blog.bioethics.net - the editors' blog of The American Journal of Bioethics

Love in the Time of Influenza

2012-02-15T00:31:17Z

This Valentine's Day, let out your inner public health nerd by sharing one of these cards from the American Public Health Association. Spread love and public health ethics this February 14th (and beyond). Summer Johnson McGee, PhD...

Is Hope a Culprit in Cancer Clinical Trials?

2012-02-10T17:51:16Z

A recent study conducted by Emory University School of Medicine found that therapeutic misconception is alive and well in Phase I cancer research. According to the Chicago Tribune, "people enrolled in early stage trials for possible cancer treatments may underestimate...

Gingrich on IVF: Bad for Families, Bad for Bioethics

2012-02-01T15:21:16Z

Scientists, reproductive specialists and andrologists had better prepare. If Newt Gingrich has his way (and wins the Presidency), he will have a whole new world in store for science and medicine. Newt has revived the embryo debate in Republican politics,...

Canadians have Bieber Fever...For Organ Donation

2012-01-24T19:09:34Z

Yes, it's true. Bieber Fever has spread far and wide. But it isn't just tweens who are following the pop star, Justin Bieber's, every move. Apparently his Twitter feed has quite an effect on his fellow Canadians in regard to...

Caplan: Say No to Sterilization, Forced Abortion

2012-01-24T19:03:11Z

Art Caplan discusses a troubling case regarding a 32-year-old pregnant woman known as "Mary Moe" who is pregnant for the third time and who suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Can the court require her to have an abortion? Ought...

Rallying Around Amelia: A Debate on Disability

2012-01-17T14:42:18Z

The blogosphere and the airwaves are filled with indignation regarding what has happened to Amelia Rivera, a three year old who has a rare genetic disorder called Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome. Amelia needs a kidney transplant, but physicians at Children's Hospital of...

Get Fit, For Your Corpse's Sake

2012-01-09T20:57:57Z

Art Caplan reminds us in his column on MSNBC.com that its good to be skinny, whether dead or alive. The negative health consequences of obesity experienced during life linger on well into death, especially for those who want to donate...

In Memoriam--Bernard Gert

2012-01-09T20:54:54Z

We sadly note the passing of philosopher and bioethicists, Bernard "Bernie" Gert. Bernie was also a member of American Society for Bioethics and Humanities and received its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. He will be missed by all. His obituary...

Why Fat Cannot Make You Unfit to Parent

2011-11-29T15:00:22Z

An eight-year-old Cleveland Heights, Ohio boy has been taken away from his parents by Child Protective Services. An unfortunate, but routine occurrence in the world of CPS--but this time the case has an usual cause---this third grader weighs more than...

November Issue of AJOB is Now Available Online!

2011-11-03T18:53:38Z

This month's issue of The American Journal of Bioethics is now available online. Research ethics is featured prominently in this issue with Rosamond Rhodes et al arguing for a new category of research risk and an article about the recruitment...

In Memoriam: Bioethics Pioneer, Erich Loewy, Dies at 83

2011-11-01T15:04:31Z

A bioethics pioneer within his institution, the country and worldwide, Dr. Erich Loewy changed bioethics in innumerable ways. HIs emphasis on justice in healthcare was evident in his national and international work on the role of the physician in health...

Food Fight: Industry versus the IOM

2011-10-20T21:59:34Z

If we are what we eat, shouldn't we know what we are, in fact, eating? This simple idea may be much harder to support than one would guess thanks to lobbying on the part of the food industry, says Arthur...

Skin Cancer, Your Hairdresser and You

2011-10-19T18:09:54Z

Public health experts are arguing to enlist an unlikely set of professionals in the fight against and early detection of skin cancer. Hairdressers. That's right: your stylist just might save your life. As NPR's Booster Shots blog put it--who spends...

Arthur Caplan Says "No" To Prisoner Organs

2011-10-19T15:57:24Z

In the October 2011 issue of AJOB, Arthur Caplan argues in his Target Article "The Use of Prisoners as Sources of Organs-An Ethically Dubious Practice" that the great demand for cadaveric organs for donation around the world does not justify...

Genetic Testing for the Injury Prone

2011-10-18T15:06:12Z

Professional soccer teams (football to the rest of the world) are using high-powered science to give them a competitive edge. The most recent venture into the world of professional sport and science involves an "unnamed Premier League club" [that] has...