Bioethics最新文献

{"title":"Bioethical challenges in postwar development aid: The Rwandan case study.","authors":"Łukasz Wiktor, Maria Damps, Grace Kansayisa, Szymon Pietrzak, Bartłomiej Osadnik","doi":"10.1111/bioe.13304","DOIUrl":"10.1111/bioe.13304","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article considers aspects of a development aid that provides medical support to strengthen pediatric orthopedics in Rwanda. We present part of the Afriquia foundation work, a nonprofit foundation from Poland involved in supporting the medical sector in Rwanda as a sign of global solidarity and the human right to health. The main foundation's activity is the treatment of orthopedic problems among Rwandan citizens. We present a case study of two children under the care of the Afiquia foundation. 11-year-old Seraphine treated due to the consequences of right tibia osteomyelitis and 11-year-old Lavi suffering from osteogenesis imperfecta. Both children were treated surgically in Poland due to Rwanda's lack of treatment possibilities. After the applied treatment, Seraphine walks correctly without crutches and can attend school and thrive among her peers. Lavi has not sustained any fragility fracture since the surgery in Poland. He is healthy and constantly ongoing his rehabilitation including gait training. The described cases initiated development aid in Rwanda, supplying hospitals with orthopedic implants and training medical staff. The growing number of humanitarian crises across the globe and the people affected requires increasing organizations involved in providing relief. The emphasis should be on global education, aiming to make the recipients reflect and prepare them to face humanitarian crises.</p>","PeriodicalId":55379,"journal":{"name":"Bioethics","volume":" ","pages":"90-97"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140961065","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":"Medical test and employee's autonomy. Confidentiality of data and non-discrimination.","authors":"Javier Fernández-Costales Muñiz","doi":"10.1111/bioe.13384","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.13384","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Monitoring health is one of the basic principles of Occupational Health and Safety. The main objective of this monitoring will be the detection of possible damage to health arising from work. They try to discover the effects that the inherent risks with the work may cause the worker, which will show, given the case, through an alteration of health or the state of organic and functional state, both physically and mentally. Regarding the monitoring of health, there are many and varied issues to be raised concerning the right to personal privacy. Thus, notably, whether there was effective consensus, and whether, in particular, the object and the purpose of the medical examination meant a disregard of the statutory scheme, an excess or even a failure to comply with the terms of the Spanish Constitution. The limits imposed by the law makers to the productive unit will play a key role in identifying the content of the company obligation to monitor health, being in many cases guarantees of constitutional rights. Therefore, the methods of health monitoring and control of workers will always be carried out respecting the privacy and dignity of the worker as well as the confidentiality of all information related to their health.</p>","PeriodicalId":55379,"journal":{"name":"Bioethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142873439","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":"Bioethics challenges in times of war","authors":"Julian W. März,&nbsp;Daniel Messelken,&nbsp;Nikola Biller-Andorno","doi":"10.1111/bioe.13383","DOIUrl":"10.1111/bioe.13383","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;According to data from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), the past 3 years have witnessed the highest number of deaths in armed conflicts since 1994, the year of the Rwandan genocide. Between 2021 and 2023, the UCDP recorded more than 700,000 deaths in armed conflicts, with over 320,000 in Ethiopia, more than 160,000 in Ukraine, over 44,000 in Mexico, more than 40,000 in Afghanistan, and over 32,000 in Syria.2 The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that more than 120 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced by the end of April 2024.3&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This special issue seeks to provide a broad perspective on the ethical and human rights challenges faced by healthcare providers and policymakers in the context of, or as a consequence of, armed conflict. Since we launched the first call for contributions to this special issue in June 2022, sadly, more armed conflicts have started, including the Israel–Hamas and Israel–Hezbollah wars,4 a civil war in Sudan, and a new escalation of the Nagorno–Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For this special issue, we have selected contributions that provide theoretical reflections on (bio-)ethical and human rights challenges in the context of war, as well as discussions of ethical and human rights issues in specific armed conflicts. We have aimed to achieve a collection of diverse voices and perspectives and to include contributions from various world regions and different academic and professional backgrounds. Our special issue does not aim to provide a definitive or comprehensive analysis of currently occurring armed conflicts, nor does it claim to cover all ethical and human rights issues in the context of armed conflicts. Such ambitious objectives would be beyond the scope of even a much more substantial publication. Rather, we view this special issue as an explorative work that intends to motivate a broader academic community to engage with the field of bioethics in armed conflict. Indeed, there is great need for a plurality of voices united in the endeavor of contributing to an inclusive global discourse on the ethical and human rights challenges of armed conflicts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ethics and human rights can fulfill various roles in the context of armed conflicts: analyst, arbiter, mediator, documenter, and a voice for those suffering from the consequences. In all these functions, empathy as well as evidence-based, transparent reasoning play a key role. Furthermore, ethical analysis contributes to the formulation of novel standards of international humanitarian law, which may be required in response to evolving practices in warfare. It is also pertinent to note that, according to the Geneva Conventions, medical personnel operating in the context of international armed conflicts are bound by the principles of medical ethics. Nevertheless, research on medical ethics in armed conflict remains a niche subject, with only a few specialized research centers around the wo","PeriodicalId":55379,"journal":{"name":"Bioethics","volume":"39 1","pages":"3-4"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/bioe.13383","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142857082","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":"The ability to value: An additional criterion for decision-making capacity.","authors":"Lauren Harcarik, Scott Y H Kim, Joseph Millum","doi":"10.1111/bioe.13387","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.13387","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In the United States, the dominant model of decision-making capacity (DMC) is the \"four abilities model,\" which judges DMC according to four criteria: understanding, appreciation, reasoning, and communicating a choice. Some critics argue that this model is \"too cognitive\" because it ignores the role of emotions and values in decision-making. But so far there is no consensus about how to incorporate such factors into a model of DMC while still ensuring that patients with unusual or socially disapproved values still have their autonomous decisions respected. In this paper, we aim to give an account of the role of values in decision-making which can answer some of the lingering questions about capacity. In the current literature, defenders of the inclusion of values in DMC tend to propose solutions which focus on the distorted or incoherent attributes of the values themselves. We argue that shifting the focus onto valuing as an ability is a better solution and that a complete picture of capacity includes understanding, appreciation, reasoning, communicating a choice, and the ability to value. On the basis of a conceptual analysis of the necessary conditions for autonomous decision-making, we derive a conception of the ability to value. On our account, the ability to value has four components: the possession of values, the ability to access those values, the ability to engage in practical reasoning with one's values, and the ability to act on the result of that reasoning. We describe the positive components of the ability to value, some indicators of impairment, and some implications of our account.</p>","PeriodicalId":55379,"journal":{"name":"Bioethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142840221","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":"The problem of value change: Should advance directives hold moral authority for persons living with dementia?","authors":"Anand Sergeant","doi":"10.1111/bioe.13386","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.13386","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As the prevalence of dementia rises, it is increasingly important to determine how to best respect incapable individuals' autonomy during end-of-life decisions. Many philosophers advocate for the use of advance directives in these situations to allow capable individuals to outline preferences for their future incapable selves. In this paper, however, I consider whether advance directives lack moral authority in instances of dementia. First, I introduce several scholars who have argued that changes in peoplewith dementia's values throughout disease progression reduce the validity of their advanced wishes. I then outline Karin Jongsma's rejection of this claim, which she calls the \"losing and choosing\" distinction. Jongsma argues that changes in people with dementia's values should not be respected, because they are unchosen and dictated by the disease. I critique her claim that the process of value change is morally relevant when determining which values we respect. I argue that if individuals with dementia are capable of valuing, their contemporary values should be respected, even when they conflict with past preferences outlined in an advance directive. As such, situations of value change diminish the moral authority of advance directives for individuals with dementia.</p>","PeriodicalId":55379,"journal":{"name":"Bioethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142830845","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":"Ethical considerations for biobanks serving underrepresented populations.","authors":"Yoon Seo Lee, Nelson Luis Badia Garrido, George Lord, Zane Allan Maggio, Bohdan B Khomtchouk","doi":"10.1111/bioe.13381","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.13381","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Biobanks are essential biological database resources for the scientific community, enabling research on the molecular, cellular, and genetic basis of human disease. They are crucial for computational, data-driven biomedical research, which advances precision medicine and the development of targeted therapies. However, biobanks often lack racial and ethnic diversity, with many data sets predominantly comprising individuals of white, primarily northern European, ancestry. Establishing or enhancing biobanks for the inclusion of historically underrepresented populations requires meticulous ethical and social planning beyond logistical, legal, and economic considerations. This guide provides a roadmap for building and sustaining diverse biobanks, emphasizing ethical guidelines and cultural sensitivity. We highlight the importance of obtaining informed consent from donors, respecting their bodily autonomy, and the economic and research benefits of diverse biobanks to enable precision medicine, drug discovery, and industry-academic partnerships. Prioritizing key ethical and social considerations allows biobanks to advance scientific knowledge while upholding the rights and autonomy of underrepresented populations. Diversity in biobank sample collection enhances research outcomes by ensuring findings are representative and applicable to various human population groups, fostering trust, promoting inclusivity, and addressing health disparities while informing health policy. This is vital to ensuring biobanking efforts contribute meaningfully to the advancement of health equity.</p>","PeriodicalId":55379,"journal":{"name":"Bioethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142808359","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":"Moral enhancement and cheapened achievement: Psychedelics, virtual reality and AI.","authors":"Emma C Gordon, Katherine Cheung, Brian D Earp, Julian Savulescu","doi":"10.1111/bioe.13374","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.13374","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A prominent critique of cognitive or athletic enhancement claims that certain performance-improving drugs or technologies may 'cheapen' resulting achievements. Considerably less attention has been paid to the impact of enhancement on the value of moral achievements. Would the use of moral enhancement (bio)technologies, rather than (solely) 'traditional' means of moral development like schooling and socialization, cheapen the 'achievement' of morally improving oneself? We argue that, to the extent that the 'cheapened achievement' objection succeeds in the domains of cognitive or athletic enhancement, it could plausibly also succeed in the domain of moral enhancement-but only regarding certain forms. Specifically, although the value of moral self-improvement may be diminished by some of the more speculative and impractical forms of moral enhancement proposed in the literature, this worry has less force when applied to more plausibly viable forms of moral enhancement: forms in which drugs or technologies play an adjunctive or facilitative, rather than a determinative, role in moral improvement. We illustrate this idea with three examples from recent literature: the possible use of psychedelic drugs in certain moral-learning contexts, 'Socratic Al' (a proposed Al-driven moral enhancer) and empathy enhancement through virtual reality (VR). We argue that if one assumes that these technologies work roughly as advertised, the 'cheapened achievement' objection loses much of its bite. The takeaway lesson is that moral enhancement in its most promising and practical forms ultimately evades a leading critique of cognitive and athletic enhancement. We end by reflecting on the potential upshot of our analysis for enhancement debates more widely.</p>","PeriodicalId":55379,"journal":{"name":"Bioethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142677834","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":"Cracking the code of the slow code: A taxonomy of slow code practices and their clinical and ethical implications.","authors":"Erica Andrist, Jacqueline Meadow, Nurah Lawal, Naomi T Laventhal","doi":"10.1111/bioe.13378","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.13378","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The ethical permissibility of the \"slow code\" sparks vigorous debate. However, definitions of the \"slow code\" that exist in the literature often leave room for interpretation. Thus, those assessing the ethical permissibility of the slow code may not be operating with shared definitions, and definitions may not align with clinicians' understanding and use of the term in clinical practice. To add clarity and nuance to discussions of the \"slow code,\" this manuscript highlights the salient medical and moral components that distinguish resuscitative practices, resulting in a taxonomy that includes nine distinct entries: the Fake Code, Casual Code, Time-Limited Code, Family Code, Contained Code, a la Carte Code, Preventive Code, Passive Code, and Accepted Code. We argue that cogent analyses of the ethical implications of the \"slow code\" must begin with clear, shared understandings of the practices under debate.</p>","PeriodicalId":55379,"journal":{"name":"Bioethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142677833","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":"Misaligned hope and conviction in health care.","authors":"Steve Clarke, Justin Oakley, Jonathan Pugh, Dominic Wilkinson","doi":"10.1111/bioe.13370","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.13370","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>It is often said that it is important for patients to possess hope that their treatment will be successful. We agree, but a widely appealed to type of hope-hope based on conviction (religious or otherwise), renders this assertion problematic. If conviction-based hope influences patient decisions to undergo medical procedures, then questions are raised about the scope of patient autonomy. Libertarians permit patients to make decisions to undergo medical procedures on the basis of any considerations, including conviction-based hopes, on grounds of respect for freedom of choice. Rational interventionists want to restrict choices made on the basis of conviction-based hope on the grounds that choices based on hope incorporate irrationality of a sort incompatible with autonomous decision-making. In this article, we navigate a middle path between these extremes, arguing that patient decision-making based on conviction-based hope ought to be acceptable and permitted in health care when it conforms to norms of practical rationality. These norms allow patients some room to make decisions to consent to undergo medical procedures informed by conviction-based hope.</p>","PeriodicalId":55379,"journal":{"name":"Bioethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142645253","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":"Contraceptive digital pills and sexual and reproductive healthcare of women with mental disabilities: Problem or solution?","authors":"Rosana Triviño, María Victoria Martínez-López","doi":"10.1111/bioe.13372","DOIUrl":"10.1111/bioe.13372","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>For years, the sexual and reproductive health of women with intellectual and developmental disability or disabilities has been insufficiently addressed by institutions and family members due to a lack of information, training, and, sometimes, religious issues. In this context, contraceptive digital pills can enhance the sexual and reproductive control of this population group. Digital pills could help to improve adherence to treatments aimed to prevent unwanted pregnancies, as well as allowing women and their caregivers to exert better drug intake control. However, there are some ethical risks to consider that may outweigh these benefits. This study sets out to explore the ethical considerations that should be taken into account in the case of a potential roll-out of contraceptive digital pills as a way of improving the sexual and reproductive health of these women.</p>","PeriodicalId":55379,"journal":{"name":"Bioethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142632977","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}