Perspective
The ‘quality of life’ error
During “serious illness conversations,” some doctors will ply their patients with this question: “What is your minimally acceptable quality of life?” Behind the question can be the implication that if […]
Perspective
Should I get vaccinated?
Recently, many people have been reaching out with questions about vaccines. So, I thought it would be helpful to mention some of the most common ones and try to provide […]
Perspective
Is mandating a COVID-19 vaccine ethical?
Virginia State Health Commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver told a local news station in August that he planned to mandate COVID-19 immunizations for Virginians once a vaccine becomes available to the […]
Perspective
COVID-19 vaccine myths
Several popular myths about COVID-19 vaccines have been gaining traction on social media in recent months, particularly in regard to messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines being developed by Moderna, Sanofi, Pfizer […]
Perspective
Tragedies in human medical experimentation
Between 1932 and 1972, a series of highly unethical medical studies were performed on a group of 400 African Americans by doctors from the U.S. Public Health Service. Officially referred […]
Perspective
Language — veiling or unveiling moral truth?
To sanction or encourage certain wrongful actions, it is often necessary to manipulate language. The plain meaning of words can get in the way of convincing others they should tolerate […]
Perspective
Spiritual lessons from the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has left many of us with a great deal of uncertainty: uncertainty about how contagious the virus is and about the best way to treat it; uncertainty […]
Perspective
Accelerating vaccine development
Creating a new vaccine and bringing it to market typically requires more than a decade of research and clinical testing. Many companies and research groups are working overtime to shorten […]
Perspective
The rationing of ventilators
When ventilators are in short supply, several key ethical principles can assist clinicians: 1. Ventilators should not be rationed based on categorical exclusions such as a patient’s age, disability (e.g. […]
Perspective
A hundred love letters
In a recent essay in the Wall Street Journal, Kimberly Cutter chronicled the death of her father by suicide. As he struggled with rapidly progressing prostate cancer, he lost more […]
Perspective
Christian girls and abortion
When Mother Teresa visited New Bedford, Massachusetts, in June 1995, she told those of us gathered at St. Lawrence Martyr Church: “Abortion is the greatest evil of today.” Never one […]
Perspective
The foxes and the henhouse
Probably the biggest bioethics story of 2019 involved Dr. Jankui He — known to his associates as “JK” — a Chinese scientist who employed a new technology called CRISPR/Cas9 to […]