Bioethics Update最新文献

Philosophy does not offer tools for solving practical problems, but looks for a sense of concrete situations through a rational reflection. In the present case this sense focuses on: 1. human fragility (the virus can kill any human being); 2. human impotence (our situation is essentially identical with that of ancient epidemics: our defence reduces us to isolation); 3. limited efficiency of techno-science (the decisive therapy for this illness has not been found yet, despite the efforts of hundreds of laboratories and pharmaceutical companies); 4. rediscovery of common good and human solidarity (the protection of the individuals is needed for the protection of society and vice versa); 5. the incumbent presence of death (in the light of which the hierarchy of values orienting human existence can be reshaped).

The results of these reflections can point out responsibilities of the political power, and lead to hostility against philosophers and the effort of silencing their voice, reminding us of the example of Socrates

We are situated in an immense social and ecological crisis, of which global warming and the COVID-19 pandemic are examples. Our productive and social systems have been modelled on the basis of mechanics and linear responses that have turned humans into instrumental beings employed in routine tasks. Furthermore, the search for immediate results has generated the ecological crisis. Our future as a species depends on our ability to learn the lessons of life and ecosystems, in order to open new horizons and generate new geometries that allow us to co-evolve with the biosphere. The task is immense because we are confronted with the frontier of the very complex, of the interwoven and interconnected, of the dynamic, and we fail to visualize that the sum of individual gains is not a social gain, and much less for the biosphere. Bioethics is central to linking the human with life and the biosphere.

Measles is a viral illness that poses a potentially fatal threat to health all over the world, especially for children. Due to the increase in measles outbreaks in the last few years, and the ever-growing popularity of anti-vaccine groups, it needs to be determined whether or not vaccine refusal is ethical, as it is an important issue that can have an effect on parental decision-making. A brief review is presented on the Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR) vaccine and recent outbreaks, with special attention to the role of anti-vaccine movements. Diverse bioethical perspectives are discussed to answer this issue. Informed consent is advised for all settings and mandatory vaccination is suggested for high risk children and vulnerable groups, based on the bioethical analysis.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting surgical residents in many ways and to varying degrees. While the senior surgical residents have been facing a drastic decrease in the operation time, the junior surgical residents have been exposed to an increased number of beside procedures. However, both of them have been affected by an increased exposure to deaths. This sudden exposure to this amount of deaths can, and has been, greatly impressing mostly the young surgeon generation, still green and impressionable. PGY-1 residents have been balancing emotional confusion between the eagerness of learning new procedures and the anguish coming from facing the loss of patients that they have been trying so hard to save day by day. This situation is leading to an increase in burn-out cases, mostly from the general physicians and health care providers. The real effect of this emotional distress is still unknown and it will be topic of further studies once situation is resolved. This article is described using a multidisciplinary approach, giving a PGY-1 personal point of view and an inner philosophical prospective.