Bioethics for Everyone

What if the platforms that minors use every day to communicate, learn, and form their identities were suddenly taken away in the name of public health? Australia’s decision to restrict social media access for those under sixteen raises questions about whether government intervention is necessary to protect minors from neurological, mental, and behavioral harms. However, in a world where social media is deeply connected to friendship, self-expression, and community, it becomes

What if antibiotics could no longer eliminate bacterial infections, or prevent them from being contracted during surgeries? Due to the current rate at which we are using (and misusing) antibiotics, this terrifying scenario might become a reality. Antibiotic resistance is rising and spreading rapidly worldwide, jeopardizing healthcare as we know it, while research and innovation lags behind. Consequently, it becomes increasingly critical to re-examine our antibiotic prescribin

What do physicians owe to their patients? For years, scholars have debated the use of conscientious objections in healthcare, which allow physicians to refuse to participate in services they morally oppose. Recently, medical professionals have cited new legislation protecting these objections, to back their refusals to patient identities, rather than to certain treatments or procedures. This paper will dissect how conscientious objections are, and should be, used in medical s

This paper analyzes the ethical tensions that rise with private equity investment in medical institutions. When a private equity firm invests in a hospital, financial incentives often take priority over optimizing patient care. Considering the financial realities of today’s medical industrial complex, this paper will explore whether both of these goals, financial and personal, are able to be attended to simultaneously. Table of Contents Introduction Background The Rise of Fi

Scientists estimate that up to 50% of fertilized eggs fail to develop, often before a pregnancy is even detected. Despite the fact that infertility, miscarriage, and developmental disorders affect millions of people, much of early human development remains hidden from direct observation and poorly understood. Emerging technologies known as embryoids, stem cell-derived models that mimic aspects of early development, offer new opportunities to study these processes while simult

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us were scrambling to be vaccinated to protect ourselves from the notoriously destructive outbreak—but as we received our preventative treatments, did we truly consider that our ability to receive vaccines was not a global norm, but a privilege shaped by greater policy decisions? Vaccine nationalism, although a seemingly obscure philosophy, is much more prevalent in our world than the majority realizes. This policy of restrictin

What does a society owe to its eldest members, and how can something other than human fulfill that obligation? As robotic companions capable of lifting patients, detecting falls, and simulating emotional connection move from research labs into real care facilities, the question is no longer hypothetical. This paper weighs whether deploying them at scale is something America can do with integrity, interrogating what happens to human dignity when care becomes automated, whether

What if a simple genetic test could warn someone about a life-threatening risk of cancer before any symptoms appear? As population genomic screening becomes more common, especially among higher-risk groups like Ashkenazi Jewish women, medicine faces a difficult ethical dilemma regarding how far public health systems should go in identifying genetic risk. While these screenings have the potential to save lives through early detection and prevention, they also raise concerns ab

When you take a vitamin or supplement throughout your daily routine, do you ever wonder how effective it is, the meaning behind certain marketing claims, or, most importantly, who approved it? Dietary supplement regulation in the United States was vastly transformed by the passing of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) in 1994, yet, in a time marked by creatine craze, “GLP-1” supplements, and an overwhelming interest in wellness, it is imperative to ethica

What if anyone with a few hundred dollars and internet access could attempt genetic engineering from their own home? Biohacking refers to the practice of individuals, often amateurs, conducting bodily experimentation or developing “homemade” biological devices such as automatic insulin pumps, outside traditional institutional, academic, or clinical settings. While supporters argue that biohacking promotes innovation and medical autonomy, critics warn that it creates serious r

This paper focuses on medical mistrust as a product of flawed systems, and the strain that arises between the duty to protect individual autonomy and protect the health of the greater population. It examines how behavioral science, journalistic media, social media algorithmic personalization, the commercialization of medicine, and different policies across geographical areas all shape public trust in medicine. Using this research, the paper explores how and why mistrust devel