Pig hearts and paediatrics: how children will require distinctive ethical approaches when xenotransplantation becomes a reality

By Anthony Merlocco Due to the ongoing struggle to obtain organs for those in need, and the resulting morbidity and mortality while awaiting organs, renewed efforts to study transplantation between species, or xenotransplantation (XTx), have emerged. Gene editing has been used to enhance human graft survival or to make animal organs better suited for a […]

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Decision-making in injustice: MAiD in Canada after Bill C-7

By Kayla Wiebe and Amy Mullin. In February, 2022, a Canadian citizen with a severe case of multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) requested and subsequently received medical assistance in dying (MAiD). The decision to request MAiD was made after a two-year fight to access housing that would have made living with their condition tolerable. This kind of […]

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The dark side of psychedelics’ power

By Daniel Villiger. Last year, the German crime series Tatort, which belongs to the most watched television shows in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, aired an episode that takes place in the psychedelic underground. In his mansion, a spiritually-oriented psychiatrist hosts psychedelics sessions for his patients or, rather, his followers. Little surprisingly for a crime story, […]

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Overcoming impediments to medically assisted dying: A signal for another approach?

By Juergen Dankwort. The proposal to provide assistance with voluntary assisted dying (VAD) has grown significantly over the past two decades at an accelerating rate. Right-to-die movement societies and organizations now number over 80 from around the world, 58 of which are members of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies. However, most are […]

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Re-thinking consent for treatment: clinical interests and the public interest

By Abeezar I. Sarela. In its recent guidance on consent, the General Medical Council (GMC) advises doctors to not provide treatment that ‘you (the doctor) don’t think would be in their (the patient’s) clinical interests’. It follows that doctors should only provide treatments that are in the patient’s clinical interests. But, what exactly is meant […]

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The furore around whole bodily gestational donation: a tale of misplaced anger?

By Anna Nelson. Prompted by a sensationalist headline in the Daily Mail, there has been a furore on social media around an article published last year by bioethicist Anna Smajdor in which she defends ‘Whole Bodily Gestational Donation’ (WBGD). Put simply WBGD means that, with prior consent, the bodies of women in a permanent vegetative […]

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