Medical Ethics | Penn Today

Preterm birth drug Makena ignites argument over health equity

Holly Fernandez Lynch of the Perelman School of Medicine says that there needs to be a truly expedited pathway for withdrawal once a drug is deemed unfit for the market.

Five researchers newly elected to National Academy of Medicine: Regina Cunningham, Elizabeth Howell, Steven Joffe, Katalin Karikó, and Drew Weissman

Five from Penn elected to National Academy of Medicine

Five Penn experts have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine for their contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health.

How can the latest Alzheimer’s therapy reach patients? Follow this trustworthy process

In an op-ed, Jason Karlawish of the Perelman School of Medicine outlines the reliable process required to properly evaluate the effects of lecanemab, a new Alzheimer’s drug already approved by the FDA.

Biogen’s next Alzheimer drug feeds push for FDA approval revamp

Emily Largent and Holly Fernandez Lynch of the Perelman School of Medicine are quoted about the clinical uncertainty of new Alzheimer’s drug findings and the FDA’s need to have post-approval trials underway.

FDA seems poised to approve a new drug for ALS, but does it work?

Holly Fernandez Lynch of the Perelman School of Medicine says that the FDA’s current trajectory has been characterized by increased willingness to accept weaker evidence.

Abortion clinic websites may unwittingly aid patient prosecutions

More than 99% of abortion clinic web pages studied included widely used code that transferred user data to external entities, which could sell the data or provide it to law enforcement, without the clinics knowledge.

‘Is an abortion medically necessary?’ is not a question for ethicists to answer

Holly Fernandez Lynch, Steven Joffe, and Emily A. Largent of the Perelman School of Medicine write that ethics committees are not intended to second-guess clinical judgements about medical procedures or provide legal cover for institutions.

Inequities in maternal health care access are not new. They have deep roots in history

PIK Professor Dorothy Roberts says that today’s Black maternal health disparities are a reverberation of slavery, an echo of the federally funded health care and welfare programs which led to sterilization abuse.

Black patient receiving an injection in the arm by a medical professional.

Higher rates of chemical sedation among Black psychiatric patients points to inequities

Penn Medicine researchers also find that white patients are more likely to be chemically sedated in emergency departments at hospitals that treat high proportion Black patients, suggesting that hospital demographics can impact practice patterns.

Your doctor is moonlighting on TikTok as an influencer

Dominic Sisti of the Perelman School of Medicine said that, during the evolution of the internet in the 1990s, bioethicists were preoccupied by the Human Genome Project and overlooked the rise of social media and its impact on health care. “Social media was something that we as bioethicists just didn’t have our eyes on—and it’s coming back now to haunt us,” he said.

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