By Rachel Arkell and Ellie Lee. Since the 1980s, some have suggested using meconium (an infant’s first faeces) as a source of biomarkers for establishing Prenatal Alcohol Exposure (PAE) – a term that has come into use to describe the identification of alcohol consumption by a pregnant woman. More recently, it has been presented as […]
Latest articles
Vaccine lotteries for children: Considering the ethics of financial incentives for children
By Nathan Hodson and Ray Jerram. The coronavirus pandemic had enormous consequences for children. Around the world, children missed months or even years of school, losing out on learning, exercise and friendship. Although they generally had far lower morbidity and mortality from SARS-Cov-2, the loss of grandparents and parents affected many. Children were also the […]
The new UK storage limit for gametes and embryos: are we ready?
By Ilaria Bertini On 1 July 2022 the UK Government announced a change in the law on frozen storage of gametes and embryos, with the full support of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). According to the Health and Care Act 2022, fertility patients will now be able to store both embryos and gametes […]
FWIW I had an abortion
By Katherine Valde. FWIW, I had an abortion last year. I did not get my abortion because my life was in danger – as far as I know I could have carried a baby to full term with nothing other than the normal side effects. I did not get my abortion because I couldn’t afford […]
The secret house: the ethics of research with imminently dying patients
By Nicholas Murphy, Charles Weijer, Marat Slessarev, Teneille Gofton Suppose you need to answer an important scientific question, but the only way to do so is through a research study enrolling critically ill patients who have only hours or minutes left to live. What do you do? Is such a study feasible? It is even […]
Is neoliberalism bad for our health?
By Kate Lyle, Susie Weller, Gabby Samuel, Anneke Lucassen Neoliberalism promotes the rights and responsibilities of individuals to make their own choices and manage their own risks, and as a political approach dominates Western societies. As such, neoliberalism has driven a preoccupation with quantifying and managing risks within society; the idea being that clarifying the […]
The right to pursue happiness on a healthy planet is a fundamental right
By Eric C Ip and Trevor T W Wan. Happiness and health determine what, why, and how we do what we do. There is a profound relationship between the two. The Constitution of the World Health Organization, a multi-lateral international treaty, proclaims in its preamble that health is ‘basic to the happiness’ of all peoples. Healthier […]
We need to eliminate ethics-washing
By Paola Buedo and Marcin Waligora. All of us have heard about ethics scandals in science: big conflict of interests from high level universities, selective reporting in clinical trials, researchers working with potentially dangerous techniques without any regulatory control, retracted scientific articles, and so on. These scandals have an enormous impact on how society perceives […]
Are we still allowed to teach abortion?
By Ezio Di Nucci. Something “funny” happened to me recently (this was soon after the SCOTUS leak): in reviewing possible changes to our medical ethics curriculum with the team, I made what I thought was the innocent suggestion of including an abortion case study (so far, the only abortion we have been teaching has been […]
Modern bioethical principles – a colonialist holdover or universally applicable?
By Max Ying Hao Lim Are contemporary bioethical practices unequivocally, unconditionally and absolutely universal? Or is the very notion of universality a holdover from a Western-centric colonial ideology seeking to impose ‘best practices’ onto the Global South and other third-world countries? This ‘colonialist’ dilemma is as time-worn as it is fundamental to the modern conception […]