By Christoph Bublitz The return of psychedelics such as psilocybin and LSD to medicine seems imminent. Once associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, these substances have been the subject of serious clinical research for over a decade. In April, the U.S. President signed an Executive Order in support of psychedelic medicine. Shortly thereafter, the […]
Latest articles
The illusion of the “benign” cosmetic thyroidectomy: An ethics and teamwork wake-up call
By Behaylu Tesfamaryam Hagos, M.D. Elective surgeries for cosmetic reasons demand the highest level of ethical scrutiny. When a patient undergoes an operation for a benign, asymptomatic condition, driven by societal pressure rather than medical necessity, our tolerance for preventable, life-altering complications should be exactly zero. As an internist, an incidental encounter during a patient’s […]
The ontological shift: Why AI in clinical practice is a question of being
Farid bin Masood Much has been written for and against AI’s application in healthcare including screening, prediction, and simulation. But there’s a component of clinical work that matters just as much, maybe more: the clinician’s work as a human, including communicating with the patient and making decisions when faced with uncertainty. Much is being written […]
First, do no harm – then what?
What Iranian physicians under the Mahsa Amini crackdown reveal about medicine, complicity, and conscience. By Amir Davoodi In September 2022, a 22-year-old woman named Mahsa Amini died in police custody in Tehran, three days after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for wearing her hijab improperly. What followed was one of the largest protest movements […]
Moving beyond the “Balance Sheet”: How narrative ethics can inform judicial deliberations on treatment refusal
By Prof. Adv. Maya Peled Raz Too often, when courts face the question of forced medical treatment for individuals under guardianship, the conversation quickly narrows to clinical calculations of risk and benefit. As a legal expert and clinical ethics consultant working within the healthcare system, I have often felt that something vital is lost in […]
For whom the cry for help tolls?
By Nicola Cocco, Valentina Marchese and Federico Nicoli “Who is here on the shore? Who is watching this shipwreck from the mainland? Is it really just me, no one else?” Vincent Delecroix, Small Boat, 2023 On February 2, 2026, the NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans reported that up to 1,000 people could be missing […]
Metaphysics and reproductive ethics
By Arjun Devanesan Recently, a group of philosophers have engaged in a lively dispute about the metaphysics of pregnancy. Specifically, Elselijn Kingma argued that, contrary to popular opinion, a foetus is not merely contained by a gestator like a bun in an oven, but a part of its body. Other authors (including myself) have argued […]
Advertising to the distressed: The commodification of mental health data in AI chatbots
By Nicole Gross and Hannah van Kolfschooten Generative Artificial Intelligence (genAI) chatbots have become an important outlet for many people around the world who are experiencing mental health issues. Of its 800 million weekly users, around 10 percent use ChatGPT for emotional support while more than one million use the chatbot to talk about issues […]
Computer programs for moral advice
By Lars Lindblom and Erik Gustavsson AI is coming to health care. But what is AI? Ethem Alpaydin’s excellent Machine Learning: The New AI provides a helpful definition: Programing computers to do things, which, if done by humans, would be said to require “intelligence”. This definition captures something important about how to conceive of AI […]
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 […]