Strengthened NIH policies of inclusion have resulted in more NIH-funded research including more women and other underrepresented population groups as subjects in medical research.
Refusals of psychotropic medication by detained criminal defendants raise conflicting dual loyalties for psychiatrists between the duty to treat a patient and the duty to protect society from that patient.
A new AMA policy provide guidance for physician-scientists on dual-use research issues and reinforces the message that ethical conduct in scientific research ultimately rests with the individual researcher.
The Declaration of Helsinki was recently revised to require that the control arm of a trial use the current standard of care, even if that standard is not generally available in developing nations where the research is being conducted.
The author describes some of the diverse training paths that may lead to becoming a bioethicist and how the breadth of this field is useful in exploring many ethical questions in the field of medicine.