First up, this may seem like a bit of a diversion from JME core concerns, but – as I hope will become clear – it has to do with moral philosophy, so that’s enough of a link. Obviously, news for the last week or so has been dominated by the earthquake in Haiti and its […]
Category: In the News
Protecting Innocent Lives?
Last spring, George Tiller was killed. (I was going to say murdered, or assassinated, but both of those are morally and legally weighted…) Tiller was one of a very small community of doctors in the US willing to give late-term abortions, and it was for this that he was shot. Scott Roeder is currently on […]
Funeral Expenses? I’m Going to be Pickled!
Since we’re technically still in the holiday period, have a bit more silliness. This concerns a scheme that is a supposed to disincentivise drink-driving. A funeral home in Rome, Georgia, is offering… Oh, what the hell. I’ll let the local paper, the Rome News-Tribune, tell the story: Between now and noon on Thursday, drivers can […]
Libel Reform (again)
Further to Søren’s post just below here, it’s worth noting that the site to which he links hosts not only a petition, but also a facility whereby it’ll check who your MP is, and provide a pro-forma letter that you can edit and then email to him or her from the site. I filled that in […]
Should Patients be obliged to participate in research?
Is the heading of this article in the BBC news today. The article argues that too few patients are volunteering to participate in a particular research trial. […]
Rude Awakenings
Doubtless, everyone in the world has by now heard the story of the “sleeping Belgian”: Rom Houben was believed to have been in a coma for 23 years, but was actually fully conscious for all that time. If the reports are to be believed, it would have potentially serious implications for the way we think […]
Nursing by Degree
A couple of weeks ago, the government announced that, from 2013, all nursing staff would have to be graduates. “Degree-level education,” said Health Minister for England Ann Keen, will provide new nurses with the decision-making skills they need to make high-level judgements in the transformed NHS. I’m not so sure of this. […]
Knowing the Enemy in the “War on Drugs”
If you’re going to fight a war, you need to know whom you’re fighting. You also could do with knowing when to stop fighting. Johann Hari is eloquent in this piece on the so-called “war on drugs”: the time to stop is now. Yes, it is shocking that he was ditched for pointing out the […]
David Nutt Speaks
Damn. I thought I’d published this a couple of weeks ago. Anyway… David Nutt tells his side of the cannabis sacking story in The Guardian, based on a longer piece here. A sample – or, if you will, a ‘teenth: What we can say is that cannabis use is associated with an increased experience of […]
David Nutt and Unpopular Science
I’ve noted David Nutt’s unhappy relationship with the government that employed him before now – it was he who was told by erstwhile Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to apologise for having the temerity to point out that Ecstasy is probably safer than equestrianism; apparently facts play, and ought to play, no significant role in discussion […]