Hot Topics: Reproductive Ethics
by Amie Devlin, MPH, MA
As a pregnant epidemiologist and bioethicist with an interest in clinical research, the development of the COVID-19 vaccines has been the equivalent of the Super Bowl to me.…
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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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by Mark Christopher Navin, PhD; Michael Redinger, MD, MA
Some leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates—including those being developed by Oxford University/AstraZeneca and Moderna—use fetal cell lines derived from abortions.…
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by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.
Last week, NPR reported on a new pre-publication article published in the journal Human Reproduction (HR).…
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“Exploring ethical issues in TV medical dramas”
by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.
The Good Doctor (Season 3; Episode 11): Anesthesia and addiction; the limits of compassion; The Resident (Season 3; Episode 12): Dying (or not) on your own terms; Suing patients for medical debt; Chicago Med (Season 5; Episode 11): Quid pro quo—switched embryos, safe injection sites; surrogate withdrawal of life support
The Good Doctor (Season 3; Episode 11): Anesthesia and addiction; the limits of compassion
Carrie is a patient who arrives with a complicated leg fracture after falling while mountain biking.…
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by Craig Klugman, Ph.D. and Keisha Ray, Ph.D.
The end of the year usually brings a media blitz of top ten lists for the year that is ending.…
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by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.
The start of the winter holidays means winter hiatus for many shows. This week only one show dealt with bioethical issues.…
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by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.
New Amsterdam (Season 2: Episode 6): Lying; Inherent bias; Chicago Med (Season 5; Episode 6): Excusing battery; Jehovah’s Witness and blood transfusion; Be yourself or maintain health
New Amsterdam (Season 2: Episode 6): Lying; Inherent bias
A girls trip to New York ends up in the ED with the women injured in accident.…
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by Craig Klugman, Ph.D.
The fourth iteration of this debate lasted over 3 hours and included 12 candidates (now fitting onto one stage–barely–on a single night).…
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This post is presented in collaboration with the American Journal of Bioethics.
You can read the entire issue by clicking here.…
Media Coverage of Ethical Issues in Predictive Genetic Testing: A Qualitative Analysis
Rational Freedom and Six Mistakes of a Bioconservative
Yesterday’s Child: How Gene Editing for Enhancement Will Produce Obsolescence—and Why It Matters
Framing the diagnosis and treatment of absolute uterine factor infertility: Insights from in-depth interviews with uterus transplant trial participants
“I want us to be a normal family”: Toward an understanding of the functions of anonymity among U.S. oocyte donors and recipients
Freezing fertility or freezing false hope? A content analysis of social egg freezing in U.S. print media
Provider Conscientious Refusal of Abortion, Obstetrical Emergencies, and Criminal Homicide Law
Uterus Transplantation: The Ethics of Using Deceased Versus Living Donors
Cross-cultural perspectives on decision making regarding noninvasive prenatal testing: A comparative study of Lebanon and Quebec
“As clinics grapple with this unexpected surge in egg freezing (OCP), pre-pandemic concerns about a lack of information on risks, benefits, and harms of OCP have persisted and are likely being exacerbated amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Full Article“A recent analysis found that several barriers to health care meant that more Black women delayed initiating treatment after a breast cancer diagnosis…that can have wide-ranging — and devastating — consequences.” Disparities like these need to be solved.
Full Article“Immigrants detained at an ICE-contracted center in Georgia said they had invasive gynecology procedures that they later learned might have been unnecessary.” Bioethics is crucial in making sure situations like these are brought to attention. Patients deserve a right to informed consent and the right to refuse any procedure that is not done in the interest of their own good. Beneficence is a principle of bioethics that heavily relates to this situation.
Full Article“Black mothers are often not listened to when they report signs of possible complications of pregnancy and birth…traumatic birthing experiences are so common that 1/4 of Black women report disrespect and abuse in the hospital.”
Full ArticleWomen’s lack of consent raises many questions regarding reproductive ethics. A review of medical records has revealed allegations that a healthcare provider performed procedures that were not fully understood or wanted by detained immigrants. Although some procedures were needed based on the status of the patient, procedures given without consent or full understanding is the basis for many legal and medical issues.
Full ArticleTens of thousands of women across the country trying to have a baby through fertility treatments are in limbo because of COVID-19: They’ve had to postpone their appointments indefinitely due to coronavirus recommendations recently issued by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. But now some fertility specialists and their patients are pushing back.
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Full ArticleAn Arizona woman and her then-boyfriend had embryos frozen before the woman’s cancer treatment to improve their chances of having kids afterwards. The couple got married, and then divorced. The woman, Ruby Torres, now wants to use the embryos but her ex-husband, John Joseph Terrell, doesn’t want her to. After two different court rulings, a third judge ruled in Terrell’s favor, since it aligned with the pair’s original contract.
Full ArticleHungary will provide free in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment to couples at state-run clinics, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has announced. He said fertility was of “strategic importance.”
Full ArticleThe birth of Benjamin Thomas Gobrecht defied both expectation and imagination: his mother, 33-year-old Jennifer Gobrecht, was born without a uterus. Benjamin, who arrived in November 2019 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, grew inside a womb Jennifer received as part of an organ transplant research trial over a year earlier.
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