Does the slippery slope to euthanasia make sense?
Two words guaranteed to spark derision on a blog are Slippery and Slope. They are dismissed with either a smirk as a hoary old chesnut,...
Oxford ethicist attacks conscientious objection
Conscientious objection is guaranteed to give anyone who went to university in the 60s and 70s the warm fuzzies. It was the Everest of moral...
Swedish academic argues for triparenting
One parent is good. Two parents are better. Three parents might be better still. So argues a researcher from Sweden, who published a paper in...
Marketing and science clash in Gardasil debate
Gardasil, Merck’s vaccine against the human papilloma virus, the most common sexually transmitted disease, is once again at the centre of political, moral, bioethical and...
Personhood amendment in Mississippi fails
Voters in Mississippi have decided that a fertilised egg should not be granted the legal rights and privileges of a child or adult human. Voters...
Patients in vegetative state are often misdiagnosed: study
Patients in a vegetative state have intervals of wakefulness, but seem to be unaware of themselves or their surroundings, a Lancet study has found. Patients...
Israeli children who sue for being born
Israeli children with birth defects increasingly sue medical authorities for allowing them to be born. Israeli children with birth defects increasingly sue medical authorities for...
Does dentistry face an ethical dilemma?
Dentistry has its fair share of scandals, lawsuits, commercialisation, self-promotion and doctors who prescribe excessive treatments. Dentistry has its fair share of scandals, lawsuits, commercialisation,...
Swedish doctor acquitted in baby death case
A pediatrician charged for having hastened the death of a newborn baby at a hospital in Sweden in 2008 has been acquitted in a case...
Mentally challenged can be “walking targets”
A horrifying story from Philadelphia has brought to light the complexity of the issue of autonomy. Paroled murderer Linda Ann Weston dragged several mentally challenged...
Musings from Peter Singer on the death penalty
Somewhat surprisingly, on utilitarian grounds Peter Singer defends the possibility of imposing the death penalty. At this moment, there exists no situation in which it...
Daughter will receive transplant of her mother’s womb
Melinda Arnold, after many years of wanting to be a mother, is set to receive a transplant of her mother’s womb. Melinda Arnold, after many...