Category: Ethics
The Ethics of Artificial Brains
We are living in a time of technology advancing so rapidly it is challenging to keep up. This has multiple ramifications, and in the area of biomedical research, there is an important ethical and regulatory dimension. Confronting the ethical considerations of our own technology is nothing new, and fresh debate seems to erupt with every new development – including in-vitro fertilization, transplanting...
What the New York Times gets wrong about puberty blockers for transgender youth
The New York Times recently published an article expressing grave concern about the use of puberty blockers to treat gender dysphoria in transgender adolescents. Unfortunately, the reporting ignored evidence and important context to weave a narrative portraying puberty blockers as far more risky than they actually are.
Recycling old antivax tropes as “bioethics”-based arguments against COVID-19 vaccination for children
A recently published article in Bioethics makes ethical arguments against vaccinating children against COVID-19. If you change the word "COVID-19" to measles, chickenpox, or rotavirus (or others), this article could have been published on one of the higher-brow antivax websites in 2010. Antivax arguments never change; they're just continually recycled.
Treating the Unvaccinated
Should vaccination status be used to triage care for critically ill patients during a crisis?
What the heck happened to The BMJ?
Last week, The BMJ published an "exposé" by Paul Thacker alleging patient unblinding, data falsification, and other wrongdoing by a company running three sites for the massive clinical trial of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. It was a highly biased story embraced by antivaxxers, with a deceptively framed narrative and claims not placed into proper context, leading me to look into the broader...
The Frenetic Frenum Freeing Frenzy
What problems do tongue-ties cause? Do all of them need to be clipped?
“Imbalanced Energy Field” is not a valid diagnosis and therapeutic touch is pseudoscience, so why can’t nurses just give it up?
“Imbalanced Energy Field” is not a valid diagnosis and therapeutic touch is pseudoscience. It's past time nursing gave up both.
Abigail Shrier’s Irreversible Damage: A Wealth of Irreversible Misinformation
A critical, science-based analysis of Abigail Shrier's book Irreversible Damage.
Ian Harris on “Surgery, the Ultimate Placebo”
Ian Harris explains that more than half of commonly performed surgical operations may be placebos. Adequate studies using a blinded control group are essential.
Tightening Gene Editing Rules for Humans
Gene-editing regulations are again in the news. We need to take a thoughtful approach.