Hot Topics: Vulnerable Populations
by Mark G. Kuczewski, PhD
Another day, another headline to stoke fear in the minds and hearts of immigrants. This one did not come from the federal government but was based on the statements of Governor Pete Ricketts of Nebraska.…
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by Alyssa Burgart, MD, MA
I could be vaccinated against COVID-19 before Christmas this year.…
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by Craig Klugman
In a startling whistleblower report, Dawn Looten who is a licensed nurse practitioner at the Irwin County (GA) Detention Center (ICDC) stated that patients were denied COVID tests, medical records were altered and destroyed, and most disturbingly, that a very high number of hysterectomies were performed on detained immigrant women who may not have understood what was being done to them.…
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Keisha Ray, Ph.D.
Recently the term black bioethics has been having its moment. With the world’s recently increased attention to racial justice, institutional racism, and medical racism, there has been more attention to the relationship between black people and health and health care. …
Full ArticleDuties When an Anonymous Student Health Survey Finds a Hot Spot of Suicidality
Reassessing the Ethics of Molecular HIV Surveillance in the Era of Cluster Detection and Response: Toward HIV Data Justice
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 Article“The first year of the Covid-19 pandemic revealed that a country’s wealth would not spare it from the virus. Overconfidence, poor planning and ignored warnings felled the world’s richest nations. But now, money is translating into undeniable advantages.”
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 Article“Should patients who volunteer to be in Covid-19 vaccine studies, but who are assigned to get placebo, be offered the vaccine? As companies and regulators raced to start clinical trials in the summer, that question was left open…”
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 Article“Clinicians again face work that’s risky, heart-rending, physically exhausting, and demoralizing, all the elements of burnout. They have seen this before and are frustrated it is happening again.” What effects will this have on healthcare workers?
Full Article“As the Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare the racial inequalities in the United States’ health care system, entrepreneurs in genetic research are speaking out about the importance of encouraging community outreach to combat those disparities and increasing diversity inside their own industry.”
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“The clinicians also painted a grim picture of their lives, as the pandemic enters a newly robust phase with record case counts in the United States. About half already said their mental exhaustion was at an all-time high. Many worried about keeping their doors open: about 7 percent said they were not sure they could remain open past December without financial help.”
Full Article“The liquid that many hope could help end the Covid-19 pandemic is stored in a nondescript metal tank in a manufacturing complex owned by Pfizer, one of the world’s biggest drug companies. There is nothing remarkable about the container, which could fit in a walk-in closet, except that its contents could end up in the world’s first authorized Covid-19 vaccine.” All eyes are on these developers as the race towards a COVID-19 vaccine continues. Rates run high and tensions are tough as the world grapples with the pandemic.
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