26-28 June, Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, Birmingham (via Andrew Edgar) Can the language of compassion capture the moral problems confronted by the NHS, or might it obfuscate and distract us from more subtle and demanding issues? Through a series of plenary addresses, workshops, panels and shared opportunities for discussion, “Compassion Fatigue” will provide an opportunity […]
Category: In the News
Cigarettes and Plain Packs: The Ad Campaign
Blogging here has been light for a little while, and probably will be for a little while longer because of Stuff and Things – but something caught my eye in Sunday’s Indy* that struck me as worth comment. It was a full-page advert placed by JTI, which describes itself in the small print as “a leading […]
Cutting Class: Thinking about Self-Harm without Disgust
Guest Post by Kerry Gutridge* and A.M. Calladine Imagine you are a doctor, nurse or teacher and someone in your care asks for a razor. The person you look after wants to slice into their own skin and draw blood. They are compelled to hurt themselves. They have an overwhelming urge to feel a momentary […]
Journal of Medical Ethics – Special Issue on Circumcision
Guest Post by Brian Earp The Journal of Medical Ethics is pleased to announce the forthcoming release of a special issue – “The Ethics of Male Circumcision” – to be published in full in the coming days. Selected papers have already been posted Online First and can be seen by clicking here. Contributions cover a […]
Torture and Fitness to Practise
I’m running a bit late with this, but the BMJ reported last week that Mohammed Al-Byati had been suspended from the medical register for 12 months for complicity in torture. So far, the decision hasn’t been uploaded to the list of Fitness to Practise decisions, but the outline of the case is available here, on the […]
A storm in an NZ tea cup – or another “controversy” like post-birth abortion
By David Hunter I thought our readers might be interested in this story which is happening in New Zealand as it has echoes of the Post-Birth abortion “debate” that occurred on this blog last year. Then as now academics have argued in an academic journal (in this case the New Zealand Medical Journal) for a […]
Italian Pop Music’s Role in Bioethical Debate
Sadly, the list entitled “Great Moments in Italian Pop” is short; but the entry that must surely be at the top is probably very near the top of the list entitled “Great Moments in All Pop”. It’s a 1972 song by Adriano Celentano. Prisencolinensinainciusol. It’s pure gibberish – a parody of what anglophone pop sounds […]
But that’s not what it says, is it?
Today’s blast of righteous indignation is directed towards New Mexico. House Bill 206 says, in essence, that… well, it’s short, so here it is in full: HOUSE BILL 206 51ST LEGISLATURE – STATE OF NEW MEXICO – FIRST SESSION, 2013 INTRODUCED BY Cathrynn N. Brown AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL LAW; SPECIFYING PROCURING OF AN ABORTION AS TAMPERING WITH EVIDENCE IN CASES […]
We Read the Mail, so You Don’t Have To
There’s a couple of things that’ve been playing on my mind since the post about the Daily Mail‘s coverage of the Liverpool Care Pathway a couple of weeks ago. One of them is the letter that Fiona Godlee, editor of the BMJ, sent to Paul Dacre, editor of the Mail. It points out to him […]
Even by the Mail’s Standards, this is Low
The Liverpool Care Pathway provides a rubric for managing the care of the terminally ill as they approach death. A helpful pamphlet explaining what it is and what it does is available here. Ideally, I’d quote the lot; but for the sake of efficiency, I’ll make do with an edited quotation: What is the Liverpool […]