Journal of Medical Ethics blog

By Johnna Wellesley. “Life makes no sense if you have to tolerate endless lies.” (Navalny) The sudden death of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on 16 February 2024 in an Ar...

https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-ethics/2024/04/19/hidden-harms-and-the-death-of-alexei-navalny/

By Rammina Yassaie. Doctors with convictions from taking part in climate-related peaceful protests are at risk of being “struck off” by the General Medical Council (GMC), as tribunals are set...

https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-ethics/2024/04/18/nonviolent-climate-protests-and-the-medical-profession-should-doctors-be-struck-off-for-their-actions/

By David Albert Jones. On 27 March 2024, Liam McArthur introduced his Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill. He said that he was “absolutely convinced” that the legislation...

https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-ethics/2024/04/15/scottish-support-for-assisted-dying-assisted-suicide-is-ebbing-away/

By Nancy S. Jecker, Caesar A. Atuire, Jean-Christophe Bélisle-Pipon, Vardit Ravitsky, Anita Ho. In Christopher Nolan’s film, Oppenheimer, the protagonist frets that unleashing atomic energy wi...

https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-ethics/2024/04/15/beyond-the-robot-apocalypse/

By Aisling McMahon, Alanna Kells and Sinéad Masterson   CAR-T therapies (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy) have demonstrated remarkable potential for the treatment of certain blood canc...

https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-ethics/2024/03/25/the-transformative-potential-of-car-t-therapies-need-for-deeper-consideration-of-ethics-equity-of-access-for-patients/

Paul Affleck , Julia Cons, and Simon E. Kolstoe. De Marco et al have challenged the standard account of what makes a medical intervention invasive, stimulating a set of commentaries, including ou...

https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-ethics/2024/03/06/if-we-expand-the-criteria-for-what-makes-a-medical-intervention-invasive-we-should-include-ingestion-not-mental-distress/

By J. Y. Lee. “A South Korean firm is offering to pay its workers $75,000 each time they have a baby,” a recent news headline reads. Pronatalist incentives are not new in South Korea; the Sou...

https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-ethics/2024/03/04/pronatalism-gone-wrong-cash-rewards-state-sponsored-dating-and-exemption-from-military-conscription/

By Kate Sahan and Kate Lyle. As genomic medicine advances, so too its volume and range of ethical considerations expands. Last month, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics published a report entitled...

https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-ethics/2024/03/04/practising-genomics-ethically-is-more-guidance-really-the-answer/

By Anna Nelson. There is an ongoing ‘maternity crisis’ in the UK, and too many women and birthing people face barriers to accessing respectful, person-centred maternity care. Charities, campa...

https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-ethics/2024/03/04/medical-authority-and-expectations-of-conformity-undermining-person-centred-maternity-care/

By Kannan Sridharan & Gowri Sivaramakrishnan. Artificial intelligence is widely being used in recent years in the health care industry. These systems learn to perform tasks that are commonly asso...

https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-ethics/2024/03/04/can-artificial-intelligence-serve-as-an-ethical-decision-maker-within-committees/