The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has announced that it has opened a consultation on emerging biotechnologies: The Council is seeking views on the ethical issues posed by emerging biotechnologies. Your views will be valuable in shaping and informing the deliberations of a Working Party that was recently set up to consider this topic. The Working Party […]
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Singer on the Value of Lives
Peter Singer had a piece in The Guardian last week comparing the way that we value lives around the world. He points out that when NATO accidentally kills Afghan civilians, it pays out compensation. This never goes above about £5000 per death. In comparison, NICE’s threshold for funding a treatment on the NHS is £20-30k […]
Medical Neutrality? The Red Cross and MSF
Adam Curtis is one of my favourite film-makers: I don’t think his programmes are always right, but they’re always provocative – and I think they’re more right than wrong. He also has a blog, which – though updated even less frequently than this one at the moment – is excellent. His latest post is about […]
Good News from Keele
It was announced yesterday that both the Centre for Professional Ethics, and the philosophy programme at Keele, have been spared the axe. From Angus Dawson’s Facebook message: We are delighted to announce that due to substantial discussions over the last two days the proposals to close PEAK (the Centre for Professional Ethics at Keele University) […]
Medical Ethics at Keele to be Axed?
This was supposed to be embargoed, but there’ve been enough leaks to make me think I can go public with it: news has emerged today that the Centre for Professional Ethics at Keele (PEAK) is facing the axe, as is the Keele Philosophy programme. A Senate Paper detailing the proposed cuts is widely available, and people […]
A New Standard for Medics: Perfection
Lord knows why, but I keep going back to Secondhand Smoke, the pro-life, global-warmin’-denyin’, public-healthcare-hatin’, intelligent-design-lovin’, Daily-Mail-quotin’ blog written by Discovery Institute affiliated lawyer Wesley Smith. I try to stay away, but like a child peeping between his fingers while hiding his eyes, I’m just fascinated by it. A recent post concerns a Kiwi woman […]
Placentophagy, Human Milk, and the Yuck-Factor
There’s an interesting post over at Science-Based Medicine about the practice of placentophagy: that is, placenta-eating. The piece points out that, while some eat it raw, it can also be cooked; eating it raw provokes the yuck factor. Speaking personally, I’m not sure that it’s rawness makes all that much difference here – but maybe […]
INCB: Wrong on Drugs Policy
It’s a while since I’ve said anything about drug policy, but a story in the BMJ a couple of weeks ago caught my eye. It would appear that the International Narcotics Control Board, a UN agency, has issued a report in which it advocates the prohibition of whole classes of substance: National governments need to […]
MSF Dilemma # 4: Acting Beyond Competence
This is the fourth of the dilemmas considered here. Our doctor has previously assisted in caesarean sections but has never taken sole responsibility for one. The doctor who is responsible for surgery is on holiday and transport to the next surgical facility takes 7 h, which is too long for this mother who is clearly in obstructed […]
MSF Dilemma # 3: Re-Infibulation
This is the third of the dilemmas considered here. To allow childbirth, it is necessary to surgically open an infibulation. After delivery, women (and their husbands) ask for restoration of the infibulation (re-infibulation), which involves re-suturing. MSF opposes re-infibulation and works to ensure that it is not undertaken in its delivery facilities. Although MSF opposes this practice, […]