April 27, 2017
Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics (vol. 38, no. 2, 2017) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “Hearing Sub-Saharan African Voices in Bioethics” by Kevin Gary Behrens “Giving Voice to African Thought in Medical Research Ethics” by Godfrey B. Tangwa “Ancillary Care Obligations in … Read More
April 26, 2017
Hastings Center Report (vol. 47, no. 2, 2017) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “Enrolling in Clinical Research While Incarcerated: What Influences Participants’ Decisions?” by Paul P. Christopher et al. “Toward an Ethically Sensitive Implementation of Noninvasive Prenatal Screening … Read More
April 24, 2017
(USA Today) – Increasing fertility options for couples who can’t naturally conceive trigger questions about ethics. About a third of American adults say in vitro fertilization is morally acceptable, according to a Pew Research study. The conditions around IVF, mainly … Read More
April 21, 2017
(U.S. News & World Report) – A federal appeals court judge who wrote a key ruling on doctor-assisted suicide has died. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Senior Judge John T. Noonan died on Monday at the age … Read More
April 19, 2017
(The Guardian) – Many transhumanists such as Kurzweil contend that they are carrying on the legacy of the Enlightenment – that theirs is a philosophy grounded in reason and empiricism, even if they do lapse occasionally into metaphysical language about … Read More
April 13, 2017
(Science) – Scientific discoveries and new technologies that aim to improve human health challenge our understanding of what it means to be human. Perceptions of being and the boundaries between humans and other species may be disrupted by our potential … Read More
April 10, 2017
(CNN) – Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch has frustrated legislators on both sides of the aisle with his refusal to talk specifics on several major issues he could rule on if he’s confirmed. But one matter on which his past … Read More
March 30, 2017
(Medscape) – Burnout among physicians is rampant. One-third to one-half of practicing physicians meet the criteria for burnout, and in a large study conducted by the Mayo Clinic, 53% of medical students showed signs of burnout. In addition, 300 to … Read More
March 29, 2017
(The Atlantic) – Conservative Catholics and left-wing feminists often find each other on opposite sides of political debates, especially when it comes to what women should do with their bodies. Yet in Europe, there is a reproductive rights issue on … Read More
March 24, 2017
(Medscape) – A recent Medscape article examined rituals used by hospice staff and others who care for patients at the end of life. “Rituals are symbolic activities that can provide comfort, meaning, and support and relieve anxiety associated with uncertainties, … Read More
March 21, 2017
(Quartz) – For decades, India’s holy rivers have been massively polluted with sewage, industry chemicals, and pilgrims’ mass bathing as religious rituals. But they may get a new lease on life: In a landmark ruling on Monday (March 20), the … Read More
March 20, 2017
Developing World Bioethics (vol. 17, no. 1, 2016) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “Reconsidering Counselling and Consent” by David R. Hall and Anton A. van Niekerk “Raising the Barriers to Access to Medicines in the Developing World – … Read More
March 16, 2017
(Discovery) – All of that is more true today than then. Yet, despite exponential advances in biotechnology in the intervening years, the issue generally has faded from public discussion and concern. That needs to change. The stakes for our children’s … Read More
March 15, 2017
(NPR) – Should the Irish Giant be allowed to rest in peace? That’s the question swirling around the bones of Charles Byrne, a literal giant from Ireland who was an 18th century celebrity. His enormous skeleton is on public display … Read More
March 7, 2017
(NPR) – Thomas Starzl, the doctor who pioneered liver transplant surgery, has died at the age of 90. In an announcement on its website, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center said Starzl died peacefully at his home on Saturday. “His … Read More
March 6, 2017
(The Atlantic) – When people believe their lives are meaningful, according to psychologists, it’s because three conditions have been satisfied: They feel their existence is valued by others; they are driven by a sense of purpose, or important life goals; … Read More
February 28, 2017
(The Atlantic) – This idea of objectivity in assessing pain plays a major role in the debate over “railway spine,” a constellation of symptoms suffered by people in train collisions. (It’s sometimes likened to 19th-century whiplash.) Railroad companies were not … Read More
February 24, 2017
(STAT News) – Jeantine Lunshof insists she is not the “ethics police.” It says so on the door to her closet-sized office at Harvard. She doesn’t find reasons to reflexively shut down experiments. She doesn’t snoop around for deviations from … Read More
February 23, 2017
(The Washington Post) – How many people could self-driving cars kill before we would no longer tolerate them? This once-hypothetical question is now taking on greater urgency, particularly among policymakers in Washington. The promise of autonomous vehicles is that they will make our roads … Read More
February 22, 2017
Studies in Christian Ethics has a new article available online by subscription only. “Ethics, Human Oocytes and the Teleology of the Body: An Appreciation of Gilbert Meilaender’s Work” by Paul Lauritzen
February 20, 2017
(The Guardian) – Norma McCorvey, who was just 22 years old when she became better known as Jane Roe in the landmark 1973 supreme court case Roe v Wade, has died aged 69 in her home state of Texas. Her … Read More
February 15, 2017
(The Washington Post) – The report did not recommend an absolute prohibition of gene editing on the human “germline” if such interventions can be proved safe. This would involve genetic changes to eggs, sperm or embryos that would persist in … Read More
February 13, 2017
The Journal of Medicine & Philosophy (vol. 42, no. 1, 2017) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “Philosophical Provocation: The Lifeblood of Clinical Ethics” by Laurence B. McCullough “The Ethics of Clinical Care and the Ethics of Clinical … Read More
February 9, 2017
(BBC) – The Vatican has defended its decision to invite China to a conference on organ trafficking despite its record of using executed inmates as organ donors. The head of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS) admitted he did not … Read More
February 8, 2017
(Nature) – Oliver Smithies had a habit of inventing ways to do the experiments he wanted to do, and crafted tools that are now used widely in biology. He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2007 for … Read More
