Charles E. Binkley is a bioethicist and general surgeon.

The failure of the U.S. government’s physicians to do good, avoid harm, and tell the truth

Conditions
September 11, 2020

Medicine is a moral pursuit. Physicians inherit the tools of medicine not only through their training, but also by taking an oath to do good, avoid harm, and tell the truth. Hippocrates, the father of medical ethics, realized that the tools he possessed as a physician could be used for either good or for harm. Even today, the modern students of Hippocrates promise that they will …

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The failure of the U.S. government’s physicians to do good, avoid harm, and tell the truth

Unethical policy: Resuming federal lethal injections during a global pandemic

Policy
July 21, 2020

The United States government has resumed capital punishment after a 17-year hiatus. Even setting aside questions of whether the death penalty is legal, ethical, or humane, the renewal of the practice of lethal injection poses some grave concerns, particularly in the context of the global pandemic. According to Department of Justice documents, the government is using the drug pentobarbital to carry out the executions. The government’s …

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Unethical policy: Resuming federal lethal injections during a global pandemic

It is unethical for the United States to send hydroxychloroquine to Brazil

Meds
June 7, 2020

Much controversy surrounds whether or not hydroxychloroquine is effective in preventing or treating infection with COVID-19. While much of the data so far suggests that hydroxychloroquine is not effective at treating COVID-19, and perhaps that it might even be harmful, multiple clinical trials focusing both on prevention and treatment are ongoing. The controversy around …

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It is unethical for the United States to send hydroxychloroquine to Brazil

Mike Pence and the Mayo Clinic’s moral failure

Physician
May 18, 2020

One of the essential ethical foundations of medicine is that there is one standard that we apply to everyone.  Everyone, regardless of their “VIP” status.  Recently, Vice-President Pence visited the Mayo Clinic, and in violation of their stated policy, he did not wear a protective mask as he visited with patients and administrators. The White House subsequently disclosed that Mr. Pence’s press secretary, Read more…

Mike Pence and the Mayo Clinic’s moral failure

Human values in the age of COVID-19

Conditions
April 19, 2020

COVID-19 has brought out the best in people, and also the worst.

Daily on social media or in the news, I read heartwarming examples of generosity and kindness that challenge me to be a better person. The doctors, nurses, therapists, and chaplains who are selflessly risking their lives, sometimes with substandard personal protective equipment (PPE), rekindles in me the passion for patient care that brought me to medicine in the first …

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Human values in the age of COVID-19