By Morten Magelssen and Søren Holm “Imagine that the natural sciences were to suffer the effects of a catastrophe. A series of environmental disasters are blamed by the general public on the scientists. Widespread riots occur, laboratories are burnt down, physicists are lynched (…) Later still there is a reaction against this destructive movement and […]
Category: Bioethics
Ethics’ forgotten hero – Maurice Pappworth
By Rafael Escandon Every June, I reflect on how Henry Knowles Beecher must have felt – 60 years ago – in the days before his classic, Ethics and Clinical Research (E&CR) was published. From my first reading of it, I thought Beecher’s effort was remarkably brave and have considered him a personal hero ever since. […]
The hidden cost of miracle cures
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 […]
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 […]