Should Doctors be Psychologically Healthier than the General Population?

The dairy fat paradox: Whole dairy products may be healthier than we thought

Should doctors intentionally do less than the best?

The papers of Burley and Harris, and Draper and Chadwick, in this issue, raise a problem: what should doctors do when patients request an option which is not the best available? This commentary argues that doctors have a duty to offer that option which will result in the individual affected by that choice enjoying the highest level of wellbeing. Doctors can deviate from this duty and submaximis...

How to be Psychologically Relevant

How did I raise my arm? The simple answer is that I raised it as a consequence of intending to raise it. A slightly more complicated response would mention the absence of any factors which would inhibit the execution of the intentionand a more complicated one still would specify the intention in terms of a goal (say, drinking a beer) which requires arm-raising as a means towards that end. Whate...

I-14: Assisted Reproduction and Religion What Consideration Should Be and Should Not Be Relevant,

Several important issues are pertinent to an ethical discussion of the new technology today grouped under the name Assisted Reproduction Technology (ART). This is a moral imperative because each of us must decide what is to be considered ethically acceptable in assisted reproduction. Reflecting on the ethical dimension of ‘creating’ a new human life can play a major role in ensuring that in eac...

David Oliver: What should senior doctors be paid?

The English health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, claimed in his “25 year vision” that the average wage for a hospital consultant was £118 000 (€167 000; $184 000) a year, putting us in “the top 2% income bracket.” This made for a good soundbite, but Hunt’s speech was heavy with spin to sell changes in the consultant contract. Portraying doctors as overpaid, lazy, or Luddite plays to certain sections ...