Category Archives: Ethics

Is Sex Reassignment Surgery a Basic Human Right?

Posted on Thursday, October 4, 2012

I expect most of us agree that an incarcerated felon experiencing a heart attack should receive medical treatment, even if that treatment comes at taxpayers’ expense.  The same probably goes for more preventive measures—blood pressure pills, cancer screening tests and … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, Health Policy | Tagged ,

Mortgaging Your Womb

Posted on Thursday, September 13, 2012

I recently participated in a conversation on HuffPo Live about whether fertility finance companies are preying on families desperate to have children.  Watch the segment here. Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Buzz it up share via Reddit … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics

Is It Wrong for Medical Students to “Tattle” on Their Supervisors?

Posted on Friday, September 7, 2012

Alex, a third-year medical student, is in the middle of his surgery rotation. He frequently finds himself rather shocked by some of the unseemly remarks that his attending, Dr. Tate, makes during surgery and between seeing patients on rounds. A … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics

Who Should Decide Who Gets a Transplant?

Posted on Friday, August 24, 2012

Watch this segment from HuffPo Live on two children denied transplants because they were not deemed mentally capable enough to benefit.  Two angry moms are fighting back.  Love to hear your thoughts.   Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics

Inappropriate Touching in the Doctor’s Office

Posted on Thursday, August 9, 2012

I felt a woman’s uterus without her permission. How this happened, and why I thought I had done the right thing at the time, tells us something important about medical education and shows us why doctor/patient interactions often play out like … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics

Neonatal ethics and the Catholic Church

Posted on Friday, November 11, 2011

Interesting to see a Catholic scholar’s take on a recent issue of a pediatric journal which discussed the ethics of caring for seventy disabled newborns. I contributed an essay, and the Catholic blogger somehow concluded that most of the contributors were atheists or agnostics.

Here is the link to the post. Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics

How Much Information Should Patients Get?

Posted on Monday, July 25, 2011

There is a good debate starting up on a website called Prepared Patient Forum, about how much information patients should get when facing important medical decisions.  You might want to click on this link and join in. Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, Medical Decision Making

Whose Life Would You Save?

Posted on Friday, July 15, 2011

WHYY in Philadelphia has a report out on a new study I participated in, led by my good friend Scott Halpern. The study revealed the strange lengths to which physicians will go to help their patients, even if it hurts other patients. To see what Scott and I have to say, click on this link. Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, Medical Decision Making

Sign on the dotted line or …

Posted on Friday, June 24, 2011

Ever had a doctor present you with a contract, laying out what you need to do or else? Well, this is an increasingly common practice in medicine.

Michael Volk led a group of us who wrote about this topic recently in The Lancet. Click on this link to check it out. Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics

Federalizing Medicaid

Posted on Monday, June 13, 2011

Here is a new post I’ve got up at the Health Care Cost Monitor, in which I try to convince folks that even Republicans should be in favor of federalizing Medicaid. I’d love your feedback, as I’m still developing this idea. Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, Health Policy