The concept of autonomy and its role in Kantian Ethics

Among bioethicists, and perhaps ethicists generally, the idea that we are obliged to respect autonomy is something of a shibboleth. Appeals to autonomy are commonly put to work to support legal and moral claims about the importance of consent, but they also feed a wider discourse in which the patient’s desires are granted a very high importance and medical paternalism is regarded as almost self-evidently indefensible.</jats:p

The ethics of reporting all the results of clinical trials

Introduction or backgroundThe terms ‘publication bias’ and ‘reporting bias’ describe aspects of a phenomenon by which data from trials are not publicized, and so remain inaccessible. This may generate a false impression about the world; but those facts may have important implications for clinical decisions. Thus, the bias may leave patients worse off than they might be.Sources of dataPublished journal articles.Areas of agreementThere is general agreement that the phenomenon happens, and that to the extent that it happens, it is undesirable for moral rather than simply epistemic reasons.Growing pointsThere is a growing demand across the board for data to be better publicized.Areas timely for developing researchThere is room for further work on how protocols requiring that data be publicized might be enforced; should it be statutory, or non-statutory? Who should decide what should be made public? There is also room for work on what it is necessary to share, and on whether and how IP law should be reformed

Bioscience and the Good Life

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. The field of biotechnology has provided us with radical revisions and reappraisals of the nature and possibilities of our biological existence. Yet beyond its immediate utility, does a life that is healthier, longer, or freer from disease make us 'better' or more moral people? Bioscience and the Good Life explores the complex relationship between modern biosciences and human flourishing, their sympathies and schisms, and the instances of their reconciliation. Here cognitive enhancement, longevity, and the spectacle of excellence in sports, are examined within the context of what constitutes a life well lived. Framing biotechnological innovation in the discourse of duty and ethics, Brassington advances an insightful and involved response to the existing debates between bioscientific optimists and pessimists, one which mediates their differences, and expands the traditional scope of their arguments

Bioscience and the Good Life

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. The field of biotechnology has provided us with radical revisions and reappraisals of the nature and possibilities of our biological existence. Yet beyond its immediate utility, does a life that is healthier, longer, or freer from disease make us 'better' or more moral people? Bioscience and the Good Life explores the complex relationship between modern biosciences and human flourishing, their sympathies and schisms, and the instances of their reconciliation. Here cognitive enhancement, longevity, and the spectacle of excellence in sports, are examined within the context of what constitutes a life well lived. Framing biotechnological innovation in the discourse of duty and ethics, Brassington advances an insightful and involved response to the existing debates between bioscientific optimists and pessimists, one which mediates their differences, and expands the traditional scope of their arguments

What passive euthanasia is

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2020-02-06, accepted 2020-05-04, registration 2020-05-05, pub-electronic 2020-05-14, online 2020-05-14, collection 2020-12Publication status: PublishedAbstract: Background: Euthanasia can be thought of as being either active or passive; but the precise definition of “passive euthanasia” is not always clear. Though all passive euthanasia involves the withholding of life-sustaining treatment, there would appear to be some disagreement about whether all such withholding should be seen as passive euthanasia. Main text: At the core of the disagreement is the question of the importance of an intention to bring about death: must one intend to bring about the death of the patient in order for withholding treatment to count as passive euthanasia, as some sources would indicate, or does withholding in which death is merely foreseen belong to that category? We may expect that this unclarity would be important in medical practice, in law, and in policy. The idea that withholding life-sustaining treatment is passive euthanasia is traced to James Rachels’s arguments, which lend themselves to the claim that passive euthanasia does not require intention to end life. Yet the argument here is that Rachels’s arguments are flawed, and we have good reasons to think that intention is important in understanding the moral nature of actions. As such, we should reject any understanding of passive euthanasia that does not pay attention to intent. Short conclusion: James Rachels’s work on active and passive euthanasia has been immensely influential; but this is an influence that we ought to resist

Cognitive rehabilitation in multiple sclerosis: A systematic review

Abstract Background Cognitive impairment is a common clinical feature of multiple sclerosis (MS) at both the earlier and later stages of the disease, and has a significant impact on patients' functional status and quality of life. The need to address this deficit should be taken into account in clinical practice and research studies. Objective To conduct an updated systematic review of all published studies of cognitive rehabilitation interventions in people with MS, including studies with methodological shortcomings, to highlight major strengths and weaknesses in the field and to provide directions for future research. Search methods We searched electronic databases (PubMed and Web of Science) for articles published in English up until January 2014. The reference lists of all identified articles were also searched to complete the initial list of references. Data extraction Articles were categorized into outcome measures: cognition, imaging, mood, fatigue, quality of life and self-perceived cognitive deficits. All articles were reviewed independently and assessed according to predetermined criteria. Results A total of 33 studies met the inclusion criteria of which 4 were of Level II-1 and none was Level I. Although the majority of these studies reported some improvements in cognitive abilities (N = 31), the evidence which has been reported in the literature remains inconclusive and no definite conclusions can be drawn about the effect of different types of interventions on cognitive rehabilitation outcomes (recommendation C). Conclusions This review identified conflicting findings in the published literature about the effectiveness of various forms of cognitive rehabilitation techniques used in patients with MS. Studies with more rigorous methodology are therefore needed to clarify which form of cognitive rehabilitation may lead to greater clinical improvement

“Just one animal among many?” Existential phenomenology, ethics, and stem cell research

Stem cell research and associated or derivative biotechnologies are proceeding at a pace that has left bioethics behind as a discipline that is more or less reactionary to their developments. Further, much of the available ethical deliberation remains determined by the conceptual framework of late modern metaphysics and the correlative ethical theories of utilitarianism and deontology. Lacking, to any meaningful extent, is a sustained engagement with ontological and epistemological critiques, such as with “postmodern” thinking like that of Heidegger’s existential phenomenology. Some basic “Heideggerian” conceptual strategies are reviewed here as a way of remedying this deficiency and adding to ethical deliberation about current stem cell research practices