By Scott Hoener. Mysterious government experiments, be it the paranormal realm of the “Upside Down” in small town U.S.A., the thrilling sagas of Jason Bourne, or the bizarre cinematic depiction of U.S. government officials attempting to harness psychic abilities, have long been the subject of popular American media and culture. While viewers might find fascination […]
Latest articles
Diversity and inclusion initiatives for laboratory animals?
By Monika Piotrowska. Before the pandemic, an Italian colleague of mine from the biology department and his Polish wife would host elegant gatherings to celebrate the birthdays of their trilingual children. The adults would mingle around a large table that displayed an impressive array of gourmet delicacies while engaging in lively conversations. Occasionally we would […]
Ethics of college vaccine mandates: reply to Høeg et al.
By Leo Lam, Taylor Nichols, Hannah Larson. We thank Tracy Beth Høeg, et al. for their reply to our response paper ‘Ethics of college vaccine mandates, using reasonable comparisons’. Our paper showed that the risk-benefit calculation to mandate vaccines on college campuses benefits students and the community and is ethical. We performed risk-benefit analyses using […]
Beds, beds, beds — We need more addictions beds
By Austin Lam. With recent news of a major private donation to transform addictions care in Vancouver, British Columbia, I have reflected on my experiences as a resident physician taking care of patients with substance use disorders. Drawing from her personal exposure to the devastating effects of addiction through the death of her brother, Jill […]
When and why does a genetic variation become a result?
By Rachel Horton, William Macken, Robert Pitceathly and Anneke Lucassen. We’ve each got four to five million ways in which our DNA differs from the ‘standard’ or ‘reference’ genetic code. When our genome is looked at in a test, all these differences are logged. Most won’t affect our health at all, they’re just natural genetic […]
“We could use that as a tiebreaker” – Yes, but why should we?
By Borgar Jølstad and Erik Gustavsson. Health care priority setting should be based on morally relevant factors such as need, severity, and maximizing health outcomes. But sometimes we must choose between health care allocations where these primary considerations are tied. It is sometimes suggested, and implemented in practice, that in these situations other, perhaps more […]
Vaccine mandates can result in people losing their jobs. Does that make them unethical?
By Maxwell J. Smith. Consider: Kelly is a nurse who has been employed by her city’s general hospital for nearly thirty years. She is single, has two kids preparing to go to university, and a mortgage to pay. Her job is threatened when she is told that, as a condition of continuing her employment, she […]
Why we can almost guarantee that genetic enhancement will never be fairly distributed
By Sinead Prince. We’ve been discussing the possibility of genetic enhancement, and the ethics of such technology, for some time now. Many people are quite cautious about the idea of genetically modifying embryos as well as adults, but others have begun waving the green flag rigorously. Genetic enhancement is the modification of genes using technologies […]
Consent for medical treatment: What is ‘reasonable’?
By Abeezar I Sarela. Consent is fundamental to good medical practice. The General Medical Council (GMC) advises doctors to comply with the law in obtaining patients’ consent for medical treatment. Currently, the law on consent derives from the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board. This judgment emphasizes […]
A new argument on personhood, based on pregnancy
By Heloise Robinson. This blog post is about a JME article I have just written, in which I make a new argument on personhood, in relation to pregnancy. I argue that, if we follow a threshold concept of personhood, there are reasons to recognise a second threshold that would be reached because of pregnancy, and […]