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23The purpose of this study is to examine the importance that real patients attach to their right to withdraw from an on-going feasibility randomised trial (RCT) evaluating types and timings of breast reconstruction (two parallel trials) following mastectomy for breast cancer. Our results show that, while some respondents appreciated that exercising the right to withdraw would defeat the scientific objective of the trial, some patients with a surgical preference consented only given the knowledge …Read more
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47I know what you're thinking: brain imaging and mental privacy (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2012.'I know what you're thinking' is a fascinating exploration into the neuroscientific evidence on 'mind reading'.
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54The impairment/disability distinction: a response to ShakespeareJournal of Medical Ethics 34 (1): 26-27. 2008.Tom Shakespeare’s important new book includes, among other topics, a persuasive critique of the social model of disability. A key component in his case against that model consists in an argument against the impairment/disability distinction as this is understood within the social model. The present paper focuses on the case Shakespeare makes against that distinction. Three arguments mounted by Shakespeare are summarised and responded to. It is argued that the responses adequately rebut Shakespea…Read more
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23Ethical concerns regarding guidelines for the conduct of clinical research on childrenJournal of Medical Ethics 31 (6): 351-354. 2005.In this article we examine ethical aspects of the involvement of children in clinical research, specifically those who are incapable of giving informed consent to participate. The topic is, of course, not a new one in medical ethics but there are some tensions in current guidelines that, in our view, need to be made explicit and which need to be responded to by the relevant official bodies. In particular, we focus on tensions between the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki, and the…Read more
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34Manipulation of information in medical research: Can it be morally justified?Research Ethics 8 (1): 9-23. 2012.The aim of this article is to examine whether informational manipulation, used intentionally by the researcher to increase recruitment in the research study, can be morally acceptable. We argue that this question is better answered by following a non-normative account, according to which the ethical justifiability of informational manipulation should not be relevant to its definition. The most appropriate criterion by which informational manipulation should be considered as morally acceptable or…Read more
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63What are the limits to the obligations of the nurse?Journal of Medical Ethics 22 (2): 90-94. 1996.This paper enquires into the nature and the extent of the obligations of nurses. It is argued that nurses appear to be obliged to undertake supererogatory acts if they take clause one of the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC) Code of Professional Conduct seriously (as, indeed, they are required to do). In the first part of the paper, the nature of nursing obligations is outlined, and then the groups and individuals to whom nurses have obligations are…Read more
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33Research ethics committees: Differences and moral judgementBioethics 18 (5). 2004.ABSTRACT Many people argue that disagreements and inconsistencies between Research Ethics Committees are morally problematic and there has been much effort to ‘harmonise’ their judgements. Some inconsistencies are bad because they are due to irrationality, or carelessness, or the operation of conflicting interests, and so should be reduced or removed. Other inconsistencies, we argue, are not bad and should be left or even encouraged. In this paper we examine three arguments to reject the view th…Read more
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32Evidence of Efficacy and Human Right to HealthAmerican Journal of Bioethics 12 (6): 35-37. 2012.The American Journal of Bioethics, Volume 12, Issue 6, Page 35-37, June 2012
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27Evaluating Interventions in Health: A Reconciliatory ApproachBioethics 26 (9): 455-463. 2012.Health‐related Quality of Life measures have recently been attacked from two directions, both of which criticize the preference‐based method of evaluating health states they typically incorporate. One attack, based on work by Daniel Kahneman and others, argues that ‘experience’ is a better basis for evaluation. The other, inspired by Amartya Sen, argues that ‘capability’ should be the guiding concept. In addition, opinion differs as to whether health evaluation measures are best derived from con…Read more
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65Evaluating interventions in health: A reconciliatory approachBioethics 26 (9): 455-463. 2011.Health-related Quality of Life measures have recently been attacked from two directions, both of which criticize the preference-based method of evaluating health states they typically incorporate. One attack, based on work by Daniel Kahneman and others, argues that ‘experience’ is a better basis for evaluation. The other, inspired by Amartya Sen, argues that ‘capability’ should be the guiding concept. In addition, opinion differs as to whether health evaluation measures are best derived from con…Read more
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37The Ottawa statement on the ethical design and conduct of cluster randomized trials: A short reportResearch Ethics 10 (2): 77-85. 2014.Owing to unique features of their design, cluster randomized trials complicate the interpretation of standard ethics guidelines. The recently published Ottawa statement on the ethical design and conduct of cluster randomized trials provides researchers and research ethics committees with detailed guidance on the design, conduct and review of cluster trials. The Ottawa statement sets out 15 recommendations, including guidance on the justification of study design, the need for research ethics comm…Read more
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98Hard paternalism, fairness and clinical research: why not?Bioethics 26 (2). 2010.Jansen and Wall suggest a new way of defending hard paternalism in clinical research. They argue that non-therapeutic research exposing people to more than minimal risk should be banned on egalitarian grounds: in preventing poor decision-makers from making bad decisions, we will promote equality of welfare. We argue that their proposal is flawed for four reasons.First, the idea of poor decision-makers is much more problematic than Jansen and Wall allow. Second, pace Jansen and Wall, it may be pr…Read more
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14Governing taste: data, temporality and everyday kiwifruit dry matter performancesAgriculture and Human Values 40 (2): 519-531. 2022.Data is essential to governing those emerging matters of concern that confront the agrifood every day. But data is no neutral intermediary. It disrupts, exposes, and creates new social, economic, political, and environmental possibilities, whilst simultaneously hiding, excluding, and foreclosing others. Scholars have become attuned to both the constitutive role of data in creating everyday worlds, and the need to develop critical accounts of the materialities, spatialities and multiplicities of …Read more
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8An ethics of anthropology‐informed community engagement with COVID‐19 clinical trials in AfricaDeveloping World Bioethics 23 (3): 242-251. 2023.The COVID‐19 pandemic has reinforced the critical role of ethics and community engagement in designing and conducting clinical research during infectious disease outbreaks where no vaccine or treatment already exists. In reviewing current practices across Africa, we distinguish between three distinct roles for community engagement in clinical research that are often conflated: 1) the importance of community engagement for identifying and honouring cultural sensitivities; 2) the importance of rec…Read more
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10Limitations to Contingency Measures: Reflections from COVID-19 Surges in the UKAmerican Journal of Bioethics 21 (8): 31-34. 2021.Alfandre et al. helpfully outlines the case for attending to contingency planning as well as to crisis measures during a pandemic. The authors provides a helpful framework for reflecting on...
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16The Ottawa statement on the ethical design and conduct of cluster randomized trials: A short reportResearch Ethics 11 (1): 52-60. 2015.Owing to unique features of their design, cluster randomized trials complicate the interpretation of standard ethics guidelines. The recently published Ottawa statement on the ethical design and conduct of cluster randomized trials provides researchers and research ethics committees with detailed guidance on the design, conduct, and review of cluster trials. The Ottawa statement sets out 15 recommendations, including guidance on the justification of study design, the need for research ethics com…Read more
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16Recognising values and engaging communities across cultures: towards developing a cultural protocol for researchersBMC Medical Ethics 22 (1): 1-8. 2021.Efforts to build research capacity and capability in low and middle income countries (LMIC) has progressed over the last three decades, yet it confronts many challenges including issues with communicating or even negotiating across different cultures. Implementing global research requires a broader understanding of community engagement and participatory research approaches. There is a considerable amount of guidance available on community engagement in clinical trials, especially for studies for…Read more
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181From research governance to research integrity: What’s in a name?Research Ethics 9 (1): 3-5. 2013.
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10The Role, Remit and Function of the Research Ethics Committee — 2. Science and Society: The Scope of Ethics ReviewResearch Ethics 6 (2): 58-61. 2010.This is the second in a series of five papers on the role, remit and function of research ethics committees which are intended to provide for REC members a broad understanding of the most important issues in research ethics and governance. This paper examines the role of ethics committees in assessing the science of the research it reviews. While ethics committees are not specifically constituted to review the science of a project, they must nevertheless assess the social benefits of research an…Read more
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24The Case for Methodological Pluralism in Medical ScienceAmerican Journal of Bioethics 20 (9): 39-41. 2020.Volume 20, Issue 9, September 2020, Page 39-41.
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13Editorial: the unexpected power of research ethicsResearch Ethics 16 (1-2): 1-3. 2020.Research Ethics, Ahead of Print.
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24Response to Open Peer Commentaries on “A Radical Approach to Ebola: Saving Humans and Other Animals”American Journal of Bioethics 19 (1). 2019.
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42A Radical Approach to Ebola: Saving Humans and Other AnimalsAmerican Journal of Bioethics 18 (10): 35-42. 2018.As the usual regulatory framework did not fit well during the last Ebola outbreak, innovative thinking still needed. In the absence of an outbreak, randomised controlled trials of clinical efficacy in humans cannot be done, while during an outbreak such trials will continue to face significant practical, philosophical, and ethical challenges. This article argues that researchers should also test the safety and effectiveness of novel vaccines in wild apes by employing a pluralistic approach to ev…Read more
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Are discrepancies between research ethics committees always morally problematicBioethics 18 (4): 408-427. 2004.
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32The Role, Remit and Function of the Research Ethics Committee — 3. Balancing Potential Social Benefits against Risks to SubjectsResearch Ethics 6 (3): 96-100. 2010.This is the third in a series of five papers on the role, remit and function of research ethics committees which are intended to provide for REC members a broad understanding of the most important issues in research ethics and governance. This paper examines the role of ethics committees in balancing the social value of the research it reviews against the risks it imposes on those who take part. The ethics committee's role in assessing the social value of research goes well beyond checking its s…Read more
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23The Role, Remit and Function of the Research Ethics Committee — 4. Limits to Consent?Research Ethics 6 (4): 159-163. 2010.This is the fourth in a series of five papers on the role, remit and function of research ethics committees which are intended to provide for REC members a broad understanding of the most important issues in research ethics and governance. This paper explores the role of ethics committees in reviewing proposed conditions for recruiting human subjects and in checking the intended procedures for gaining consent. In so doing the paper will reiterate the conditions which are traditionally thought to…Read more
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21The Role, Remit and Function of the Research Ethics Committee — 1. The Rationale for Ethics Review of Research by CommitteeResearch Ethics 5 (4): 147-150. 2009.This is the first in a series of five papers on the role, remit and function of research ethics committees which are intended to provide for REC members a broad understanding of the most important issues in research ethics and governance. The first considers the rationale for having ethics review by committee at all; seeking to explain why ethics committees, as we currently have them, are so important to the wider system of governing research.
Areas of Interest
Applied Ethics |
Philosophy of Social Science |