Personhood and moral status: the debate continues
Two insightful articles recently published in the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy may provide much needed clarity in philosophical debates about personhood. Personhood debates have...
Doctors risk jail to uphold professional ethics
Australian doctors are refusing to release the baby of an asylum seeker couple from hospital until a “suitable home environment” has been found for her....
Russia denies responsibility for strike on MSF hospital
Russia has rejected allegations that it bombed a Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital in northern Syria last Monday. Russia has rejected allegations that it bombed a...
World Medical Association to revise ‘Hippocratic Oath”
After 70 years, have a physician's obligations changed? It’s time to update the modern Hippocratic Oath, says the World Medical Association, a global organization of...
Would Jenner’s smallpox experiment pass a research ethics committee?
A single vulnerable subject exposed to a dread disease without animal trials -- it's not sounding good You have to pity Edward Jenner. He develops...
Celebrating Dutch euthanasia
Oh no; not again. Sorry: about half of our articles this week are about euthanasia, most of them about the Netherlands. I know that there...
Dutch psychiatric patients may get euthanasia too easily, says US study
A new study in the journal JAMA Psychiatry has presented an alarming picture of physician evaluation of euthanasia requests in the Netherlands. ‘A new study...
A Dutch report applies the brakes on ‘completed life’ euthanasia
"Complete life" is not sufficient reason, says the Schnabel report Although euthanasia in the Netherlands is often regarded as an unstoppable juggernaut, a government commission...
Celebrating 15 years of Dutch euthanasia
Youth outreach is an important part of the program Beginning today, the Dutch right-to-die association NVVE is celebrating Euthanasia Week with a selection of documentary...
Canada’s ‘euthanasia courts’
Canada's High Court has authorised provincial courts to arbitrate on requests for euthanasia. Because Canada’s federal government still has not passed euthanasia legislation, the Supreme...
IVF audit in Australia
An Australian consumer watchdog is conducting a wide-ranging investigation into the country’s IVF clinics. An Australian consumer watchdog is conducting a wide-ranging investigation into the...
Should we get rid of race in genetics?
Racial categories have long been used in genetics, though recently academics have been discouraging their use. Racial categories have long been used in genetics to...