesudason We seem to spend a lot of time these days thinking about undue influence: scams perpetrated against the elderly or people looking for love; the possibility of coercion in assisted dying; our democracy undermined by money and sex scandal; society enraged and misled by social media algorithms. If alcohol is a […]
Before we judge the preference
By Shadi “Sophie” Heidarifar When a patient requests a procedure shaped under constraints, including oppressive ones, we tend to evaluate the preference itself: whether it is autonomous, whether it reflects internalized norms, whether it has been formed under coercive conditions. This framing presumes that the central bioethical question concerns the status of a preference. In […]
The ethically problematic allure of philanthrotainment story telling
By Jeremy Snyder Using entertainment to encourage giving for health-related causes isn’t new. However, health-related ‘philanthrotainment’ has evolved recently with the help of online content creators like Jimmy Donaldson, more commonly known as MrBeast. My article “The Ethics of Online Health-Related Philanthrotainment” discusses how this marriage of social media influencers and philanthropic fundraising can create […]
Assisted dying in England and Wales: Arranging provision and at what cost?
By Alexandra Mullock, Suzanne Ost, and Nancy Preston With lawful assisted dying (AD) on the horizon in England and Wales with the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, and elsewhere in and around the UK (Isle of Man, Jersey, Scotland), important questions about how best to establish a service to provide safe access to […]
Gaza and boycotts – an ethical perspective
By Zohar Lederman As I write this, the Jewish Film Festival is playing in Hong Kong. After buying tickets, I learned that some people are boycotting the event to protest Israel’s conduct in Gaza. Another friend has suggested that Israeli academics should expect and understand being boycotted for the same reason. In a recent conference […]
When evidence has only one arm: The ethical challenges of single arm trials
By Chiara Mannelli and Giuseppe Traversa Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have long been regarded as the “gold standard” for testing new treatments. Yet in recent years, an increasing number of marketing authorizations – especially for cancer drugs – have been based on single arm trials (SATs). In these studies, all patients receive the experimental treatment, […]
Not all persons are persons, yet some non-persons are persons: how one word hides two meanings
By Dr. Johnny Sakr Everyone thinks they know what a person is, right up until they try to define one. In their recent contribution to the Journal of Medical Ethics, Nancy Jecker and Caesar Atuire invite a richer and more humane account. Drawing on African philosophical traditions, they argue that personhood is not an isolated […]