{"title":"Capacity for life force, communality, and the scope of cross-cultural bioethics: additional thoughts on African Life Force and the Permissibility of Euthanasia.","authors":"Kirk Lougheed","doi":"10.1136/jme-2024-110682","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/jme-2024-110682","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":16317,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medical Ethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143006860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A generational ban creates inequality between non-smokers.","authors":"Ben Saunders","doi":"10.1136/jme-2024-110602","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/jme-2024-110602","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":16317,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medical Ethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143006853","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Assessing ethics and law in medical schools: there is no single best answer.","authors":"Greg Moorlock, Zuzana Deans, Michael Trimble","doi":"10.1136/jme-2024-110298","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/jme-2024-110298","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Medical ethics and law (MEL) have a well-established place in medical curricula within the UK, but appropriately assessing MEL in a medical school context can be extremely challenging. The Institute of Medical Ethics convened a working group focused on assessment in 2021, and in this article, we present a summary of the work undertaken by this group. We start by explaining the challenges presented by the assessment of MEL, highlighting the potentially demanding requirements set out by the General Medical Council in the UK. We then explore how MEL is currently assessed in UK medical schools. We go on to consider a number of different forms of assessment and their suitability for assessing ethics and law. Finally, we report the key recommendations from the working group and conclude that we are unconvinced that current approaches to assessing MEL are sufficient to robustly assess the General Medical Council's learning outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":16317,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medical Ethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143006857","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Karin Eli, Celia J Bernstein, Jenny Harlock, Caroline J Huxley, Julia Walsh, Hazel Blanchard, Claire A Hawkes, Gavin D Perkins, Chris Turner, Frances Griffiths, Anne-Marie Slowther
{"title":"Using the Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment (ReSPECT) in a community setting: does it facilitate best interests decision-making?","authors":"Karin Eli, Celia J Bernstein, Jenny Harlock, Caroline J Huxley, Julia Walsh, Hazel Blanchard, Claire A Hawkes, Gavin D Perkins, Chris Turner, Frances Griffiths, Anne-Marie Slowther","doi":"10.1136/jme-2024-110144","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/jme-2024-110144","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In the UK, the Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment (ReSPECT) is a widely used process, designed to facilitate shared decision-making between a clinician and a patient or, if the patient lacks capacity to participate in the conversation, a person close to the patient. A key outcome of the ReSPECT process is a set of recommendations, recorded on the patient-held ReSPECT form, that reflect the conversation. In an emergency, these recommendations are intended to inform clinical decision-making, and thereby enable the attending clinician-usually a general practitioner (GP) or paramedic-to act in the patient's best interests. This study is the first to explore the extent to which ReSPECT recommendations realise their goal of informing best interests decision-making in community contexts. Using a modified framework analysis approach, we triangulate interviews with patients and their relatives, GPs and nurses and care home staff. Our findings show that inconsistent practices around recording patient wishes, diverging interpretations of the meaning and authority of recommendations and different situational contexts may affect the interpretation and enactment of ReSPECT recommendations. Enacting ReSPECT recommendations in an emergency can be fraught with complexity, particularly when attending clinicians need to interpret recommendations that did not anticipate the current emergency. This may lead to decision-making that compromises the patient's best interests. We suggest that recording patients' values and preferences in greater detail on ReSPECT forms may help overcome this challenge, in providing attending clinicians with richer contextual information through which to interpret treatment recommendations.</p>","PeriodicalId":16317,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medical Ethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143006866","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Vilius Dranseika, Piotr Bystranowski, Tomasz Żuradzki
{"title":"<i>Journal of Medical Ethics</i> at 50: a data-driven history.","authors":"Vilius Dranseika, Piotr Bystranowski, Tomasz Żuradzki","doi":"10.1136/jme-2024-110528","DOIUrl":"10.1136/jme-2024-110528","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this paper, we take a data-driven approach to analyse intellectual trends over the first five decades of the <i>Journal of Medical Ethics</i> (<i>JME</i>). Our data set, comprising all texts published in the <i>JME</i> since 1975, reveals not only the most distinctive topics of the <i>JME</i> in comparison to other key journals with similar profiles but also diachronic fluctuations in the prominence of certain topics. Overall, the distribution of topics shifted gradually, with each editorial period at the <i>JME</i> showing continuity with its immediate predecessor. However, a significant drift in topic distribution is evident over the 50 years, with some editorial periods being more 'disruptive' than others. These disruptions were influenced by external events (eg, <i>Public health emergencies</i>), broader trends in bioethics (eg, the recent growth of topics such as <i>Race</i>, <i>Privacy</i> and <i>Vaccination</i>) or editors' preferences (eg, <i>Ethics education</i>). Additionally, our data provides insights into editorials where editors outlined their visions for the journal or reflected retrospectively on their past editorship.</p>","PeriodicalId":16317,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medical Ethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7617362/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142978966","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rethinking selective prohibitions: the inconsistency of a generational smoking ban in a permissive society.","authors":"Alberto Boretti","doi":"10.1136/jme-2024-110577","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/jme-2024-110577","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":16317,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medical Ethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142978969","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Late-onset diseases and patient education: additional considerations for polygenic risk score regulation.","authors":"Alexandra Midler","doi":"10.1136/jme-2024-110688","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/jme-2024-110688","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In a recent article, Haining <i>et al</i> outline several ethical and regulatory considerations for polygenic risk scores (PRSs), which may expand current embryonic screening to include polygenic diseases and non-disease traits. I argue in this response that the authors overlook a few crucial issues that nations should address. For adult-onset diseases, regulations must not only account for predictive accuracy of PRSs but also establish the precise circumstances that warrant testing-such as a disease's severity and the average age at which symptoms manifest. I later stress the need for more consideration of how to educate patients on manageable diseases that their embryos are at risk of later developing. Required information must correct social biases without compromising genetic counsellors' impartiality. Drawing on global approaches to other embryonic genetic tests, I advocate for frameworks that protect patients' autonomy while addressing the unique uncertainties posed by PRSs.</p>","PeriodicalId":16317,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medical Ethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142971226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Liberalism and mitochondrial replacement technique.","authors":"Marco Tang","doi":"10.1136/jme-2024-110373","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/jme-2024-110373","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>How should defenders of liberalism think about access to reproductive technologies? Mitochondrial replacement technique (MRT) enables women with pathogenic variations of mitochondrial disease to have children without the fear of transmission. This technology can also allow lesbians, or partners with female-assigned physiology (PFP), to have genetically related offspring. Cavaliere and Palacios-Gonzalez argue that lesbians should be able to access MRT on autonomy grounds. They argue MRT should not be restricted to those with mitochondrial disease because it is non-therapeutic and invokes the Millian harm principle. Yet, Baylis argues that a desire for genetically related offspring is not sufficient to access MRT because it contributes to harmful social narratives about adopted families. I strengthen Cavaliere and Palacios-Gonzalez's liberal defence by bringing another liberal commitment-equality. Ultimately, I argue that the liberal state must allow PFPs to use MRT. I first show that the use of MRT by PFPs is permissible even if MRT is therapeutic by comparing MRT with cosmetic surgery-that is, social uses of therapeutic interventions are permitted if we are interested in doing so. Borrowing from Dillard, a possible interest is self-replication. Next, I outline and respond to a possible criticism by Baylis-MRT is necessary but not sufficient for self-replication. Ultimately, I show that the liberal state must permit MRT because (a) it provides PFPs with an equal opportunity to experience having genetically related offspring with their partner and (b) contributing to harmful social narratives is insufficient for limiting autonomy.</p>","PeriodicalId":16317,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medical Ethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142950249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Concepts in African philosophy to improve bioethics.","authors":"Stephen S Hanson","doi":"10.1136/jme-2024-110540","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/jme-2024-110540","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":16317,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medical Ethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142950181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Impermissibility of euthanasia and self-regarding duties to stay alive.","authors":"Xiang Yu, Daniel T Kim","doi":"10.1136/jme-2024-110567","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/jme-2024-110567","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":16317,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medical Ethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142927387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}