Hot Topics: Institutions, Centers, Funding
by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.
Since 1927, the agency now known as the Food and Drug Administration became the federal agency responsible for the safety of food for human consumption, drugs, and therapeutic devices. …
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by Carlo Alfredo Clerici, MD, Tullio Proserpio, PhD, Costanza Raimondi, PhD candidate
The COVID pandemic has exposed us to our own fragility and has forced the entire world to confront a condition with no cure.…
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by Craig Klugman, PhD, Kelly Michelson, MD, MPH, Kayhan Parsi, JD, PhD
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, groups of regional ethicists have organized to better foster collaboration and dialogue in their cities and states. …
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by Leah McClimans, Ph.D.
The Autism CARES (Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education and Support) Act is currently up for reauthorization before Congress.…
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… Full ArticleOriginal art and artist’s blurbs are presented in collaboration with the students of the University of Illinois Chicago program in Biomedical Visualization.
This post can also be found as the November 2018 editorial in the American Journal of Bioethics.
by Alonzo L.…
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by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.
Like most members of the American Society for Bioethics & Humanities (ASBH), I received an email last week geared toward enticing me to sign up to take the new Healthcare Ethics Consultant accreditation exam.…
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by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.
Last week, I was interviewed by an academic news serviceabout antimicrobial resistance (AMR) after a study reported that giving antibiotics to children in selected African towns led to a decreased mortality rate. …
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by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.
Last week, the faculty at my university were sent an email about an “exciting “new way to fund our projects and research—raise the money ourselves.…
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Chicago Med (Season 3; Episode 4)
Confidentiality: A husband comes into the ER with his wife who is experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions.…
Full ArticleInnovative Practice, Clinical Research, and the Ethical Advancement of Medicine
Health Research Priority Setting: The Duties of Individual Funders
Aligning Research Priorities to Improve Equity: A Challenge for Health Funders
Growing an ethics consultation service: A longitudinal study examining two decades of practice
Improving third-year medical students' competency in clinical moral reasoning: Two interventions
A big component of vaccine distribution has been utilizing ethics to determine vaccine prioritization. Issac Chotiner of The New Yorker speaks with immunologist Barry Bloom to discuss what goes into making decisions on vaccine distribution.
Full ArticleWhy has vaccine distribution fallen into disarray across the United States? Lack of funding and coordination between state and local governments has left citizens confused about their vaccination opportunities. What will come in year 2 of COVID-19?
Full ArticleRecent data has shown COVID-19 numbers are trending in the wrong directions for our populations at risk. With the vaccine soon to be rolled out, what needs to be considered in distribution as we look at the effects of COVID-19 on elderly populations?
Full ArticleAstraZeneca recently disclosed a key mistake in their vaccine trials. How will this impact the trust and reliability of their results? What ethics needs to be considered regarding this mistake? Can these results now hold up with further testing?
Full ArticleAlthough facial recognition software proves to be useful in certain scenarios, what happens if this technology falls into the wrong hands. Researchers must recognize that unethical facial recognition practice is fundamentally dangerous.
Full Article“With the emergency use authorization process in a swirl of controversy, understanding the ethical dimensions of issuing it for a vaccine can provide clarity on the necessity of stringent guidelines from the FDA.”
Full ArticleNursing homes have been overwhelmed by the pandemic and residents account for a fair share of cases world. “Recent studies suggest that for-profit ownership may have endangered residents by skimping on care, while funneling cash to owners and investors.”
Full ArticleRebekah Jones was fired last month from her job at the Florida Department of Health, where she helped create a data portal about the state’s COVID-19 cases. Now, she has created a dashboard of her own.
Full ArticleAn academic strike is planned for this week, alongside marches and demonstrations worldwide.
Full ArticleThere’s a new war raging in health care, with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake and thousands of lives in the balance. The battle, pitting drug companies against doctors and patient advocates, is being fought over the unlikeliest of substances: human excrement.
The clash is over the future of fecal microbiota transplants, or F.M.T., a revolutionary treatment that has proved remarkably effective in treating Clostridioides difficile, a debilitating bacterial infection that strikes 500,000 Americans a year and kills 30,000.
The therapy transfers fecal matter from healthy donors into the bowels of ailing patients, restoring the beneficial works of the community of gut microbes that have been decimated by antibiotics. Scientists see potential for using these organisms to treat diseasesfrom diabetes to cancer.
At the heart of the controversy is a question of classification: Are the fecal microbiota that cure C. diff a drug, or are they more akin to organs, tissues and blood products that are transferred from the healthy to treat the sick? The answer will determine how the Food and Drug Administration regulates the procedure, how much it costs and who gets to profit.
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