Vol. 8 No. 10 | October 2008
ISBN: 1536-0075
target articles
A Broader View of Justice
Nancy S. Jecker
In this paper I argue that a narrow view of justice dominates the bioethics literature. I urge a broader view. As bioethicists, we often conceive of justice using a medical model. This model focuses attention at a particular point in time, namely, when someone who is already sick seeks access to scarce or expensive services. A medical model asks how we can fairly distribute those services. The bro...
Click for MoreA Duty to Participate in Research: Does Social Context Matter?
Inmaculada de Melo-Martin
Because of the important benefits that biomedical research offers to humans, some have argued that people have a general moral obligation to participate in research. Although the defense of such a putative moral duty has raised controversy, few scholars, on either side of the debate, have attended to the social context in which research takes place and where such an obligation will be discharged. ...
Click for MoreThe Ethical Elephant in the Death Penalty Room
Michael Keane
The United States Supreme Court recently ruled that execution by a commonly used protocol of drug administration does not represent cruel or unusual punishment. Various medical journals have editorialized on this drug protocol, the death penalty in general and the role that physicians play. Many physicians, and societies of physicians, express the opinion that it is unethical for doctors to partic...
Click for MorePatients' Views on Identifiability of Samples and Informed Consent for Genetic Research
Sara Chandros Hull, Dragana Bolcic-Jankovic
It is unclear whether the regulatory distinction between non-identifiable and identifiable information?information used to determine informed consent practices for the use of clinically derived samples for genetic research?is meaningful to patients. The objective of this study was to examine patients’ attitudes and preferences regarding use of anonymous and identifiable clinical samples for ...
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