By Ben Saunders.
As I write, in August 2023, junior doctors in the UK are once again being balloted over strike action. While the ethics of strikes by healthcare workers has been hotly debated, less attention has been given to the balloting procedures. This is unfortunate, since the requirements imposed by the Trade…

By Aileen Editha.
“Not only were the HeLa cells derived from Henrietta Lacks – the HeLa cells are Henrietta Lacks”
– Ben Crump, attorney for the Lacks family.
(He)nrietta (La)cks
Henrietta Lacks was a Black tobacco farmer living in Baltimore, Maryland. She was treated for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, one of the…

Dr Jennifer O’Neill.
This week, the United Kingdom Supreme Court (UKSC) revisited its ruling in the landmark case of Montgomery v Lanarkshire [2015]. In McCulloch v Forth Valley Health Board [2023], the Supreme Court Justices established that doctors do not need to inform patients of all possible treatment alternatives as a requirement of informed…

By Daniel Sokol.
A patient presents to the colorectal clinic with bleeding from the rectum.  “Doctor”, he says sheepishly, “I must tell you that I have sex with my dog.”
Intercourse with an animal, once known as ‘buggery with an animal’, is a criminal offence under s69 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, with…

By Robert Wheeler
Following the foundation of a Clinical Ethics Committee (CEC) in Southampton in 2002 by Dr Tom Woodcock, we have dealt with a steady trickle of cases posing significant ethical and legal questions concerning management of individual patients.
It gradually dawned on us that many less contentious (but nonetheless relevant) enquiries were not…

By J.Y. Lee.
Surrogacy is a form of third-party assisted reproduction involving a gestational carrier other than the intended parent(s). There are no globally recognized surrogacy laws, but countries around the world often frame the legality of the surrogacy arrangement in terms of whether it is commercial (paid) or altruistic (unpaid).
Of the nations that…

By Doug Wojcieszak 
The movement to encourage physicians to disclose, apologize, and make amends (financial and otherwise) following medical errors is gaining momentum, especially in the United States.  Many people are supporting this movement, including a large and growing collection of healthcare, insurance, and legal professionals and patient advocates who call themselves the “Collaborative…