Bioethics Research

In the 1990s, breast cancer mortality rates in the United States began to decline. The reasons for this are not fully understood, but better screening and treatment are likely to have played a role.
However, in the last few years, there has been an increase in the incidence of aggressive breast cancers that are difficult to treat. This has led to a renewed interest in developing a vaccine to prevent breast cancer.
There are several different types of breast cancer vaccines under development. Some of these are designed to target specific mutations that are known to be associated with aggressive forms of the disease. Others are…

The notion of moral expertise is contested. Some think that there are no such experts, while others think that moral experts do exist, but their expertise are limited.
This article critically assesses the suggestion that members of ethics commissions should be seen as moral experts. The article does so by looking at how different comprehensive doctrines would approach this suggestion.
The article concludes that the suggestion faces significant difficulties regardless of which comprehensive doctrine one subscribes to.
The role of moral experts as members of ethics commissions is a controversial one. Critics argue that …

In recent years, there has been a growing movement to use “nudges” in public policy. The idea is that small changes in the way choices are presented can lead to better outcomes, without requiring people to make difficult decisions.
This approach has been used in a variety of domains, from retirement savings to organ donation. In the area of bioethics, nudges have been proposed as a way to increase vaccination rates, reduce waste in biomedical research, and promote organ donation.
There are many potential benefits of using nudges in bioethics. Nudges can help us make better decisions by taking our cognitive biases into …

In this study, we use topic modeling to analyze the development of the Hastings Center Report over its 50-year history. We find that the Report has shifted from a focus on end-of-life issues in its early years to a broader focus on biomedical ethics in recent years.
Our results suggest that the Report has played an important role in shaping debates within the field of bioethics.
We find that the Hastings Center Report has generally maintained a focus on core topics such as end-of-life care, medical decision-making, and professional ethics.
However, there has been a shift in emphasis over time, with increasing attention…