Our New Genetic Knowledge (2016)
A physician/Pulitzer-prize-winning author explains what our new knowledge means for our immediate medical future, given our struggles with genetic knowledge in the past.
Philosophy and Ethics Sub-categories:
Uncertainty in Medicine (2016)
Diagnostic tests are often less certain in their results than people think, making patients sometimes doubt doctors' competence.
Drug Shortages
Hospitals have been plagued by shortages of important drugs, sometimes forcing doctors to decide who will receive them and who will die.
Incidental Genetic Findings
Genetic testing has become a widespread reality in the past five years, but doctors are struggling with what many genetic findings really mean.
The Psychology of Egg Donation (2016)
An author and journalist who has donated twice with vastly different results discusses the technology and what to look out for when approaching egg donation.
Industry Funding of Clinical Trials
Funding of trials has dramatically shifted so that today, trials paid for by pharmaceutical and device makers outnumber publically funded trials 6-to-1. Some studies indicate this makes bias in trials more likely.
Gene Editing
Scientists have developed the technology to edit single genes, which could eliminate some inherited diseases.
Toxic Chemicals in Products (2016)
A expert discusses how the US might regulate potentially toxic chemicals better, and how regulations in other countries could help keep Americans safer.
Seriously Ill Adolescents
Seriously ill teenagers still act like teens in the hospital, sometimes aided and abetted by staff. A novelist discusses her observations from years on the hospital floor with her sick child as the basis for her book.
Preserving Life Versus Prolonging Death
An award winning science writer discusses her experience observing how medical professionals and patients differ in their acceptance of impending death, and what families need to know to navigate the end of life toward a "good death."
Measles and Vaccination
Measles is more widespread than it has been in years. The current measles outbreak in several states has prompted questions about the responsibility of parents to have their children immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases. Experts discuss this "social contract" cited by courts since colonial times, and why highly-contagious measles is a good test …
Gender Bias in Science
Few female role models exist at major research universities in scientific fields, subverting efforts to get more women into math and science. Many scientists have dismissed gender bias as a factor. However, new research shows that unintentional bias results in women being subconsciously considered less competent than their male scientific counterparts. …
