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18Ethics briefingJournal of Medical Ethics 47 (12): 843-844. 2021.### Challenge to the abortion act 1967 dismissed In September, the High Court dismissed a judicial review of the Abortion Act 1967 that sought a judgement of incompatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights.1 The case focused on a clause in the Act which permits abortion in England, Scotland and Wales after 24 weeks if there is a substantial risk that, if the child were born, it would suffer from ‘such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped’. The case was bro…Read more
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17Ethics briefingJournal of Medical Ethics 48 (6): 427-428. 2022.On 7 April 2022 – coinciding with World Health Day – the British Medical Association launched its new report, Health and human rights in the new world order.1 Written during the global upheaval triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, and published just weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the report responds to a range of emerging and intensifying threats to health-related human rights globally. As the report establishes, human rights in health and healthcare matter because human suffering, …Read more
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17Ethics briefing – December 2021Journal of Medical Ethics 48 (2): 150-152. 2022.In a recent judgment1 the Court of Protection was highly critical of health professionals for continuing to provide clinically-assisted nutrition and hydration in the face of disagreement about the patient’s best interests, without seeking to resolve the issue. This hearing had been set up specifically to consider whether GU’s dignity had been properly protected, and if not why not, given concerns raised by the Official Solicitor about what she considered to be “a complete abrogation of responsi…Read more
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16Ethics briefing – February 2021Journal of Medical Ethics 47 (4): 287-288. 2021.In December, the National Data Guardian 1 for health and care in England, Dame Fiona Caldicott, published the outcomes of a public consultation about the Caldicott Principles and the role of Caldicott Guardians.1 The Caldicott Principles are good practice guidelines which have been used by health and social care organisations in the UK since 1997 to ensure that people’s data are kept safe and used in an ethical way.2 The role of the Caldicott Guardian is well-established in the UK. Caldicott Gua…Read more
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16Psychological understanding and social skillsIn B. Repacholi & V. Slaughter (eds.), Individual Differences in Theory of Mind: Implications for Typical and Atypical Development, Hove, E. Sussex: Psychology Press. 2003.<b>In B. Repacholi and V. Slaughter (eds), _Individual Differences in Theory of Mind: Implications for Typical and Atypical</b>_ _<b>Development_. Macquarie Monographs in Cognitive Science. Hove, E. Sussex: Psychology Press, 2003.</b>
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16Boethius and Others on Divine ForeknowledgePacific Philosophical Quarterly 64 (4): 313-329. 2017.
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15Ethics briefingJournal of Medical Ethics 47 (8): 587-588. 2021.In June 2021, the BMA published its report on moral distress and moral injury in UK doctors.1 The report includes definitions of the terms ‘moral distress’ and ‘moral injury’ as well as a summary of how the concepts have developed over time. There is also an analysis of the BMA’s pan-profession survey of moral distress and moral injury of doctors in the UK, the first of its kind. The impact of COVID-19 and recommendations for tackling moral distress also feature. Many may be unfamiliar with the …Read more
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15Ethics briefingJournal of Medical Ethics 40 (3): 213-214. 2014.Re AA and Re P : the ‘forced caesarean’ caseOn 30 November 2013 The Telegraph reported that Essex County Council Social Services had obtained a High Court Order against a woman that allowed her to be forcibly sedated and her child removed by caesarean section and taken into care.1 The original story reported that the woman, an Italian national who had been in the UK on a short-term basis for work, had experienced ‘something of a panic attack’ and, after calling the police, was compulsorily detai…Read more
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14Introduction to Special Issue: The Two-Dimensional Framework and Its Applications: Metaphysics, Language, MindPhilosophical Studies 118 (1): 1-10. 2004.
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14Per una storia del testo di Virgilio nella prima età del libro a stampa (review)The Classical Review 52 (2): 403-404. 2002.
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13Ethics briefing – August 2021Journal of Medical Ethics 47 (10): 715-716. 2021.As the COVID-19 vaccine roll out continues apace, in the higher-income countries at least, concerns remain about the level of vaccine coverage in some health and social care settings. Although most countries have seen a relatively high uptake of vaccination against COVID-19 among staff, there continue to be some pockets of hesitancy. The risk of outbreaks in settings with potentially very vulnerable patients has led some governments across Europe to consider, or to introduce, measures compelling…Read more
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13In the first lecture, I presented three instances of the problem of armchair knowledge arising from the (LOT), (RED), and (WATER) arguments. In each case, there are armchair warrants for believing the premises, but it is implausible that the question whether or not the conclusion of the argument is true could be settled from the armchair
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13Thinking persons and cognitive scienceIn A. Clark & Ronald Lutz (eds.), Connectionism in Context, Springer Verlag. pp. 111--122. 1992.
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13Ethics briefingsJournal of Medical Ethics 36 (6): 375-377. 2010.Complementary and alternative therapiesThere has long been debate about the degree to which conventional health professionals should work closely with complementary and alternative medicine practitioners, if patients choose treatment from both. Some doctors are trained in conventional and alternative therapies but often, liaison depends on the type of therapy, whether it is regulated by law and whether it supplements conventional methods of diagnosis and treatment or claims to provide an alterna…Read more
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12Aunty's argument and armchair knowledgeIn J.M. Larrazabal & L.A Perez Miranda (eds.), Language, Knowledge, and Representation, Kluwer Academic Publishers. 2004.In my contribution to the Proceedings of the First International Colloquium on Cognitive Science, held in Donostia (San Sebasti.
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12Ethics briefingJournal of Medical Ethics 47 (2): 129-130. 2021.On 8 October 2020, the British Medical Association published the results of its survey of BMA members on physician-assisted dying. With 28 986 respondents, this was one of the largest surveys of medical opinion on this topic ever carried out. This represents 19.35% of those who received an invitation to participate and the respondents were broadly representative of the BMA’s overall membership. The BMA was clear throughout this process that the results of the survey would not determine its polic…Read more
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12Ethics briefingJournal of Medical Ethics 48 (4): 285-286. 2022.In parts of the world, discussion regarding COVID-19 has shifted towards endemicity, and questions of living with, rather than directly battling, the virus. As a result, ethical questions are being refocussed. The imperative is beginning to shift towards what we can learn from the pandemic, and how we can better prepare for future global outbreaks. Among the questions that need to be addressed is what Covid-29 has taught us about how research can be conducted ethically during major global public…Read more
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12Ethics briefingsJournal of Medical Ethics 36 (11): 716-718. 2010.In August, Amnesty International and the World Medical Association expressed concern at reports that a judge in Saudi Arabia had asked several hospitals in the country whether they could perform an operation to damage a man's spinal cord as punishment for attacking another man and leaving him paralysed. The man had already been sentenced to seven months imprisonment for the crime, the injured victim requested the further sentence under Sharia Law, which is strictly enforced across Saudi Arabia. …Read more
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10Ethics briefingJournal of Medical Ethics 45 (12): 836-837. 2019.Previous Ethics briefings have charted the unprecedented developments in relation to the law on abortion in Northern Ireland this year,1 resulting in legislation being passed by the UK government that ‘decriminalised’ abortion in Northern Ireland, up to the point at which a fetus ‘is capable of being born alive’, from 22 October 2019. A new legal framework and supporting guidelines on abortion are now set to be introduced by 31 March 2020—which should reflect the recommendations in the 2018 Unit…Read more