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262Are Generational Welfare Trades Always Unjust?American Journal of Bioethics 20 (9): 70-72. 2020.In their thoughtful article, Malm and Navin (2020) raise concerns about a potentially unjust generational welfare tradeoff between children and adults when it comes to chicken pox. We share their c...
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152Syllabus on Ethics in Research: Addendum to the European Textbook on Ethics in ResearchEuropean Union. 2010.The syllabus presented here is designed for use in the training of researchers and research ethics committee members throughout the European Union and beyond. It is intended to be accessible to scientific and lay readers, including those with no previous experience of ethical theory and analysis. The syllabus will cover key issues in the ethics of research involving human participants, including the ethical issues associated with new technologies.
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125Webnote: The Work of Phase I Ethics Committees: Expert and Lay MembershipResearch Ethics 9 (3): 146-146. 2013.
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109Research ExceptionalismAmerican Journal of Bioethics 10 (8): 45-54. 2010.Research involving human subjects is much more stringently regulated than many other nonresearch activities that appear to be at least as risky. A number of prominent figures now argue that research is overregulated. We argue that the reasons typically offered to justify the present system of research regulation fail to show that research should be subject to more stringent regulation than other equally risky activities. However, there are three often overlooked reasons for thinking that researc…Read more
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67Editorial: Could informed consent be harmful? – the problem of the nocebo effectResearch Ethics 8 (3): 151-153. 2012.
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47The Human Tissue Act 2004 in the United Kingdom clearly represents not a principled approach but instead a compromise, a pragmatic approach which balances several different ethical considerations against each other. In regards to the use of tissue in research it has left much of the more difficult decisions to be made by research ethics committees on a case by case basis. In particular it is now the role of research ethics committees to decide whether research can be carried out using human tiss…Read more
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47The ESRC research ethics framework and research ethics review at UK universities: rebuilding the Tower of Babel REC by RECJournal of Medical Ethics 34 (11): 815-820. 2008.The history of the National Health Service research ethics system in the UK and some of the key drivers for its change into the present system are described. It is suggested that the key drivers were the unnecessary delay of research, the complexity of the array of processes and contradictions between research ethics committee (REC) decisions. It is then argued that the primary drivers for this change are and will be replicated by the systems of research ethics review being put in place at UK un…Read more
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41Proportional ethical review and the identification of ethical issuesJournal of Medical Ethics 33 (4): 241-245. 2007.Presently, there is a movement in the UK research governance framework towards what is referred to as proportional ethical review. Proportional ethical review is the notion that the level of ethical review and scrutiny given to a research project ought to reflect the level of ethical risk represented by that project. Relatively innocuous research should receive relatively minimal review and relatively risky research should receive intense scrutiny. Although conceptually attractive, the notion of…Read more
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38Children, Gillick competency and consent for involvement in researchJournal of Medical Ethics 33 (11): 659-662. 2007.This paper looks at the issue of consent from children and whether the test of Gillick competency, applied in medical and healthcare practice, ought to extend to participation in research. It is argued that the relatively broad usage of the test of Gillick competency in the medical context should not be considered applicable for use in research. The question of who would and could determine Gillick competency in research raises further concerns relating to the training of the researcher to make …Read more
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30Why Even Inappropriate Parental Consent Might Be Enough to Justify Minimal Risk Pediatric Research Without Clinical BenefitAmerican Journal of Bioethics 12 (1). 2012.The American Journal of Bioethics, Volume 12, Issue 1, Page 35-36, January 2012
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28Am I my brother's gatekeeper? Professional ethics and the prioritisation of healthcareJournal of Medical Ethics 33 (9): 522-526. 2007.At the 5th International Conference on Priorities in Health Care in Wellington, New Zealand, 2004, one resonating theme was that for priority setting to be effective, it has to include clinicians in both decision making and the enforcement of those decisions. There was, however, a disturbing undertone to this theme, namely that doctors, in particular, were unjustifiably thwarting good systems of prioritising scarce healthcare resources. This undertone seems unfair precisely because doctors may, …Read more
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26Response to: ‘We could be heroes: ethical issues with the pre-recruitment of research participants’ by D. HunterJournal of Medical Ethics 42 (3): 206-206. 2016.
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25Responses to Open Peer Commentaries on “Research Exceptionalism”American Journal of Bioethics 10 (8). 2010.Research involving human subjects is much more stringently regulated than many other nonresearch activities that appear to be at least as risky. A number of prominent figures now argue that research is overregulated. We argue that the reasons typically offered to justify the present system of research regulation fail to show that research should be subject to more stringent regulation than other equally risky activities. However, there are three often overlooked reasons for thinking that researc…Read more
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25The experiences of ethics committee members: contradictions between individuals and committeesJournal of Medical Ethics 34 (6): 489-494. 2008.The current system of ethical review for medical research in the United Kingdom is changing from the current system involving large committees of 7–18 members reviewing every individual application to a system involving pre-review by small sub-committees of National Research Ethics Officers , who have a remit to approve studies if they believe there are no material ethical issues imposed by the research. The reliability of this new system depends on the reliability of the NREAs and in particular…Read more
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24Is there a nocebo response that results from disease awareness campaigns and advertising in Australia, and can this effect be mitigated?Journal of Medical Ethics 44 (9): 621-625. 2018.Direct-to-consumer advertising is banned in Australia, and instead pharmaceutical companies use disease awareness campaigns as a strategy to raise public awareness of conditions for which the company produces a treatment. This practice has been justified by promoting individual autonomy and public health, but it has attracted criticism regarding medicalisation of normal health and ageing, and exaggeration of the severity of the condition in question, imbalanced reporting of risks and benefits, a…Read more
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23How to Object to Radically New Technologies on the Basis of Justice: The Case of Synthetic BiologyBioethics 27 (8): 426-434. 2013.A recurring objection to the exploration, development and deployment of radical new technologies is based on their implications with regards to social justice. In this article, using synthetic biology as an example, I explore this line of objection and how we ought to think about justice in the context of the development and introduction of radically new technologies. I argue that contrary to popular opinion, justice rarely provides a reason not to investigate, develop and introduce radical new …Read more
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23An Alternative University-Wide Model for the Ethical Review of Human Subject ResearchResearch Ethics 2 (2): 47-50. 2006.This paper is, in part, a response to the model of university-based human subjects ethics review described by Bryn Williams-Jones and Soren Holm in Research Ethics Review [1] and the current ethical review process at the University of Ulster [2]. In this paper the two predominant systems of ethical review within UK universities are described. It is argued that each of these systems has significant deficiencies. Having suggested why these two models are less than ideal, a “third way’ of ethical r…Read more
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21We could be heroes: ethical issues with the pre-recruitment of research participantsJournal of Medical Ethics 41 (7): 557-558. 2015.
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Religion |
Applied Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |