By Nicole Gross Medical professionals seem to be stuck on the topic of whether or not AI is useful, robust and ethically-sound enough to become scaled more widely into clinical work and decisions. Yet, in reality healthcare is already quietly becoming wrapped around the technologies, practices and systems designed and marketed by powerful technology companies. […]
Category: healthcare
Three moral logics in responding to adverse events in healthcare
By Laura Hartman Unintended and unwanted outcomes are an inevitable part of healthcare. When something goes wrong, organisations face difficult questions: How should they respond? How can they do justice to those involved? And how can they improve care while maintaining trust? In our recent paper, we develop a conceptual framework that distinguishes three moral […]
A right that exists only as a billing rule is not yet a right
By George Kujo, Kazuya Iwai and Shunsuke Takagi Suppose a hospital lets you sit with your dying mother only because, if it refuses, it loses a payment. Has it honoured her right to your company — or merely met a condition on its invoice? This is not a thought experiment. It is, in effect, the […]
When genetic testing matters beyond treatment: why not all personal utility is equal
By Dr Johnny Sakr Genetic testing is often assessed by asking a familiar question: does it change clinical management? If the answer is yes, the value of the test is relatively easy to explain. It may guide treatment, avoid unnecessary investigations, or improve health outcomes. But many genomic tests produce information that families value even […]
When death becomes a checklist: Confronting secular bias in healthcare
By Hana Abbasian In modern healthcare, death is often treated as a medical event to manage, a problem to solve, or a process to streamline. We focus on measurable outcomes: pain scores, vital signs, sedation levels. While these metrics are important, they can obscure a deeper truth: dying is a human and often spiritual experience. […]
There is no health on a dead planet
By Rammina Yassaie and Lucy Brooks Our paper “Reassessing ‘Good’ Medical Practice and the Climate Crisis” takes an ethical dive into the roles and responsibilities of the medical profession and the medical regulator, in light of the climate and ecological crisis and its profound implications for health. The health sector has been called to action […]
Medical authority and expectations of conformity: undermining person-centred maternity care
By Anna Nelson. There is an ongoing ‘maternity crisis’ in the UK, and too many women and birthing people face barriers to accessing respectful, person-centred maternity care. Charities, campaigners and journalists continue to emphasise the consequences of this state of affairs, both for individuals and for society more widely. Individuals may experience harm to their […]
Musings on artificial intelligence, fairness and conceptions of justice to help with implementation considerations
By Michal Pruski. I am currently undertaking a mixed-methods project which is looking at barriers and facilitators to the adoption of machine learning in Wales with respect to value-based healthcare – focusing on the potential application of artificial intelligence (AI) to patient reported outcome measures (often known as PROMs). The project is in the early […]
Martha’s Rule and trust in healthcare: Beyond the ‘right’ to a second opinion
By Isabel Hanson. After the tragic death of thirteen-year-old Martha Mills in the UK, Martha’s mother Merope Mills said that she was told to “’Trust the doctors’… It turned out to be the worst advice I will receive in my whole life”. Martha had developed sepsis from an abdominal injury. Her mother knew that something […]
Sustainable health care beyond the paradox of prevention
By Cristina Richie. High carbon health care has global environmental effects—population health is damaged by the carbon of health care industries. Many countries have medically underserved residents, and as such, it could be argued that there is an obligation on the part of health care systems to reduce carbon emissions through laws or policy. For […]