No-one wants our children to be used as research guinea pigs. High standards of ethical oversight are needed to ensure no child is exposed to possible harm.
There are many scientific and ethical challenges ahead. But these types of trials have helped in the development of vaccines against a few diseases. Could they do the same for COVID-19?
A public health lawyer and ethicist explores the thorny issue of whether requiring people to be vaccinated against COVID-19 might be necessary. And if so, can people object citing their faith?
Church leaders have raised concerns over a COVID-19 vaccine produced using cells derived from aborted foetuses. But the Vatican has already ruled such vaccines ‘morally separate’ from the abortions.
Ofer Raban, University of Oregon and Yuval Dor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Conventional trials to test coronavirus vaccines are paradoxically slowed down by actions to curb the disease’s spread. Human challenge trials are more controversial, but could speed up the process.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons recently opened a unit for people suffering dementia. But is incarceration a ‘cruel and unusual’ punishment for those who don’t understand why they are behind bars?
We should make more use of randomised controlled trials – usually used in medicine – to understand which measures were effective in controlling COVID-19.
Moral injury happens when someone is faced with a choice that violates deep moral beliefs. Health-care workers treating COVID-19 might be forced to choose between ‘wrong’ and ‘wronger.’
Rather than basing decisions about ICU access on age, clinicians need to consider the potential benefits and burdens of treatments proposed for every patient.
How do we develop new drugs quickly yet safely? How prepared are we to give up some personal freedoms? And how do we allocate scarce resources? These are just some of the tough questions we face.
The scientist who announced the world’s first genome-edited twins received a prison sentence and a large fine for his research. But the systems that enabled him have not been held to account.
A project involving tens of millions of patient records poses ethical issues, even though patients could ultimately gain. Here’s why privacy concerns are a hurdle.
Visiting Professor in Biomedical Ethics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Distinguished Visiting Professor in Law, University of Melbourne; Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford
Professor of Bioethics & Medicine, Sydney Health Ethics, Haematologist/BMT Physician, Royal North Shore Hospital and Director, Praxis Australia, University of Sydney
Paediatrician at the Royal Childrens Hospital and Associate Professor and Clinician Scientist, University of Melbourne and MCRI, Murdoch Children's Research Institute