-
220Digital Covid Certificates as Immunity Passports: An Analysis of Their Main Ethical, Legal, and Social IssuesJournal of Bioethical Inquiry (4): 1-8. 2022.Digital COVID certificates are a novel public health policy to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. These immunity certificates aim to incentivize vaccination and to deny international travel or access to essential spaces to those who are unable to prove that they are not infectious. In this article, we start by describing immunity certificates and highlighting their differences from vaccination certificates. Then, we focus on the ethical, legal, and social issues involved in their use, namely autonomy…Read more
-
57The notion of the human embryo is not immutable. Various scientific and technological breakthroughs in reproductive biology have compelled us to revisit the definition of the human embryo during the past 2 decades. Somatic cell nuclear transfer, oocyte haploidisation and, more recently, human stem cell-derived embryo models have challenged this scientific term, which has both ethical and legal repercussions. Here, we offer a legal perspective to identify a universally accepted definition of ‘emb…Read more
-
33Algunas reflexiones acerca de la tragedia del rana plaza:¿ quién fue el responsable?Dilemata 13 121-152. 2013.
-
29Immunity passports, fundamental rights and public health hazards: a reply to Brown et alJournal of Medical Ethics 46 (10): 660-661. 2020.In their recent article, Brown et al analyse several ethical aspects around immunity passports and put forward some recommendations for implementing them. Although they offer a comprehensive perspective, they overlook two essential aspects. First, while the authors consider the possibility that immunological passports may appear to discriminate against those who do not possess them, the opposite viewpoint of immune people is underdeveloped. We argue that if a person has been tested positive for …Read more
-
27Addressing organ shortage: An automatic organ procurement model as a proposalClinical Ethics 16 (4): 278-290. 2021.Organ shortage constitutes an unsolved problem for every country that offers transplantation as a therapeutic option. Besides the largely implemented donation model and the eventually implemented market model, a theorized automatic organ procurement model has raised a rich debate in the legal, medical and bioethical community, since it could show a higher potential to solve organ shortage. In this paper, we study the main arguments for and against this model. We show how, in the light of empiric…Read more
-
24Obsolescence Is Not a Good Reason to Oppose All Types of EnhancementAmerican Journal of Bioethics 19 (7): 49-50. 2019.Volume 19, Issue 7, July 2019, Page 49-50.
-
14Mandatory vaccination and the ‘seat belt analogy’ argument: a critical analysis in the context of the Covid-19 pandemicMedicine, Health Care and Philosophy 25 (2): 219-224. 2022.The seat belt analogy argument is aimed at furthering the success of coercive vaccination efforts on the basis that the latter is similar to compulsory use of seat belts. However, this article demonstrated that this argument does not work so well in practice due to several reasons. The possibility of saving resources in health care does not usually apply in our societies, and the paternalist mentality that contributed to the implementation of seat belt–wearing obligation was predominant 30 years…Read more
-
13Should we have a right to refuse diagnostics and treatment planning by artificial intelligence?Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 23 (2): 247-252. 2020.Should we be allowed to refuse any involvement of artificial intelligence technology in diagnosis and treatment planning? This is the relevant question posed by Ploug and Holm in a recent article in Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy. In this article, I adhere to their conclusions, but not necessarily to the rationale that supports them. First, I argue that the idea that we should recognize this right on the basis of a rational interest defence is not plausible, unless we are willing to judge …Read more
-
13Synthetic embryos: a new venue in ethical researchReproduction 164 (4). 2023.The recent publications reported in 2022 reveal the possibility of obtaining mouse embryos without the need for egg or sperm. These ‘artificial embryos’ can recapitulate some stages of development ex utero – from neurulation to organogenesis – without implantation. Synthetic mouse embryos might serve as a valuable model to gain further insights into early developmental stages. Indeed, it is expected for these models to be replicated by employing human cells. This promising research raises ethica…Read more
-
12Gene Editing and the Slippery Slope Argument: Should We Fix the Enhancement/therapy Distinction as the Definitive Boundary?Science and Engineering Ethics 25 (4): 1257-1258. 2019.
-
12Is the ‘serious’ factor in germline modification really relevant? A response to Kleiderman, Ravitsky and KnoppersJournal of Medical Ethics 46 (2): 151-152. 2020.Should we use human germline genome modification only when serious diseases are involved? This belief is the underlying factor in the article written by Kleiderman, Ravitsky and Knoppers to which I now respond. In my opinion, the answer to this question should be negative. In this paper, I attempt to show that there are no good reasons to think that this technology should be limited to serious diseases once it is sufficiently proven to be safe and efficient. In fact, opting otherwise would negat…Read more
-
12Regulating germline editing in assisted reproductive technology: An EU cross‐disciplinary perspectiveBioethics 34 (1): 16-32. 2019.Potential applications of genome editing in assisted reproductive technology (ART) raise a vast array of strong opinions, emotional reactions and divergent perceptions. Acknowledging the need for caution and respecting such reactions, we observe that at least some are based on either a misunderstanding of the science or misconceptions about the content and flexibility of the existing legal frameworks. Combining medical, legal and ethical expertise, we present and discuss regulatory responses at …Read more
-
11Gene Editing from the Perspective of Spanish LawIn Jochen Taupitz & Silvia Deuring (eds.), Rechtliche Aspekte der Genom-Editierung an der Menschlichen Keimbahn : A Comparative Legal Study, Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 389-411. 2020.Gene editing is a particularly attractive subject in the Spanish context because it was precisely a scientist of this nationality -Professor Juan Francisco Martínez Mojica, at the University of Alicante-, who was the first to name and identify the function of this region of DNA present in some bacteria and archeas that acts as an immune mechanism against viruses and which has given rise to the gene editing technique known as CRISPR-Cas9. Martínez Mojica discovered that some bacteria and archeas …Read more
-
11Why whole body gestational donation must be rejected: a response to SmajdorTheoretical Medicine and Bioethics 44 (4): 327-340. 2023.Anna Smajdor’s proposal of whole body gestational donation (WBGD) states that female patients diagnosed as brain-dead should be considered for use as gestational donors. In this response, Smajdor’s proposal is rejected on four different accounts: (a) the debated acceptability of surrogacy despite women's autonomy, (b) the harm to dead women ́s interests, (c) the interests of the descendants, and (d) the symbolic value of the body and interests of relatives. The first part argues that WBGD rests …Read more
-
7Vaccination certificates, immunity passports, and test-based travel licences: ethical, legal, and public health issuesTravel Medicine and Infectious Diseases 42. 2021.
-
6Shifting to a model of donor conception that entails a communication agreement among the parents, donor, and offspringBMC Medical Ethics 23 (1): 1-11. 2022.BackgroundSome persons conceived with donor gametes react negatively when they found their birth via donor conception. They request access to information about and seek to communicate with the donor. However, some countries mandate donor anonymity. Other countries allow donor-conceived persons to access donor information, but they can only use this access if their parents have disclosed donor conception to them. We investigated a thorny issue of donor conception: whether donor conception should …Read more
-
3COVID-19, the Immune System, and Organic DisabilityAsian Bioethics Review 15 (3): 283-305. 2022.Despite the availability of safe vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, some people will remain vulnerable because they will not be vaccinated. Who are these non-vaccinated people? We can distinguish two groups: (i) persons who cannot be vaccinated for clinical reasons and who, despite having been vaccinated, have not achieved immunity; (ii) persons who voluntarily refuse to get vaccinated. These groups have in common an immune system that will make them vulnerable to COVID-19. The reasons for their vulne…Read more
-
3Ethics and Law for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear & Explosive Crises (edited book)Springer Verlag. 2019.This book provides a current analysis of the legal and ethical challenges in preparing for and responding to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive crises. From past events like the Chernobyl nuclear incident in Russia or the Bhopal chemical calamity in India, to the more recent tsunami and nuclear accident in Japan or the Ebola crisis in Africa, and with the on-going threat of bioterrorism, the need to be ready to respond to CBRNE crises is uncontroversial. What is controvers…Read more
-
The Solidarity Clause: A ReviewIn Dónal P. O'Mathúna & Iñigo de Miguel Beriain (eds.), Ethics and Law for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear & Explosive Crises, Springer Verlag. pp. 93-104. 2019.The Solidarity Clause constitutes one of the most relevant tools of the European Union legal framework on major crises management. Created by the Treaty of Lisbon, the Clause is considered to be a nice example of the advantages provided by cooperation among the EU and its Member States in so far as it is meant to guarantee an adequate division of the tasks and duties between both types of agents. However, its real utility is yet to be checked, since it has never been invoked. Therefore, some imp…Read more
-
Human/Non-Human ChimerasIn Erick Valdés & Juan Alberto Lecaros (eds.), Handbook of Bioethical Decisions. Volume I: Decisions at the Bench, Springer Verlag. pp. 163-176. 2023.The creation of human-animal chimeras involves complex ethical issues. First, they sometimes involve harming animals, which can only be justified under some special circumstances. Furthermore, the entities created might not be treated according to what their special statute demands. This would have a negative impact on their quality of life, depriving it of many of the factors that usually bring happiness to living beings. On the other hand, there are substantive concerns about the safety of the…Read more