{"id":4756,"date":"2026-03-08T02:46:56","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T01:46:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/?p=4756"},"modified":"2026-03-08T02:46:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T01:46:56","slug":"appetite-apocalypse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2026\/03\/08\/appetite-apocalypse\/","title":{"rendered":"Appetite apocalypse"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Professor Ed Jesudason<\/p>\n

We seem to spend a lot of time these days thinking about undue influence: scams perpetrated against the elderly<\/a> or people looking for love; the possibility of coercion in assisted dying<\/a>; our democracy undermined by money<\/a> and sex scandal<\/a>; society enraged and misled by social media algorithms<\/a>. If alcohol is a drug that facilitates some of this, what of a medicine that helps us resist? My paper in JME considers this.<\/p>\n

Drugs like Ozempic, in use for weight loss, might soon fit the bill, whether in original form or as a designed descendant. Reports suggest these drugs also suppress urges to drink alcohol and to gamble. What if such placation could be effected more widely and targeted to individual sensibility? Personalised targeting is already achievable in social media algorithms. Pharmaceutical targeting can follow a similar approach. It\u2019s plausible that drugs not unlike Ozempic could be tailored to placate particular desires in most of us.<\/p>\n

But what of the consequences? We might make for a blander world, where daredevils are medicated toward pedestrian lives. Aggression fueled by drink or drugs may fall. Criminality associated with problem gambling could be reduced. But what do we think of this more generally? Autonomous beings surely deserve some freedom to make our mistaken choices. If we suppress all such appetites does our hunger for freedom, justice or expression also wane?<\/p>\n

Such a world may not be unattractive to increasingly oligarchic world leaders. Weapons and police are expensive means to keep order. And they carry the threat that the same force will, one day, be turned against the leadership. But a generally administered medication that placates unhealthy desires, as well as appetites for justice, might be tolerated, not just by elites but by societies.<\/p>\n

Even in mature democracies, a small percentage of the electorate report a loss of faith in the ballot box<\/a> and preference for benign dictatorship. Imagine if drugs could take the fight out of the wider populace – more generally this time and not just targeting minoritised groups. Society, distracted and medicated, can then tolerate the encroach of totalitarianism and climate disaster, but now with greater peace and quiet.<\/p>\n

Paper title<\/strong>: Suppressing appetites, doping virtue?<\/a><\/p>\n

Author<\/strong>: Professor EC Jesudason<\/p>\n

Affiliations<\/strong>: NHS Lothian and Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh<\/p>\n

Competing interests<\/strong>: None to declare<\/p>\n

Social media<\/strong>: LinkedIn<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Professor Ed Jesudason We seem to spend a lot of time these days thinking about undue influence: scams perpetrated against the elderly or people looking for love; the possibility of coercion in assisted dying; our democracy undermined by money and sex scandal; society enraged and misled by social media algorithms. If alcohol is a […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":522,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8117,8076],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bioethics","category-decision-making"],"yoast_head":"\nAppetite apocalypse - Journal of Medical Ethics blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2026\/03\/08\/appetite-apocalypse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Appetite apocalypse - Journal of Medical Ethics blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Professor Ed Jesudason We seem to spend a lot of time these days thinking about undue influence: scams perpetrated against the elderly or people looking for love; the possibility of coercion in assisted dying; our democracy undermined by money and sex scandal; society enraged and misled by social media algorithms. 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