Should we be more accepting of suicide in older adults?
Clinicians have different views. Suicide can be impulsive and precipitated by mental illness. But what about when an a healthy, older person makes a calm...
South Korean doctors “protest” new abortion regulations
Doctors in the country are refusing to perform abortions. Almost two thousand obstetrics and gynecology doctors in South Korea have protested tough new Ministry of...
Healthcare workers and the duty to treat Ebola patients
Is there a duty to treat patients with Ebola? Do healthcare workers have a duty to treat Ebola patients? This question has becoming more pressing...
Western Australia set to debate euthanasia
A government committee has recommended the introduction of euthanasia legislation. A joint select committee for the parliament of Western Australia has published a report recommending...
Banning killer robots
Robots don't get human dignity. A recent article in The Conversation by Harvard University law lecturer Bonnie Docherty argues that we should ban fully autonomous...
Japanese committee recommends no regulation for some gene editing
Switching off genes is different from adding them, say experts. A government committee in Japan has garnered criticism after recommending that certain forms of gene...
Australian Senate votes down euthanasia bill
Australia's senate has rejected a bill that would have allowed territories to legalise PAS. Australia’s senate has voted down a bill that would have allowed...
Direct-to-consumer genetic testing is booming, but ethical concerns remain
Ethicists still have their reservations. In a little over a decade, genetic testing company 23andMe has gone from being a small startup in Silicon Valley...
Should doctors’ social media profiles be scrutinised?
The Medical Board of Australia has proposed controversial changes to its Code of Conduct. Doctors and politicians have slammed proposed changes to the code of...
Is suicide different from physician assisted death?
A new paper argues that PAD for psychiatric reasons may be indistinguishable from suicide. Bioethicists have for several decades discussed whether Physician Assisted Death (PAD)...
New guidelines seek to address misdiagnosis of disorders of consciousness
Four in 10 people thought to be unconscious are actually aware. About four in 10 people who are thought to be unconscious are actually aware,...
Embryo research: why not make it the “one month rule”?
Two ethicists argue that we should jettison the 14 day limit on growing embryos in vitro. Since the 1980s, research on embryos in vitro has...