-
3Conflicts of Interest at the NIH: No Easy Solution (review)Hastings Center Report 35 (1): 18-20. 2012.Editor's Note: On February 2, 2005, the National Institutes of Health changed course on conflicts of interest and prohibited its scientists from owning stock in or working as consultants with pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies. The following essay, sent to press before the new policy was announced, recommends a very different approach. The author stands by the recommendations.
-
46Human Health and the Environment: In Harmony or in Conflict? (review)Health Care Analysis 17 (3): 261-276. 2009.Health policy frameworks usually construe environmental protection and human health as harmonious values. Policies that protect the environment, such as pollution control and pesticide regulation, also benefit human health. In recent years, however, it has become apparent that promoting human health sometimes undermines environmental protection. Some actions, policies, or technologies that reduce human morbidity, mortality, and disease can have detrimental effects on the environment. Since human…Read more
-
55Fair Drug Prices and the Patent SystemHealth Care Analysis 12 (2): 91-115. 2004.This paper uses John Rawls' theory of justice to defend the patent system against charges that it has an unfair effect on access to medications, from the perspective of national and international justice. The paper argues that the patent system is fair in a national context because it respects intellectual property rights and it benefits the least advantaged members of society by providing incentives for inventors, investors, and entrepreneurs. The paper also argues that the patent system is fai…Read more
-
18Practical problems with family covenants in genetic testingAmerican Journal of Bioethics 1 (3). 2001.This Article does not have an abstract
-
29Bioethical issues in providing financial incentives to research participantsMedicolegal and Bioethics 35. forthcoming.
-
58The conflict between ethics and business in community pharmacy: What about patient counseling? (review)Journal of Business Ethics 28 (2). 2000.Patient counseling is a cornerstone of ethical pharmacy practice and high quality pharmaceutical care. Counseling promotes patient compliance with prescription regimens and prevents dangerous drug interactions and medication errors. Counseling also promotes informed consent and protects pharmacists against legal risks. However, economic, social, and technological changes in pharmacy practice often force community pharmacists to choose between their professional obligations to counsel patients an…Read more
-
103Genetic modification and genetic determinismPhilosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine 1 9. 2006.In this article we examine four objections to the genetic modification of human beings: the freedom argument, the giftedness argument, the authenticity argument, and the uniqueness argument. We then demonstrate that each of these arguments against genetic modification assumes a strong version of genetic determinism. Since these strong deterministic assumptions are false, the arguments against genetic modification, which assume and depend upon these assumptions, are therefore unsound. Serious dis…Read more
-
48Authorship policies of scientific journals: Table 1Journal of Medical Ethics 42 (3): 199-202. 2016.
-
60Scientific autonomy and public oversightEpisteme 5 (2). 2008.When scientific research collides with social values, science's right to self-governance becomes an issue of paramount concern. In this article, I develop an account of scientific autonomy within a framework of public oversight. I argue that scientific autonomy is justified because it promotes the progress of science, which benefits society, but that restrictions on autonomy can also be justified to prevent harm to people, society, or the environment, and to encourage beneficial research. I also…Read more
-
56Ethical Issues in Field Trials of Genetically Modified Disease-Resistant MosquitoesDeveloping World Bioethics 12 (3): 37-46. 2012.Mosquito-borne diseases take a tremendous toll on human populations, especially in developing nations. In the last decade, scientists have developed mosquitoes that have been genetically modified to prevent transmission of mosquito-borne diseases, and field trials have been conducted. Some mosquitoes have been rendered infertile, some have been equipped with a vaccine they transmit to humans, and some have been designed to resist diseases. This article focuses on ethical issues raised by field t…Read more
-
14Practical and Political Problems With a Global Research TaxAmerican Journal of Bioethics 10 (6): 44-45. 2010.
-
18International Biomedical Research and Research Ethics Training in Developing CountriesJournal of Clinical Research and Bioethics 1 (1). 2010.
-
50Review of Rethinking the Ethics of Clinical Research (review)Studies in Ethics, Law, and Technology 7 (1). 2013.This is a review of Alan Wertheimer's Rethinking the Ethics of Clinical Research.
-
12What Are Reasonably Foreseeable Risks?American Journal of Bioethics 13 (12): 29-30. 2013.No abstract
-
10Making Sense of the Undue Burden Interpretation of Minimal RiskAmerican Journal of Bioethics 14 (9): 1-2. 2014.No abstract
-
18Reopening Old DivisionsAmerican Journal of Bioethics 11 (6). 2011.The American Journal of Bioethics, Volume 11, Issue 6, Page 19-21, June 2011
-
19
-
57The patient's duty to adhere to prescribed treatment: An ethical analysisJournal of Medicine and Philosophy 30 (2). 2005.This article examines the ethical basis for the patient's duty to adhere to the physician's treatment prescriptions. The article argues that patients have a moral duty to adhere to the physician's treatment prescriptions, once they have accepted treatment. Since patients still retain the right to refuse medical treatment, their duty to adhere to treatment prescriptions is a prima facie duty, which can be overridden by their other ethical duties. However, patients do not have the right to refuse …Read more
-
16Industry‐Sponsored Research: Secrecy versus Corporate ResponsibilityBusiness and Society Review 99 (1): 31-34. 1998.
-
293The Moral Significance of the Therapy-Enhancement Distinction in Human GeneticsCambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 9 (3): 365-377. 2000.The therapy-enhancement distinction occupies a central place in contemporary discussions of human genetics and has been the subject of much debate. At a recent conference on gene therapy policy, scientists predicted that within a few years researchers will develop techniques that can be used to enhance human traits. In thinking about the morality of genetic interventions, many writers have defended somatic gene therapy, and some have defended germline gene therapy, but only a handful of writers …Read more
-
3Review of Alexander Rosenberg: The Structure of Biological Science (review)British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 38 (1): 119-121. 1987.
-
33Criteria for Authorship in BioethicsAmerican Journal of Bioethics 11 (10). 2011.Multiple authorship is becoming increasingly common in bioethics research. There are well-established criteria for authorship in empirical bioethics research but not for conceptual research. It is important to develop criteria for authorship in conceptual publications to prevent undeserved authorship and uphold standards of fairness and accountability. This article explores the issue of multiple authorship in bioethics and develops criteria for determining who should be an author on a conceptual…Read more
-
202The ethics of science: an introductionRoutledge. 1998.During the past decade scientists, public policy analysts, politicians, and laypeople, have become increasingly aware of the importance of ethical conduct in scientific research. In this timely book, David B. Resnik introduces the reader to the ethical dilemmas and questions that arise in scientific research. Some of the issues addressed in the book include ethical decision-making, the goals and methods of science, and misconduct in science. The Ethics of Science also discusses significant case …Read more
-
38Survival of the fittest: Law of evolution or law of probability? (review)Biology and Philosophy 3 (3): 349-362. 1988.In a recent issue of Biology and Philosophy, Kenneth Waters argues that the principle of survival of the fittest should be eliminated from the theory of natural selection, because it is an untestable law of probability, and as such, has no place in evolutionary theory. His argument is impressive, but it does not do justice to the practice of biology. The principle of survival of the fittest should not be eliminated from the theory of natural selection because it is important to biological practi…Read more
-
62Food and Beverage Policies and Public Health EthicsHealth Care Analysis 23 (2): 122-133. 2013.Government food and beverage policies can play an important role in promoting public health. Few people would question this assumption. Difficult questions can arise, however, when policymakers, public health officials, citizens, and businesses deliberate about food and beverage policies, because competing values may be at stake, such as public health, individual autonomy, personal responsibility, economic prosperity, and fairness. An ethically justified policy strikes a reasonable among competi…Read more
-
48Perceptions of ethical problems with scientific journal Peer review: An exploratory studyScience and Engineering Ethics 14 (3): 305-310. 2008.This article reports the results of an anonymous survey of researchers at a government research institution concerning their perceptions about ethical problems with journal peer review. Incompetent review was the most common ethical problem reported by the respondents, with 61.8% (SE = 3.3%) claiming to have experienced this at some point during peer review. Bias (50.5%, SE = 3.4%) was the next most common problem. About 22.7% (SE = 2.8%) of respondents said that a reviewer had required them to …Read more
Areas of Specialization
Applied Ethics |
Philosophy of Biology |
General Philosophy of Science |