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 […]
Latest articles
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 […]
Prognostic paralysis: why do doctors shirk the difficult questions?
By Mohammad S Razai The morning she was told about the recurrence of her breast cancer, Mary1 remembers the framed pastiche of Monet’s Water Lilies hanging on the wall of the clinic, the pungent odour of disinfectant and the rustle of pages fanning as her oncologist turned them, deftly and effortlessly. With an acute sense of […]
Getting Un-Psyched About Ethics
By Nicholas Kontos My biggest insecurity about being a psychiatrist with an interest in medical ethics is being a psychiatrist with an interest in medical ethics. Either of those elements is fantastic on its own, and a handful of psychiatrists do advance the idea of our specialty having special ethical standing and knowledge. Yet, having […]