Expanding on the recent call for a 'critical medical humanities' to intervene in questions of the ontology of health, this article develops a what we call a 'speculative' orientation to such interventions in relation to some of the ontological commitments on which contemporary biomedical cultures rest. We argue that crucial to this task is an approach to ontology that treats it not as a questio...

The long-held but erroneous assumption of never-ending rapid growth in biomedical science has created an unsustainable hypercompetitive system that is discouraging even the most outstanding prospective students from entering our profession--and making it difficult for seasoned investigators to produce their best work. This is a recipe for long-term decline, and the problems cannot be solved wit...

The reality of biomedical research in Spain requires having an updated knowledge of the research reality and its ethical/legal framework. Research studies with human biological samples should be made with a sufficiently large number of samples to reflect the diversity of the human population, which meets the standard requirements to ensure optimum quality of the research results for further dev...

The increasing importance, recognised by WHO, of prospective randomised clinical trials has led to discussion of the needfor their careful regulation in the interests of maintaining high professional ethical standards. Ethical problems which do arisefor example where biomedical research in developing countries is sponsored from abroad-may best be handled by specially established professional sc...

Despite great advances in health-related research and health care, major challenges remain regarding the causes and cures of many diseases; these may be overcome with further research. Our society is enthusiastic about fostering such investigations. However, available federal funds limit many such projects. Previously there have been sizable increases in the NIH budget, but because of the escal...

We hear a lot about sustainability these days–sustainability of health and environment, of economic prosperity, of conservation of nature, and so on (3). Great! But what about sustainability in an area that makes so much other sustainability possible? Scientific research . . . and more specifically for our purposes, biomedical research. This editorial continues a theme that I introduced on two ...

The Louis-Jeantet Foundation annually recognizes innovative biomedical research by awarding a Prize for Medicine to European researchers, who have distinguished themselves in the field of biomedical research. The prize money is meant to be directly invested into ongoing and future research projects of major importance to fundamental or clinical medicine. Since 1986, the foundation has highlight...

In this paper, I provide a brief sketch of the purposes that medical ethics serves and what makes for good medical ethics. Medical ethics can guide clinical practice and biomedical research, contribute to the education of clinicians, advance thinking in the field, and direct healthcare policy. Although these are distinct activities, they are alike in several critical respects. Good medical ethi...