By Robert Steel The introduction and refinement of highly effective antiretroviral treatments has transformed HIV into a manageable chronic condition. Nonetheless, treatment is lifelong, burdening people living with HIV and health systems. So there is interest in a cure. But cure trials can be risky and the medical benefit of potentially being cured is limited […]
Latest articles
Euthanasia, palliative opioid use and palliative sedation: A rejoinder
By Thomas David Riisfeldt. One of my recent essays has generated a considerable amount of critique which I was fortunate to be able to explore in my essay ‘A response to critics: Weakening the ethical distinction between euthanasia, palliative opioid use and palliative sedation’. I will briefly comment on some of these points here. I […]
The option of assisted dying is good for you even if you don’t want to die
By Ben Colburn I am an academic philosopher. In recent years I have been working with end of life practitioners, using my ideas about the importance of individual autonomy to address some tough questions about the predicaments we face as we approach our deaths. We’ve been trying to work out how to support people’s autonomy […]
“But it’s not my fault”: what not to say when confronting medical errors (even if it’s true)
By Daniel Tigard. Healthcare professionals are only human—at least, for now. As such, they are prone to simple oversights, or even occasional acts of gross negligence. What makes errors in medical contexts especially concerning is, of course, that any failure can have devastating effects. Patients come to healthcare facilities needing attention for some ailment and […]
Ectogenesis as a Political Perspective
By Giulia Cavaliere I’m at that age. The age where close friends start talking about having babies, are having babies or are thinking about number two. Courtesy of these conversations, and YouTube ads being extremely concerned about my fertility, I too have begun pondering baby-related questions. As a certified nerd, the ‘pondering’ led me to […]
How I came to write “Why not Common Morality?”
By Rosamond Rhodes When I first began my work at Mount Sinai, I was the sole philosopher at the institution, and I certainly felt like a stranger among the hundreds of medical professionals. As the only bioethicist on campus, I was called upon by any department that wanted ethics education for their trainees and any […]
The Institute of Medical Ethics (IME) Annual Seminar Competition 2020
The Research Committee of the Institute of Medical Ethics (IME) is currently inviting submissions for the third round of its annual seminar competition (2019/2020). The closing date for applications is Monday 2nd December 2019. This scheme funds projects in the region of £2,500-£3,500, and it is expected that approximately 3-4 awards will be made. The […]
Birth and “Birth”: Why Human Subjects in Artificial Wombs Should be Treated as Neonates
By Nick Colgrove. Recently, I argued that human subjects in artificial wombs are newborns (or, at least, should be treated as newborns). This is because the subject of partial ectogenesis—which has been extracted from a pregnant woman’s body and placed in an artificial womb—is a newborn, full stop. The subject of complete ectogenesis—which is created […]
Are the Irreversibly Comatose Still Here?
By Lukas J. Meier Patients who do not emerge from coma are not dead – at least not in a biological sense. Their hearts are beating, their skin is warm, and many of them even breathe without external assistance. But are these patients also alive mentally, that is, is there anything going on in their […]
Halfway Home? Accessing Abortion in Northern Ireland
By Nathan Emmerich. On the 21st of October 2019 abortion was effectively decriminalized in Northern Ireland (NI). Prior to this abortion was illegal in NI, including in cases of fatal fetal abnormalities or when conception resulted from rape or incest. Furthermore, whether or not the risks posed to the mother of continuing a pregnancy justified […]