As the number of older persons in the U.S. increases there is also an increase in incidence of dementia. Neuropsychologists, because of their role in the assessment of cognitive functioning, will see more aged patients and face many related ethical concerns. Ethical concerns involved in the disclosure of a diagnosis of dementia have produced considerable debate. This paper will discuss a number...

Proposals to make prenatal HIV testing routine and universal dramatize ethical issues regarding early detection of HIV. These proposals would abolish pretest counseling and written informed consent for prenatal HIV testing. Ethical concerns include whether pregnant women are adequately informed that they may refuse such testing and whether patients have an opportunity to obtain more detailed in...

The Bucharest Early Intervention Project is the first ever randomized controlled trial of foster care as an alternative to institutional care for young abandoned children. This article examines ethical issues in the conceptualization and implementation of the study, which involved American investigators conducting research in another country, as well as vulnerable participants. We organize the ...

Essential elements of all research include balance of risks and benefits, unbiased selection of research samples, and assurance of the rights of individual participants. This paper highlights some key ethical issues and summarizes recent evidence relating to participation in, and conduct of, trauma-focused studies with special reference to vulnerable populations (eg, women and children, refugee...

BACKGROUND Discussions on ethical aspects of life-and-death decisions within the hospital are often made in plenary. The prehospital physician, however, may be faced with ethical dilemmas in life-and-death decisions when time-critical decisions to initiate or refrain from resuscitative efforts need to be taken without the possibility to discuss matters with colleagues. Little is known whether t...

The ecosystem services (ES) concept is one of the main avenues for conveying society’s dependence on natural ecosystems. On-ground applications of the concept are now widespread and diverse and include its use as a communication tool, for policy guidance and priority setting, and for designing economic instruments for conservation. Each application raises ethical considerations beyond tradition...

Important variations in access to health care and health outcomes are associated with geography, giving rise to profound ethical concerns. This paper discusses the consequences of such concerns for the allocation of health care finance to geographical regions. Specifically, it examines the ethical drivers underlying capitation systems, which have become the principal method of allocating health...

This paper brings understanding to the ethical dimensions of human health research conducted in the context of contaminated sites. Principle-based ethical analysis, complemented with virtuous traits of character, aid in bringing clarity to recommendations for actions following research. Epidemiology is the discipline for conducting health research not only because of its methodological foundati...

The paper is an exploratory description of a way of linking the experiences of undergraduate CIS majors to a required course on global, economic, social, and ethical issues of computing. The essay describes some issues with teaching the course and a way of handling ABET accreditation requirements. The essay briefly gives some assumptions framing the course. The paper then briefly describes a co...

No dialogue about ethical interventions in the treatment of childhood obesity would be complete without including the role of family, particularly parents, in influencing their child’s diet and physical activity. However, health experts have been hesitant to address this issue. Ethical concerns for family-based interventions include parents’ rights and responsibilities to protect their children...