Identity Disclosure Between Donor Family Members and Organ Transplant Recipients: A Description and Synthesis of Australian Laws and Guidelines
ConclusionRestrictions on identity disclosure have implications for public promotion of donation and transplantation where sharing of stories and images of organ donors and transplant recipients is common. Further research is required to understand the perspective of donor family members, transplant recipients, and healthcare professionals impacted by the current laws. (Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry)
Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry - December 7, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Islamic Perspectives on Polygenic Testing and Selection of IVF Embryos (PGT-P) for Optimal Intelligence and Other Non –Disease-Related Socially Desirable Traits
AbstractIn recent years, the genetic testing and selection of IVF embryos, known as preimplantation genetic testing (PGT), has gained much traction in clinical assisted reproduction for preventing transmission of genetic defects. However, a more recent ethically and morally controversial development in PGT is its possible use in selecting IVF embryos for optimal intelligence quotient (IQ) and other non –disease-related socially desirable traits, such as tallness, fair complexion, athletic ability, and eye and hair colour, based on polygenic risk scores (PRS), in what is referred to as PGT-P. Artificial intelligence (AI) ...
Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry - December 4, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Reelin ’ In The Years: Age and Selective Restriction of Liberty in the COVID-19 Pandemic
AbstractDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, focused protection strategies including selective lockdowns of the elderly were proposed as alternatives to general lockdowns. These selective restrictions would consist of isolating only those most at risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and subsequent use of healthcare resources. The proposal seems to have troubling implications, including the permissibility of selective lockdown on the basis of characteristics such as ethnicity, sex, disability, or BMI. Like age, these factors also correlated with an increased risk of hospitalization from COVID-19. In this paper, we argue that age has m...
Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry - December 4, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Suggestion for Determining Treatment Strategies in Dental Ethics
The objective of this article is to suggest alternative treat ment strategies in dentistry with respect to the following factors: extent of rehabilitation, preserving one’s anatomical structures, aesthetic outcome, number of sessions, patient autonomy. Additionally, this article describes the suggested treatment strategies in an ethical context and determine s the conditions of their employment. The suggested treatment strategies are divided in two categories,extensive treatment strategies focusing on the patient ’s entire craniofacial complex, whilespecific treatment strategies focus on specific paramount issues. (Sou...
Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry - November 30, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
A Principle-Based Approach to Visual Identification Systems for Hospitalized People with Dementia
AbstractA large proportion of hospital inpatients are affected by cognitive impairment, posing challenges in the provision of their care in busy, fast-paced acute wards. Signs and symbols, known as visual identifiers, are employed in many U.K. hospitals with the intention of helping healthcare professionals identify and respond to the needs of these patients. Although widely considered useful, these tools are used inconsistently, have not been subject to full evaluation, and attract criticism for acting as a shorthand for a routinized response. In order for visual identifiers to be used effectively in acute care settings, ...
Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry - November 29, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
The Evolution of Forensic Genomics: Regulating Massively Parallel Sequencing
This article discusses the implications of MPS and provides ethical analysis, drawing on the concept of joint rights applicable to genomic data, and the concept of collective moral responsibility (understood as joint moral responsibility) that are applicable to law enforcement investigations that utilize genomic data. The widespread and unconstrained use of this technology without appropriate legal protections of individual moral rights and associated accountability mechanisms, could potentially not only involve violations of individual moral rights but also lead to an unacceptable shift in the balance of power between gov...
Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry - November 15, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Putting “Epistemic Injustice” to Work in Bioethics: Beyond Nonmaleficence
AbstractWe expand on Della Croce ’s ambition to interpret “epistemic injustice” as a specification of non-maleficence in the use of the influential four-principle framework. This is an alluring line of thought for conceptual, moral, and heuristic reasons. Although it is commendable, Della Croce’s attempt remains tentative. So does our critique of it. Yet, we take on the challenge to critically address two interrelated points. First, we broaden the analysis to include deliberations about hermeneutical injustice. We argue that, if due consideration of epistemic injustice is to require more than negative ethical oblig...
Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry - November 13, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
The Vagueness of Integrating the Empirical and the Normative: Researchers ’ Views on Doing Empirical Bioethics
AbstractThe integration of normative analysis with empirical data often remains unclear despite the availability of many empirical bioethics methodologies. This paper sought bioethics scholars ’ experiences and reflections of doing empirical bioethics research to feed these practical insights into the debate on methods. We interviewed twenty-six participants who revealed their process of integrating the normative and the empirical. From the analysis of the data, we first used the themes to identify the methodological content. That is, we show participants’ use of familiar methods explained as “back-and-forth” metho...
Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry - November 8, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Ethics and Health Security in the Australian COVID-19 Context: A Critical Interpretive Literature Review
Conclusion Discussions of harm from government and associated official bodies fail to adequately distinguish between various senses of harm. Moreover, while the literature often discusses the balancing of rights, the steps involved in the weighing of these rights is rarely adequately explained and defended. We suggest that decision-makers should endeavour to clearly identify and defend the values undergirding their decisions in the public sphere. (Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry)
Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry - November 8, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Deontological Guilt and Moral Distress as Diametrically Opposite Phenomena: A Case Study of Three Clinicians
AbstractFeelings of guilt are human emotions that may arise if a person committed an action that contradicts basic moral mores or failed to commit an action that is considered moral according to their ethical standards and values. Psychological scholarship distinguishes between altruistic guilt (AG) and deontological guilt (DG). AG results from having caused harm to an innocent victim, either by acting or failing to act, whereas DG is caused by violating a moral principle. Although physicians may be expected to experience frequent feelings of guilt in their demanding and intensive work, it is surprising to find that this i...
Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry - November 6, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Pandemic Racism: Lessons on the Nature, Structures, and Trajectories of Racism During COVID-19
AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the most acute global crises in recent history, which profoundly impacted the world across many dimensions. During this period, racism manifested in ways specifically related to the pandemic, including xenophobic sentiments, racial attacks, discriminatory policies, and disparate outcomes ac ross racial/ethnic groups. This paper examines some of the pressing questions about pandemic racism and inequity. We review what research has revealed about the nature and manifestations of racism, the entrenchment of structural racism, and trajectories of racism during COVID-19. (Source: ...
Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry - November 2, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Ethics, Politics, and Minorities
(Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry)
Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry - October 30, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Medically Assisted Death and the Ends of Medicine
AbstractThis paper aims to refute a common line of argument that it is immoral for physicians to engage in medical assistance in death (MAiD), i.e., the practices of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. The argument in question is based on the notion that participating in MAiD is contrary to the professional-role obligations of physicians, due to MAiD ’s putative inconsistency with the ends of medicine. The paper describes several major flaws from which that argument suffers. (Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry)
Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry - October 27, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Ethical Considerations in Research With People From Refugee and Asylum Seeker Backgrounds: A Systematic Review of National and International Ethics Guidelines
AbstractRefugees and asylum seekers may experience challenges related to pre-arrival experiences, structural disadvantage after migration and during resettlement requiring the need for special protection when participating in research. The aim was to review if and how people with refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds have had their need for special protection addressed in national and international research ethics guidelines. A systematic search of grey literature was undertaken. The search yielded 2187 documents of which fourteen met the inclusion criteria. Few guidelines addressed specific ethical considerations for vuln...
Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry - October 27, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
What Ethics Support for Resolving Ethical Conflicts Do Internists Use in Spanish Hospitals?
Conclusions Internists in Spain usually seek assistance to resolve their ethical doubts. Consulting colleagues is the most frequently adopted method. The majority regard tools to resolve ethical conflicts as necessary, seeking above all protocols and consultants/experts in bioethics. (Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry)
Source: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry - October 26, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
