•  11
    The introduction of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV has triggered critical analysis within the social sciences. For example, some have signalled how PrEP may lead to a renewed medicalisation of gay and other homosexually-active men’s sexuality. This chapter challenges some of those accounts. Adopting a public health ethics perspective, it argues that gay men should be understood as agentic in their use of PrEP, as opposed to being the passive victims of medicalisation, and that greater a…Read more
  •  157
    À la recherche du chaînon manquant entre bio et éthique
    with Antoine Boudreau LeBlanc and Cécile Aenishaenslin
    Canadian Journal of Bioethics / Revue canadienne de bioéthique 1 (5): 103-118. 2022.
    Van Rensselaer Potter (1911-2001), le biologiste à l’origine du terme « bioéthique » dans les écrits nord-américains, considère que « real bioethics falls in the context of the ideals of […] Aldo Leopold », un forestier, philosophe et poète ayant marqué le XXe siècle. Associer Leopold à Potter a pour effet de placer la bioéthique dans la famille des éthiques de l’environnement, ce qui la différencie du sens conventionnel retenu en médecine et en recherche depuis le Rapport Belmont (1979), une dé…Read more
  •  146
    For Van Rensselaer Potter (1911–2001), Global Bio-Ethics is about building on the legacy of Aldo Leopold (1887–1948), one of the most notable forest managers of the twentieth century who brought to light the importance of pragmatism in the sciences and showed us a new way to proceed with environmental ethics. Following Richard Huxtable and Jonathan Ives's methodological 'Framework for Empirical Bioethics Research Projects' called 'Mapping, framing, shaping,' published in BMC Medicine Ethics (201…Read more
  •  130
    Objective Our study sought to (1) describe the practices and preferences of Colombian adolescents in accessing sexual and reproductive health services: accompanied versus alone; (2) compare actual practices with stated preferences; and (3) determine age and gender differences regarding the practice and these stated preferences. Methods 812 participants aged 11–24 years old answered a survey in two Profamilia clinics in the cities of Medellin and Cali in Colombia. A cross-sectional analysis was p…Read more
  •  88
    Experts sous influence? Quand la non-divulgation des conflits d’intérêts met à risque la confiance du public
    with Jean-Christophe Bélisle Pipon, Louise Ringuette, Anne-Isabelle Cloutier, and Victoria Doudenkova
    In Christian Hervé, Michèle Stanton Jean & Marie France Mamzer (eds.), Autour de l’intégrité scientifique, la loyauté, et la probité: aspects clinique, éthiques et juridiques, Dalloz. pp. 27-44. 2016.
    L’érosion actuelle de la confiance du public envers les campagnes de vaccination et les décisions de politiques publiques qui y sont associées, aggravée par des scandales comme ceux relatifs à la pandémie H1N1 et l’utilisation du Tamiflu™, risque de diminuer de façon significative l’efficacité de ces interventions importantes pour la santé publique. Un manque de confiance de la population envers les acteurs de santé publique peut conduire à une méfiance accrue face aux interventions, pouvant ain…Read more
  •  55
    Pharmacogenetics: the bioethical problem of DNA investment banking
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 37 (3): 550-565. 2006.
    Concern about the ethics of clinical drug trials research on patients and healthy volunteers has been the subject of significant ethical analysis and policy development—protocols are reviewed by Research Ethics Committees and subjects are protected by informed consent procedures. More recently attention has begun to be focused on DNA banking for clinical and pharmacogenetics research. It is, however, surprising how little attention has been paid to the commercial nature of such research, or the …Read more
  •  106
    BioéthiqueOnline: Moving to Peer-Review / BioéthiqueOnline : Passage à l’évaluation par les pairs
    with Zubin Master, Carolina Martin, Jason Behrmann, Charles Marsan, Lise Levesque, Maude Laliberté, Charles Dupras, Elise Smith, Renaud Boulanger, Jean-Christophe Belisle Pipon, Christopher McDougall, Ali Okhowat, and Sonia Paradis
    BioéthiqueOnline 1 (Ed2). 2012.
  •  187
    The global HLA banking of embryonic stem cells requires further scientific justification
    with Zubin Master
    American Journal of Bioethics 7 (8): 45-46. 2007.
    There is a widely acknowledged shortage of and an increasing demand for transplantable human organs and tissues (e.g., kidney, heart, lung, liver, cornea) in developed and developing countries around the world. In response to this need, Lott and Savulescu (2007) propose the creation of a human embryonic stem (hESC) bank to facilitate the equitable and efficient dissemination of human leukocyte anti- gen (HLA) matched tissues and organs to patients in need of replacement. Although not an unreason…Read more
  •  42
    Health Care Professionals and Bedbugs: An Ethical Analysis of a Resurgent Scourge (review)
    with Maude Laliberté, Matthew Hunt, and Debbie Ehrmann Feldman
    HEC Forum 25 (3): 245-255. 2013.
    Many health care professionals (HCPs) are understandably reluctant to treat patients in environments infested with bedbugs, in part due to the risk of themselves becoming bedbug vectors to their own homes and workplaces. However, bedbugs are increasingly widespread in care settings, such as nursing homes, as well as in private homes visited by HCPs, leading to increased questions of how health care organizations and their staff ought to respond. This situation is associated with a range of ethic…Read more
  •  18
    Conflicts of interest policies for authors, peer reviewers, and editors of bioethics journals
    with Zubin Master, Kelly Werner, Elise Smith, and David B. Resnik
    AJOB Empirical Bioethics 9 (3): 194-205. 2018.
    Background: In biomedical research, there have been numerous scandals highlighting conflicts of interest (COIs) leading to significant bias in judgment and questionable practices. Academic institutions, journals, and funding agencies have developed and enforced policies to mitigate issues related to COI, especially surrounding financial interests. After a case of editorial COI in a prominent bioethics journal, there is concern that the same level of oversight regarding COIs in the biomedical sci…Read more
  •  250
    Global bioethics – myth or reality?
    with Søren Holm
    BMC Medical Ethics 7 (1): 1-10. 2006.
    Background There has been debate on whether a global or unified field of bioethics exists. If bioethics is a unified global field, or at the very least a closely shared way of thinking, then we should expect bioethicists to behave the same way in their academic activities anywhere in the world. This paper investigates whether there is a 'global bioethics' in the sense of a unified academic community. Methods To address this question, we study the web-linking patterns of bioethics institutions, t…Read more
  •  77
    Epigenetics and the Environment in Bioethics
    with Charles Dupras and Vardit Ravitsky
    Bioethics 28 (7): 327-334. 2012.
    A rich literature in public health has demonstrated that health is strongly influenced by a host of environmental factors that can vary according to social, economic, geographic, cultural or physical contexts. Bioethicists should, we argue, recognize this and – where appropriate – work to integrate environmental concerns into their field of study and their ethical deliberations. In this article, we present an argument grounded in scientific research at the molecular level that will be familiar t…Read more
  •  270
    Pharmacogenetics: the bioethical problem of DNA investment banking
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 37 (3): 550-565. 2006.
  •  44
    Conflict of interest policies at canadian universities: Clarity and content (review)
    Journal of Academic Ethics 6 (1): 79-90. 2008.
    Discussions of conflict of interest (COI) in the university have tended to focus on financial interests in the context of medical research; much less attention has been given to COI in general or to the policies that seek to manage COI. Are university COI policies accessible and understandable? To whom are these policies addressed (faculty, staff, students)? Is COI clearly defined in these policies and are procedures laid out for avoiding or remedying such situations? To begin tackling these imp…Read more
  •  69
    Challenges for corporate ethics in marketing genetic tests
    with Vural Ozdemir
    Journal of Business Ethics 77 (1). 2008.
    Public discussions of ethical issues related to the biotechnology industry tend to treat “biotechnology” as a single, undifferentiated technology. Similarly, the pros and cons associated with this entire sector tend to get lumped together, such that individuals and groups often situate themselves as either “pro-” or “anti-” biotechnology as a whole. But different biotechnologies and their particular application context pose very different challenges for ethical corporate decision-making. Even wi…Read more
  •  201
    Beyond a pejorative understanding of conflict of interest
    American Journal of Bioethics 11 (1). 2011.
    In seeking to clarify the concept of conflict of interest (COI) in debates about physician–industry relationships, Howard Brody (2011) highlights the extent to which the prob- lem turns on a common pejorative understanding of COI. Whether it is the academic or public policy “pharmapologists” or “pharmascolds” talking about COI, there is often a straightforward and overly simplistic correlation made: that is, a conflict of interest—by definition—leads to fraudulent or corrupt behavior. The same t…Read more
  •  11
    Colombian youth express interest in receiving sex education from their parents
    with Julien Brisson and Vardit Ravitsky
    Sexuality and Culture 1 (27): 266-289. 2023.
    Despite having essential health needs regarding sexual and reproductive health services (SRHS), young people (e.g., adolescents) in many countries show low use of such services. The World Health Organization advocates fostering young people’s autonomy to access health services to address this global health problem. However, there are gaps in the literature to understand how young people’s autonomy can be fostered to access SRHS. In 2019–2020, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 45 young…Read more
  •  157
    La conduite responsable en recherche en sciences humaines et sociales
    with Sihem Neila Abtroun, Marie-Alexia Masella, and Marie-Alexandra Gagné
    In Christian Hervé & Michèle Stanton Jean (eds.), Ethique, intégrité scientifique et fausses nouvelles. pp. 121-134. 2021.
    Jusqu’à présent, les discussions au sein de la communauté universitaire et dans la littérature scientifique sur la conduite responsable en recherche (CRR), incluant l’intégrité scientifique et l’éthique de la recherche, ont principalement été menées par les chercheurs en sciences de la santé et en sciences fondamentales. Préoccupés, à juste titre, par des problèmes d’inconduite, leurs effets négatifs sur la rigueur scientifique et la confiance du public dans l’entreprise de la recherche, ces déb…Read more
  •  15
    There are conceptual and ethical challenges to defining adolescents’ autonomy to access health care, and these can lead to health care norms and practices that could be maladjusted to the needs and preferences of adolescents. Particularly sensitive is access to sexual and reproductive health care services (SRHS). Yet, while there has been substantial conceptual work to conceptualize autonomy (e.g., as independence), there is a lack of empirical research that documents the perceptions of adolesce…Read more
  •  147
    Bioéthique et "bioéthicien" : révélation d’une profession
    with Sihem Neila Abtroun
    In Christian Hervé, Michèle Stanton-Jean, Mylène Deschênes & Henri-Corto Stoeklé (eds.), Covid-19, One Health et intelligence artificielle, Dalloz. 2022.
    Depuis 2020, le monde a connu une situation sanitaire exceptionnelle à la suite de la pandémie de Covid-19, faisant face à une incertitude dans le monde médical clinique, de la recherche et dans l’ensemble des domaines connexes en santé publique. Le caractère imprévisible et l’absence de données fiables en lien avec ce virus ont fait émerger une quantité d’enjeux éthiques concrets, cela a donc révélé un domaine particulier, la bioéthique, et plus particulièrement une profession, les bioéthiciens…Read more
  •  4
    The Commercialization of Genetic Research: Ethical, Legal and Policy Issues
    with Timothy Caulfield
    Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. 1999.
    The rapid advances made in genetic research and technology over the last few decades have led to a host of important discoveries that have allowed for the detection (and hopefully soon the treatment) of a number of genetic conditions and diseases. Not surprisingly, these advances have also raised numerous ethical concerns about how result­ ing technologies will be implemented, and the impact they will have on different com­ munities. One particular concern is the enormous costs involved in condu…Read more
  • Health care providers (HCPs) are routinely placed into morally challenging situations that have the potential to cause moral distress. This is especially true for HCPs working in the military, whether they are on deployment outside their typical contexts of practice such as in disaster relief (e.g., Haiti and the Ebola missions in West Africa), or in more typically military settings such as peace keeping or armed conflicts (e.g., Afghanistan, Syria). Moral distress refers to “painful feelings an…Read more
  •  224
    Bio-ethics and one health: a case study approach to building reflexive governance
    with Antoine Boudreau LeBlanc and Cécile Aenishaenslin
    Frontiers in Public Health 10 (648593). 2022.
    Surveillance programs supporting the management of One Health issues such as antibiotic resistance are complex systems in themselves. Designing ethical surveillance systems is thus a complex task (retroactive and iterative), yet one that is also complicated to implement and evaluate (e.g., sharing, collaboration, and governance). The governance of health surveillance requires attention to ethical concerns about data and knowledge (e.g., performance, trust, accountability, and transparency) and e…Read more
  •  221
    Challenges for Corporate Ethics in Marketing Genetic Tests
    with Vural Ozdemir
    Journal of Business Ethics 77 (1): 33-44. 2008.
    Public discussions of ethical issues related to the biotechnology industry tend to treat "biotechnology" as a single, undifferentiated technology. Similarly, the pros and cons associated with this entire sector tend to get lumped together, such that individuals and groups often situate themselves as either "pro-" or "anti-" biotechnology as a whole. But different biotechnologies and their particular application context pose very different challenges for ethical corporate decision-making. Even wi…Read more
  •  182
    Ethics and genetics: Susceptibility testing in the workplace
    Journal of Business Ethics 35 (3): 235-241. 2002.
    Genetic testing in the workplace is a technology both full of promise and fraught with ethical peril. Though not yet common, it is likely to become increasingly so. We survey the key arguments in favour of such testing, along with the most significant ethical worries. We further propose a set of pragmatic criteria, which, if met, would make it permissible for employers to offer (but not to require) workplace genetic testing.
  •  194
    Principles for Incorporating Farmers in the Ethical Assessment of Genetically Modified Crops
    with Jason Behrmann
    Ethics in Biology, Engineering and Medicine 1 (2): 83-99. 2010.
    A current advance within the agricultural industry is the use of genetic engineering to produce novel crops for food production. This technology raises questions about how societies should position themselves with respect to genetically modified (GM) crop development and implementation; namely, how should the potentials and risks of this technology be evaluated? We argue that current methods to evaluate the risks and benefits of GM crops are inadequate and not conducive to the strategic developm…Read more
  •  357
    Managing Antimicrobial Resistance In Food Production: Conflicts Of Interest And Politics In The Development Of Public Health Policy
    with Béatrice Doize
    Les ateliers de l'éthique/The Ethics Forum 5 (1): 156-169. 2010.
    Antimicrobial resistance is a growing public health concern and is associated with the over - or inappropriate use of antimicrobials in both humans and agriculture. While there has been recognition of this problem on the part of agricultural and public health authorities, there has nonetheless been significant difficulty in translating policy recommendations into practical guidelines. In this paper, we examine the process of public health policy development in Quebec agriculture, with a focus on…Read more
  •  184
    Barriers to Research on Research Ethics Review and Conflicts of Interest
    with Marie-Josée Potvin, Ghislaine Mathieu, and Elise Smith
    IRB: Ethics & Human Research 35 (5): 14-20. 2013.
    Research on research ethics—regarding both the governance and practice of the ethical review of human subjects research—has a tumultuous history in North America and Europe. Much of the academic literature focuses on issues to do with regulating the conduct and quality of ethics review of research protocols by ethics committees (research ethics boards (REBs) in Canada and institutional review boards (IRBs) in the United States). In addition, some of the literature attends to issues particular to…Read more
  •  126
    Genetic Testing for Sale: Implications of Commercial Brca Testing in Canada
    Dissertation, The University of British Columbia (Canada). 2002.
    Ongoing research in the fields of genetics and biotechnology hold the promise of improved diagnosis and treatment of genetic diseases, and potentially the development of individually tailored pharmaceuticals and gene therapies. Difficulty, however, arises in determining how these services are to be evaluated and integrated equitably into public health care systems such as Canada's. The current context is one of increasing fiscal restraint on the part of governments, limited financial resources b…Read more