Finding a kidney on Facebook

April 24, 2010

Hi there,

It’s hardly the most significant of this
week’s stories, but I found the news that the mayor of a small Connecticut town had donated a kidney
to one of her constituents worthy of a TV drama. The most fascinating feature
was that the recipient was one of her Facebook friends.

Facebook and other social networking tools are
clearly transforming the way we interact. How will it affect bioethics? We’ve
already featured news about psychiatrists who researched their patients on
Facebook, raising serious issues of privacy and confidentiality. Expect to read
even more convoluted stories in the years ahead.

Cheers,

Michael Cook
Editor

Author
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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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