Bioethics and Medical Ethics Commons^™

“How Could You Even Ask That?”: Moral Considerability, Uncertainty And Vulnerability In Social Robotics, Alexis Elder

The Journal of Sociotechnical Critique

When it comes to social robotics (robots that engage human social responses via “eyes” and other facial features, voice-based natural-language interactions, and even evocative movements), ethicists, particularly in European and North American traditions, are divided over whether and why they might be morally considerable. Some argue that moral considerability is based on internal psychological states like consciousness and sentience, and debate about thresholds of such features sufficient for ethical consideration, a move sometimes criticized for being overly dualistic in its framing of mind versus body. Others, meanwhile, focus on the effects of these robots on human beings, arguing that psychological …

Ada Code Of Ethics (November 2020), American Dental Association

Code of Ethics

The ADA Code of Ethics has three main components: The Principles of Ethics, the Code of Professional Conduct and the Advisory Opinions. Contents may also include: Amendment to ADA Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct and Insert for the ADA Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct. The most current issue is available on the ADA’s website.

Open Letter To All Readers, Reviewers, And Authors, Dr. Sheila P. Davis

Journal of Health Ethics

Open Letter for all Readers, Reviewers, and Authors of the Online Journal of Health Ethics

Winners And Losers In The American Political Debates Of The Nation’S Health: An Ethical And Moral Dilemma, Dr. Sheila P. Davis

Journal of Health Ethics

The third and final issue of the Online Journal of Health Ethics for 2020 presents two poignant articles that are rankled with current health ethics and moral issues as the world races to a resolve for the COVID pandemic. There appears to be no easy, quick-fix solutions to the pandemic that has claimed over 1.11 million lives worldwide in this first wave. The Gellert article addresses his view of the U.S. government’s political response and the Gunn article presents an ethical perspective of the emerging promised vaccine to halt the virus.

An Epidemiological View Of The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election: Covid-19 And The Ethics Of Science Denial, George A. Gellert Md, Mph, Mpa

Journal of Health Ethics

COVID-19 is exploiting U.S. political and cultural polarization in the first presidential election to be driven by epidemiology and public health. Medical science is on the ballot as Americans’ views on economic re-opening fracture according to party affiliation. The difference between pro aggressive versus incremental re-opening, mask wearing and social distancing is rooted in respect for, or denial of, the science of epidemiological pandemic disease control. Political leaders at multiple levels, and in particular the president, have politicized the wearing of face masks and so intentionally obscured and misinformed the public regarding the objectively and scientifically proven value of these …

Reimagining Disability: The Screening Of Donor Gametes And Embryos In Ivf, Isabel Karpin, Roxanne Mykitiuk

Articles & Book Chapters

In this article,we examine how disability is figured in the imaginaries that are given shape by the reproductive projects and parental desires facilitated by the bio-medical techniques and practices of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) that involve selection and screening for disability. We investigate how some users of ARTs understand and deploy these imaginaries in ways that are both concordant with and resistant to the understanding of disability embedded within the broader sociotechnical and social imaginaries. It is through users’ deliberations, choices, responses, and expectations that we come to understand how these imaginaries are perpetuated and resisted, and how maintaining them …

Ethical Aspects Of Covid-19 Antibody Testing, Stephen S. Hanson, Demetra Antimisiaris

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

One common COVID-19 test is the test for one or more of the antibodies that the body creates when it encounters the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Because these tests are often point-of-care, rapid tests that require only a blood sample, they may appear to patients to be an easily accessible and useful tool to guide their actions in the pandemic. However, serologic antibody tests should not be offered to patients in normal practice under nearly any circumstances. They are useful in narrow diagnostic settings in later stage infections, and they serve an important public health function, but they are not of benefit …

Mid-Atlantic Ethics Committee Newsletter, Fall 2020

Mid-Atlantic Ethics Committee Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Authorship - Perspective Of An Ent Resident, Matthew T. Solverson

Graduate Medical Education Research Journal

N/A due to perspective piece

Surrogates And Artificial Intelligence: Why Ai Trumps Family, Ryan Hubbard, Jake Greenblum

School of Medicine Publications

The increasing accuracy of algorithms to predict values and preferences raises the possibility that artificial intelligence technology will be able to serve as a surrogate decision-maker for incapacitated patients. Following Camillo Lamanna and Lauren Byrne, we call this technology the autonomy algorithm (AA). Such an algorithm would mine medical research, health records, and social media data to predict patient treatment preferences. The possibility of developing the AA raises the ethical question of whether the AA or a relative ought to serve as surrogate decision-maker in cases where the patient has not issued a medical power of attorney. We argue that …

Intensive Animal Farming Conditions Are A Major Threat To Global Health, Cynthia Schuck-Paim

Animal Sentience

Wiebers & Feigin accurately propose that reducing the risks posed by infectious disease outbreaks and other global health challenges will depend critically on transitioning away from intensive animal farming practices. Creating the right incentive structure for this transition to happen is one of the great challenges in the years to come, but a much-needed step to ensure the health and well-being of current and future generations.

Not Society’S Sacrificial Lambs: It Is Wrong To Withhold Vaccination From Children To Benefit Others, Johan C. Bester

School of Medicine Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

Racism In Healthcare, Elizabeth Dwyer

Black History at UNM

Living with the daily experience of racism can have direct, adverse effects on the health and wellbeing of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Dr. Tracie Collins, former Dean, UNM College of Population Health, and current Secretary of Health of New Mexico, and Dr. Felisha Rohan-Minjares, Professor, UNM’s Department of Family and Community Medicine, explain how bias and racism impact health, treatment, and outcomes.

A Bioethical Paradigm For Enhanced, Post Or Transhumans In Medicine And Biological Research, Roderick Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation the question addressed is the ethical protocol that should be used when enhanced, post or transhumans present themselves as patients to hospitals, or as subjects for scientific research. With the advent of the birth of four children who were genetically engineered in China to be resistant to HIV, I contend that transhumans are already here, and the prevailing Western paradigm of principlism, while good, is not adequate to the task. I explore the basic religious argument that can be used against or in favor of what I call human-directed human evolution. I show how the fears of …

Financial Conflicts Of Interest Change After A High-Impact Clinical Trial Publication In Oncology, Craig L. Cambridge, Emily Stern Gatof, Glen J. Weiss, Roger B. Davis

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: Because financial conflicts of interest (FCOIs) may potentially influence patient care, hospital drug formularies, and treatment guidelines, it is important that these are disclosed. The purpose of this observational study was to quantify the changes in FCOI among U.S.-based academic authors in industry-sponsored oncology trials after a high-impact publication.

Methods: A list of all U.S.-based academic authors (authors) of industry-sponsored solid tumor clinical trials published between August 1, 2014, and December 31, 2015, in 6 high-impact journals (New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, Science, Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Cancer Discovery) was assembled. Studies were limited to …

Impacts Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Black Americans With Diabetes, Ted Studt

Biology Summer Fellows

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all Americans in varying ways, but it has hit the American Black population particularly hard. It also impacts immunocompromised individuals, especially those with conditions that involve damage to or hindering of the cardiovascular or respiratory systems. I found myself asking several questions – how much did this affect individuals who suffer from such conditions, especially those who are Black Americans; how much does systemic racism play in the current pandemic; what could be done about all this; and so on. Since I myself have lived with type I diabetes for almost two decades at the …

The Impact Of Temporal Resolution On Clinical Decision-Making For Individuals With Dysphagia, Shauna Corinne Murray

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

INTRODUCTION: Dysphagia, or a disordered swallow, affects up to 1 in 25 individuals in the United States. The gold standard for assessing dysphagia is the videofluoroscopic evaluation of swallowing (VFES). This allows the clinician to observe the swallow anatomy in motion via an X-ray movie, which historically was recorded at 30 frames per second. In recent years VFES have been performed at less frames per second due to radiation concern. This project investigates the effect of using lower temporal resolutions on assessment of video-fluoroscopic swallow studies.

METHODS: In this investigation, 30 swallow studies, all acquired at 30 frames per second, …

Brain Complexity, Sentience And Welfare, Donald M. Broom

Animal Sentience

Neither sentience nor moral standing is confined to animals with large or human-like brains. Invertebrates deserve moral consideration. Definition of terms clarifies the relationship between sentience and welfare. All animals have welfare but humans give more protection to sentient animals. Humans should be less human-centred.

Situations Éthiques Vécues Par Des Infirmières En Lien Avec La Santé Et La Sécurité Au Travail, Chantal Caux, France Dupuis, Kathleen Lechasseur, Laurence Fortin-Pellerin, Jocelin Lecomte

Rapports de recherche scientifique

L’éthique de la santé fait partie intégrante de la pratique infirmière. L’éthique définit des principes, tels la bienfaisance ou le respect de l’autonomie, qui viennent baliser cette pratique. Ainsi, l’éthique est imbriquée dans toutes les interventions des infirmières et infirmiers (ci-après les infirmières). Il n’est pas rare toutefois que les infirmières vivent des expériences qui sont problématiques d’un point de vue éthique. On parlera souvent dans la littérature de dilemmes éthiques. Ces dilemmes peuvent avoir un impact négatif sur la santé de ces dernières. En effet, en raison de la détresse générée par ces dilemmes, les infirmières peuvent ressentir des …

Mindfulness And The Need To Minimize The Risk Of Harm: A Proposal To Implement And Enforce Standards For Secular Mindfulness Practice, Michael Falick

Mindfulness Studies Theses

While Western mindfulness practice is indeed beneficial for many participants, the research now clearly demonstrates that for some meditators, there are attendant potential risks. These potential risks to practitioners require a level of care from those individuals (and corporations) that disseminate mindfulness practice. Historically, in traditional Buddhist practice, mindfulness was but one of the eight factors on the Noble Eightfold Path. An important component of traditional practice strongly relies on ethics in the delivery of the practice. A formalized standard of care for modern, secular mindfulness practices, and a method to implement and enforce that standard, will greatly enhance safety …