By Dr Nathan Emmerich and Prof Bert Gordijn When we consider the end of our life and the actual circumstances of our death the vast majority of us would prefer to go peacefully, perhaps dying of simple old age at the end of a life well lived. Unfortunately, this is not always possible. Whilst the […]
Latest articles
When is it ethical to pay clinical trial participants different amounts?
By Govind Persad, Holly Fernandez Lynch, and Emily Largent. This collaboration grew out of our shared experience as scholars studying research ethics and (for some of us) as institutional review board members. We witnessed debates over when, if ever, it can be fair to pay different participants in the same study different amounts of money. […]
Sacrificing The Career Of An Otherwise Competent And Useful Doctor: Nurse/Doctor Differences After Gross Negligence Manslaughter
By Nathan Hodson. Last week Hadiza Bawa-Garba was told that she would be able to return to clinical practice having been suspended since her conviction for gross negligence manslaughter in 2015. Whether or not the decision is good for public confidence in the medical profession, it is probably good news for patients that, from February […]
Doctors, stop asking your trans patients for referral letters before giving them hormones
By Florence Ashley. A few days ago, I sent off an email to someone I know at my university’s student health clinic to inquire about their ability to prescribe hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to trans students. A friend of mine had recently contacted me for recommendations of providers, but I knew that most of the […]
Is changing legal age denying of facts?
By Joona Räsänen. In my article ‘Moral case for legal age change’, I argue that sometimes people should be allowed to change their legal age. I claim that age change should be allowed when a person is at risk of being discriminated against because of their age, and they are in better condition than people of […]
Changing the defaults in organ donation: Moving the goalposts or pitch invasion?
By David Shaw Following a wide consultation and debate, the Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Bill was recently approved by parliament and will come into effect next year. The new legislation resembles the deemed consent regime introduced in Wales in 2013, and a similar scheme is under consideration in Scotland. Currently, people in England who want […]
Well That’s Something Worth Dissecting
By Natalie Cohen It was my first day of anatomy class. Dressed in hand-me-down scrubs covered by a blue smock that still smelled of its packaging, I opened the laboratory double doors and began my long walk towards table one, with each step I passed by lab tables with white plastic sheets covering what I […]
Reimagining Uterus Transplantation
By Amani Sampson, Laura Kimberly, Kara Goldman, David Keefe, and Gwendolyn Quinn. In 1931, a transgender woman named Lili Elbe received the first known uterus transplant in a human. Unfortunately, she died from organ rejection complications three months later. Her story is often missing from the emerging ethical discourse surrounding uterus transplantation. Our interest in exploring how uterus […]
Authorship and the deceased
By Gert Helgesson Research ethics has attracted increasing attention in recent years, not least regarding broad themes like scientific misconduct and predatory publishing. In the aftermath of some extensively reported research scandals, such as the Macchiarini case, involving patient deaths, the responsibility of the individual co-author has emerged as a theme of great interest to many, […]
It’s Time to Pay Attention to “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome”
By Diane O’Leary. Professional and public debate about myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) has reached a new pitch. A London Times article in August described the “acrimonious scientific row” that’s erupted in the UK now that the US Institute of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, and Centers for Disease Control insist that ME/CFS is not a psychosomatic condition, but […]