In places where Covid-19 is increasing – and in preparation for a possible second wave of the pandemic-- hospitals are preparing to triage critical resources if necessary. Some are prioritizing health care workers for ventilators. We think this is a mistake.

Do the recipients of organ transplants have a right to know if the organs they are about to receive were part of a research study? If so, are the recipients...

For those following the SUPPORT Study controversy, the New England Journal of Medicine published this week a letter to the editor organized by Ruth Macklin, Alice Dreger, and me, and signed by 45 “physicians,...

The clinical research community and a number of prominent bioethicists have swiftly come to the defense of investigators conducting the SUPPORT study, in which approximately 1,300 premature infants were randomly...

Selected resources from The Hastings Center. Bioethics Briefings: Clinical Trials Clinical trials are specifically designed to test the safety and efficacy of interventions in humans and are preceded by laboratory...

In January 2009, the New York Times published on the front page an article about scientists conducting research on their own young children.1 Of the approximately 60 comments responding to the article, more...

For two years, a debate has raged over the study known as the Surfactant, Positive Pressure, and Oxygenation Randomized Trial (SUPPORT), which sought to gauge the risks and benefits of...