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Medical Ethics
Abortion clinic websites may unwittingly aid patient prosecutions
Abortion clinic websites may unwittingly aid patient prosecutions
More than 99% of abortion clinic web pages studied included widely used code that transferred user data to external entities, which could sell the data or provide it to law enforcement, without the clinics knowledge.
Higher rates of chemical sedation among Black psychiatric patients points to inequities
Higher rates of chemical sedation among Black psychiatric patients points to inequities
Penn Medicine researchers also find that white patients are more likely to be chemically sedated in emergency departments at hospitals that treat high proportion Black patients, suggesting that hospital demographics can impact practice patterns.
Heart disease-protective diabetes drug is not used equitably
Heart disease-protective diabetes drug is not used equitably
The medication GLP-1 RA treats diabetes and is linked to positive outcomes for heart disease patients, yet a Penn Medicine study has found inequities in its use along racial, ethnic, and economic lines
Three Penn faculty named Hastings Center Fellows
Three Penn faculty named Hastings Center Fellows
Holly Fernandez Lynch, Quayshawn Spencer, and Connie Ulrich have been named Hastings Center Fellows for deepening public understanding of complex ethical issues in health, health care, science, and technology.
Improving diversity in cancer clinical trials
Improving diversity in cancer clinical trials
The Cancer Clinical Trials Community Ambassador Training Program at the Abramson Cancer Center was established in August 2021 to create spokespersons and resources to increase awareness and access to cancer clinical trials in the diverse Philadelphia communities.
Learning to listen in troubled times
Learning to listen in troubled times
The SNF Paideia Program and partners featured Ernesto Pujol and Aaron Levy, an artist and an interdisciplinary scholar who have transformed both what it means to listen and what the act of listening can achieve as part of a lecture and workshops.
More than a third of Congressional members held significant health care assets
More than a third of Congressional members held significant health care assets
Due to their role in shaping health care policy, lawmakers should divest from assets while in office, Penn Medicine researchers recommend.
100 years of insulin
100 years of insulin
On July 27, 1921, Canadian doctors Frederick Banting and Charles Best successfully isolated the hormone insulin, one of the most important breakthroughs in treating diabetes. Experts from around the University share their thoughts on the medical triumph on the 100th anniversary.
Project reveals ongoing unreported violations of rights with medical deportations
Project reveals ongoing unreported violations of rights with medical deportations
Researchers in the Legislative Clinic at Penn Law and Free Migration Project have released a new report on the use of medical deportations in the U.S.
Researchers study thought process behind revealing Alzheimer’s test results
Researchers study thought process behind revealing Alzheimer’s test results
Two qualitative studies try to understand individuals’ decision-making process as they choose whom, why and how to share information regarding their Alzheimer’s disease biomarker and genetic testing results.
In the News
Bloomberg
Biogen’s next Alzheimer drug feeds push for FDA approval revamp
Emily Largent and Holly Fernandez Lynch of the Perelman School of Medicine are quoted about the clinical uncertainty of new Alzheimer’s drug findings and the FDA’s need to have post-approval trials underway.
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NPR
FDA seems poised to approve a new drug for ALS, but does it work?
Holly Fernandez Lynch of the Perelman School of Medicine says that the FDA’s current trajectory has been characterized by increased willingness to accept weaker evidence.
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STAT News
‘Is an abortion medically necessary?’ is not a question for ethicists to answer
Holly Fernandez Lynch, Steven Joffe, and Emily A. Largent of the Perelman School of Medicine write that ethics committees are not intended to second-guess clinical judgements about medical procedures or provide legal cover for institutions.
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USA Today
Inequities in maternal health care access are not new. They have deep roots in history
PIK Professor Dorothy Roberts says that today’s Black maternal health disparities are a reverberation of slavery, an echo of the federally funded health care and welfare programs which led to sterilization abuse.
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Fast Company
Your doctor is moonlighting on TikTok as an influencer
Dominic Sisti of the Perelman School of Medicine said that, during the evolution of the internet in the 1990s, bioethicists were preoccupied by the Human Genome Project and overlooked the rise of social media and its impact on health care. “Social media was something that we as bioethicists just didn’t have our eyes on—and it’s coming back now to haunt us,” he said.
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The Washington Post
The ethics of a second chance: Pig heart transplant recipient stabbed a man seven times years ago
Scott Halpern of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the importance of maintaining separation between legal and medical systems. “We have a legal system designed to determine just redress for crimes,” he said. “And we have a health-care system that aims to provide care without regard to people’s personal character or history.”
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