December 31, 2025
(NPR) – Over time, that “death anxiety” transformed into something else: an appreciation for the present moment, says Park, who often writes about this topic on his Instagram. “When death is on the forefront of your mind, it’s almost like … Read More
December 24, 2025
(New York Times) – Sudden surges of anguish can accompany intense mourning. That’s not unusual, experts say, and sometimes even helpful. She would feel unexpectedly tense up, her heart racing as a wave of emotions washed over her. “Nobody could … Read More
December 19, 2025
(Plough) – Christians should oppose euthanasia. But we also need to start showing real concern for those who feel they have no other option. On December 17, 2025, New York governor Kathy Hochul announced that she intends to sign the … Read More
December 17, 2025
(Plough) – In Vienna, a hospital offers palliative care to babies with debilitating diagnoses. Through a “life protection agency,” as pro-life associations are commonly known in Austria, the young couple learned of a possible alternative. Since 2020, Vienna’s St. Josef … Read More
December 2, 2025
(WSJ) – A year later, she was suing the Brown sisters and their mother. Thomas wanted a share of a multimillion-dollar medical-malpractice award they had won after Joe Brown died of an undiagnosed aortic aneurysm. After all, she was his … Read More
December 1, 2025
(New York Times) – A pacemaker can solve the problem; without one, it can be fatal. But he did not want a pacemaker. His doctors called the psychiatrists to come see him, as we do when people are making decisions … Read More
November 26, 2025
BMC Medical Ethics has new articles available online. Articles include:
November 7, 2025
(Wired Videos) – The ability to communicate with the dead. Immortality. Conquering death and breaking down the impenetrable barrier between the living and departed: it’s something humans have long strived for. Are advancements in technology bringing us closer to that … Read More
October 21, 2025
(Ars Technica) – Doctors share top concerns of AI surrogates aiding life-or-death decisions. For more than a decade, researchers have wondered whether artificial intelligence could help predict what incapacitated patients might want when doctors must make life-or-death decisions on their … Read More
October 17, 2025
(KFF Health News) – Barden, 75, never had children. She’s lived on her own in western Massachusetts since her husband passed away in 2003. “You hit a point in your life when you’re not climbing up anymore, you’re climbing down,” … Read More
October 2, 2025
(5280 via Longreads) – More Americans are seeking expanded end-of-life options, and interest in Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) is increasing, with the practice now legal in 11 states. In Colorado, about 1,100 people have used MAID, and recent state … Read More
September 25, 2025
(Popular Science) – In 1907, Duncan MacDougall put dying patients on a scale. MacDougall hoped to discover whether a soul had mass with his macabre experiment, and if so, how much. His tests with patients, later known as the 21 … Read More
September 16, 2025
(Nature) – Developers of griefbots say that they help people by allowing them to commune with recreations of the dead, but others say that the technology is fraught with danger. “Saying goodbye to Dadbot was surprisingly hard,” she says. “When … Read More
August 27, 2025
(NPR) – The digital afterlife industry, which manages a person’s digital assets after their death, is expected to quadruple in size to nearly $80 billion over the next decade. That includes the creation of deadbots. The more immersive these bots … Read More
August 5, 2025
(NPR) – Tennessee is gearing up for an execution on Tuesday that experts say would likely mark the first time a man has been put to death with a working defibrillator in his chest. Gov. Bill Lee declined Monday to … Read More
August 5, 2025
(Washington Post via MSN) – Artificial intelligence tools are not just reshaping how we work, learn and live. They’re also changing what happens after we die, as families and funeral homes seek help in creating tributes and eulogies to define … Read More
July 31, 2025
(New York Times) – But by artificially circulating blood and oxygen, the procedure can reanimate a lifeless heart. Some doctors and ethicists find the procedure objectionable because, in reversing the stoppage of the heart, it seems to nullify the reason … Read More
July 30, 2025
(The Conversation) – Since the documentary first aired, the business of digitally resurrecting the deceased has grown significantly. People are now using AI to create “grief bots,” which are simulations of deceased loved ones that the living can converse with. … Read More
July 25, 2025
(New York Times) – Therapists are cautious about sharing personal information. When they fall ill or die unexpectedly, the shock can be shattering. Ethics guidelines require psychologists to make preparations in case they become incapacitated or die, appointing an executor … Read More
July 21, 2025
(The Verge) – A biodegradable casket made from mushrooms is one way to limit waste. “I’m probably the only architect who created a final home,” Bob Hendrikx tells The Verge. Tombs and catacombs aside, Hendrikx might be the only one … Read More
July 18, 2025
(SF Gate) – The living nightmare of Tonya Walker’s disappearance and death is part of an alleged pattern of wrongdoing by a multibillion-dollar health care company that operates dozens of hospitals across California. Dignity Health has been accused of “callous, reckless, … Read More
June 25, 2025
(The Atlantic) – To be clear, Smith, as a brain-dead patient, was legally and medically deceased, so precepts about doing good and avoiding harm would not have applied to her, at least clinically speaking. But the ethical principle of autonomy … Read More
June 20, 2025
(The Guardian) – Terminally ill people in England and Wales are to be given the right to an assisted death in a historic societal shift that will transform end-of-life care. After months of argument, MPs narrowly voted in favour of … Read More
June 18, 2025
(Plough) – Tom Andrew started out as a pediatrician but became a forensic pathologist, initially serving the City of New York before being appointed Chief Medical Examiner for the State of New Hampshire. When he had been serving in this … Read More
June 12, 2025
(The Telegraph) – Flush and bone rituals proposed as a new, ‘gentler’ funerary method People could soon be able to choose to be boiled and flushed down the drain instead of cremated or buried. A consultation on funerary methods by … Read More
