Medicine

Why do doctors rarely use the same end-of-life treatments they prescribe?

Belgium's struggles with the ethics of euthanasia illuminates questions about assisted suicide as medical practice.

In February, Dr. Danielle Wenner presented her talk “Autonomy and Non-Domination in International Clinical Research” as a part of the Young Philosophers Lecture Series hosted by the Prindle Institute and the … Continue reading "Autonomy and Non-Domination in International Clinical Research"

Lengthy and sometimes secretive, is it time for institutional review boards to be standardized?

The vaccine debate is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: there is an article published on the topic almost daily, and it’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t have an opinion … Continue reading "The Vaccine Debate: Where Do We Go From Here?"

Every week, the Prindle Intern team weighs in on an ethical issue together. Each intern is challenged to keep their response to five sentences – Ethics in 5. Click on … Continue reading "Ethics in 5: Printerns on Vaccinations"

Doctor Sergio Canavero has been interested in performing head transplants since learning about Doctor Robert White’s experiment in 1970, which involved switching the heads of two different monkeys. 45 years … Continue reading "Head Transplants: HEAVEN or Hell?"

Pfizer, a drug-making company that manufactures many well-known and commonly used drugs such as Lyrica, Viagra, Lipitor, and Zoloft  in court over the controversy stemming from the drug Zoloft. It … Continue reading "Depressed about Zoloft?"

The introduction of vaccines was one of the biggest leaps in medical history.  To think that one could be permanently immune to a specific disease was incredibly enticing to the population … Continue reading "The Necessity of Vaccination"

According to a recent report by The Guardian,  John Hopkins University is being accused of carrying out lethal experiments on over 800 Guatemalan research participants in the 1940s and 1950s. Claimants … Continue reading "Fatal realities of medical experimentation: the case of Guatemala"

As cancer becomes increasingly prevalent in our society, cancer screening and treatment have developed into some of the most expensive and important facets of the medical world.  More and more … Continue reading "Moral Concerns About Breast Cancer Treatment"

Breast cancer and the push for finding “the cure” for cancer are not new. We race for the cure, walk for the cure, bike for the cure, and do just … Continue reading "The Ethics of a “One-Cure” Solution"

An Australian man was arrested and stripped of his parental rights after treating his 2-year-old daughter with cannabis oil. Adam Koessler’s daughter has been diagnosed with stage-4 neuroblastoma, which develops … Continue reading "Cannabis and Cancer"

Although the American news coverage has dropped off significantly, the death toll in the Ebola epidemic in West Africa continues to rise. It is currently approaching 10,000 victims, and 6/10 … Continue reading "Ebola in the News"

Should anyone be forced to receive medical treatment they do not want? In September, a 17-year-old in Connecticut was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The girl, Cassandra C., told her mother … Continue reading "Minors and Unwanted Medical Treatment"

Death with dignity is increasingly becoming a prominent social issue. In November, 29-year-old Brittany Maynard decided to end her life after receiving a prognosis of six months to live after … Continue reading "Dying with Dignity"

In the news since 2010, the ethical dilemma of Jesse Shipley’s brain has reached headlines once again.  The Shipley family discovered their son’s missing organ after a high school field … Continue reading "Buried Without A Brain: Should Shipley’s Family Have Been Informed?"

The other day I picked up an article from The Wall Street Journal that caught my attention for many reasons. I have always personally struggled with the concept of genetic … Continue reading "Genetic Testing: A Right Not to Know"

Dr. Sharon Crary, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at DePauw, has studied Ebola virus extensively and was part of the Center for Disease Control’s response team during the Ebola outbreak … Continue reading "Dr. Sharon Crary on the Ebola Outbreak"

As the outbreak of Ebola enters its seventh month, the ethical dilemmas facing the world continue to increase. While the issue of experimental treatments remains unresolved (see my previous post … Continue reading "The Ethics of an Epidemic"