People who listen to Today may have heard an article in the prime 8:10 slot on the 9th about the correlation between a drop in the use of leaded petrol, and a drop in violent crime rates. (Mother Jones actually beat the BBC, having published a piece on the same research last week: I meant to post something […]
Latest articles
Call for Participants: Concepts of Mental Health
British Postgraduate Philosophy Association Masterclass 2013 April 12th-13th, University College London This year’s BPPA masterclass will be on concepts of mental health, and applications are invited from graduate researchers within the field of philosophy and mental health. A masterclass involves a mixture of seminars, group workshops, presentations by students and experts and critical discussion. The […]
Cochlear Implant: On!
A few weeks ago, I linked to a post on William Mager’s blog in which he said (a) that he was about to have a cochlear implant fitted, and (b) that he’d write about the experience as it progressed. I don’t know how many readers of this blog followed the link or subscribed; for those […]
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 […]
…
via the Philosopher Shaming tumblr: *narrows eyes* […]
Double Effect in the Halappanavar Case
In the wake of Savita Halappanavar’s death, a statement was issued by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference. The whole thing is available here. However, I think that a couple of paragraphs is particularly worth picking out: Where a seriously ill pregnant woman needs medical treatment which may put the life of her baby at risk, such […]
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 […]
Is Medical Equipment Halal? Kosher?
A recent intercalating student of mine got in touch with this query the other day: Total parenteral nutrition is given as a replacement for nutrition where the patient cannot or should not be digesting food: it is given intravenously so bypasses digestion. Two patients have asked my current educational supervisor if the TPN solution is […]
Savita Halappanavar: A Woman who Died Needlessly, not a Political Wedge’
Guest post by Sorcha Uí Chonnachtaigh I am going to, rather controversially, agree with one aspect of the statements of pro-life activists commenting on this case. That is not something I thought I’d ever say. Like, ever ever. A statement issued by Youth Defence (one of Ireland’s most radical pro-life organisations) made the valid point that “Irish doctors are […]
Enhancing the ill: The therapy-enhancement…
By David Hunter This post is in effect a gauntlet, a challenge for those who are significantly bothered by enhancements, such that they think that enhancing would be unethical or at least that there is a significant ethical difference between the two, largely because I can’t really work out what the fuss is and would […]