Bioethics.net

July 12, 2018 9:38 am

What are “predatory” academic journals? (The Economist)

In recent years, however, this practice of appraising researchers by counting their publications has become problematic. This is because an astonishing number of journals that bill themselves as “peer-reviewed” do not, in fact, take the trouble to be so. A tally of journals that an American analytics firm, Cabells, believes to falsely claim to peer-review submissions, amounted, on a recent day, to 8,699—more than double the number of a year ago. A blacklist compiled by other experts is even longer.

March 28, 2018 9:00 am

How Genetics Is Changing Our Understanding of ‘Race’ (The New York Times)

In 1942, the anthropologist Ashley Montagu published “Man’s Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy of Race,” an influential book that argued that race is a social concept with no genetic basis. A classic example often cited is the inconsistent definition of “black.” In the United States, historically, a person is “black” if he has any sub-Saharan African ancestry; in Brazil, a person is not “black” if he is known to have any European ancestry. If “black” refers to different people in different contexts, how can there be any genetic basis to it?

March 27, 2018 9:00 am

Former FDA commissioners say right-to-try bills could endanger ‘vulnerable patients’ (Washington Post)

Four former heads of the Food and Drug Administration have issued a joint statement opposing “right to try” legislation that is designed to permit desperately sick patients to get experimental treatments without the approval of the agency.

January 10, 2018 9:00 am

Does gender matter? (Nature)

The suggestion that women are not advancing in science because of innate inability is being taken seriously by some high-profile academics.

September 29, 2017 9:00 am

How to teach children about gender equality (CNN)

Parents can help teach their kids about gender equality by never using gender as an excuse for behavior, experts say.

September 19, 2017 9:00 am

Pregnant women should not be categorised as a ‘vulnerable population’ in biomedical research studies: ending a vicious cycle of ‘vulnerability’ (Journal Of Medical Ethics)

A new study published in Journal of Medical Ethics by van der Zande et al1 further highlights why classifying pregnant women as a ‘vulnerable population’ in the context of research is deeply problematic. Because the designation of ‘vulnerable’ is otherwise applied to populations whose decision-making capacity about research participation is somehow compromised—such as children and adults of limited cognitive ability—many of us have been arguing for some time that using this designation for pregnant women is inappropriate and disrespectful.

July 25, 2017 9:00 am

US defense agencies grapple with gene drives (Nature)

The JASONs, a group of elite scientists that advises the US government on national security, has weighed in on issues ranging from cyber security to renewing America’s nuclear arsenal. But at a meeting in June, the secretive group took stock of a new threat: gene drives, a genetic-engineering technology that can swiftly spread modifications through entire populations and could help vanquish malaria-spreading mosquitoes.

June 14, 2017 9:00 am

Heaven over hospital: Dying girl, age 5, makes a choice (CNN)

June 9, 2017 9:00 am

How Should Physicians Respond When the Best Treatment for an Individual Patient Conflicts with Practice Guidelines about the Use of a Limited Resource? (AMA Journal of Ethics)

Physicians might not be able to find a best solution or process for resolving more difficult ethical dilemmas, such as how they should best distribute limited resources. They could, however, pursue a path that most respects and benefits their patients and themselves.

May 18, 2017 9:00 am

From Silence into Language: Questioning the Power of Physician Illness Narratives (AMA Journal of Ethics)

Physicians’ narratives of their own experiences of illness can be a kind of empathic bridge across the divide between a professional healer and a sick patient. This essay considers ways in which physicians’ narratives of their own and family members’ experiences of cancer shape encounters with patients and patients’ experiences of illness.