Curious Bioethics: May 22-28, 2023
Abortion physicians, Neuralink human trials, banned books, Covid misinformation, These Vital Times
Hey there, Curious Human!
After a rough all-night transplant call, I’m a little late with my weekly newsletter! I hope you all had today off and are getting some much-needed rest. If you’re working, I hope you’re getting paid extra.
In today’s curated collection, you’ll find:
Bioethics in the News: Nebraska 12-week abortion ban, Indiana sanctions Dr. Caitlin Bernard, Neuralink human trials
What I’m Reading: Banned books impact prison health, Covid physician misinformation, and These Vital Times
Educational Opportunities: Mütter Museum vaccine history
Bioethics in the News
Governor Pillen Signs LB574 Into Law, immediately enacting an abortion Ban, with restrictions on gender-affirming care to follow
On May 22, 2023, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, joined by over 30 senators, signed LB574 into law. The bill includes an immediate 12-week abortion ban and includes regulation of puberty blockers for minors and a ban on gender-altering surgeries for minors, which both take effect on October 1. The law will force more Nebraskans to travel for necessary medical care. Additionally, the abortion law offers no exceptions for serious fetal anomalies, which are unlikely to be diagnosed until later in pregnancy. Nebraska will have more cases like the Doerberts in Florida, who had to deliver their son at 37 weeks and watch him die from an untreatable condition.
Indiana Medical Licensing Board rules Bernard violated patient privacy laws
Dr. Caitlin Bernard, one of only two complex family physicians in Indiana, has been reprimanded by the state medical board for supposed privacy violations related to abortion care for a 10-year-old child from Ohio. For the last year, the state’s attorney general has continued a harassment campaign against Bernard and sought suspension of her license.
Neuralink says FDA gives OK to start clinical trials
Elon Musk’s brain implant startup, Neuralink, claims the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given them the go-ahead to begin human testing. It’s unclear if they will be testing the implant or the surgical robot to do the implanting. This is a big change since 2022 when the FDA denied the company the ability to start human trials due to “deficiencies” and serious safety concerns. Additionally, last year, the company faced a federal probe by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Inspector General related to animal cruelty allegations.
What I’m Reading This Week
Where It Hurts: How Book Bans Restrict Access to Healthcare
Kwaneta Harris writes powerfully about her experience in prison with an illogical lack of access to basic health information. An immense amount of books are banned in American prisons. The Marshal Project has compiled a state-by-state list. I looked through the books banned in California, which include “Health - The Basics, 11th Edition,” “The Hood Health Handbook: A Practical Guide to Health and Wellness in the Urban Community“ “Impressionist Paintings in the Louvre,” and lots of comic drawing and tattoo books.
As a former nurse, it’s frustrating to try and figure out: What and where is the malady? It’s like playing charades, but blindfolded. Her friend rips out a magazine ad about the same symptoms so Mina can show the nurse when she does her rounds. Meanwhile, I begin a rudimentary color coded sketch of a vagina and anus. I’ve done this before. I instruct Mina to get a mirror, look between her legs and place an X where it’s bothering her. If I’m caught with this “contraband”, it’s considered pornography and I can get in big trouble…
Over the years, I’ve tried to get anatomy, physiology, or women’s health books, but they are denied for the exact reason I need them… sexually explicit images! We can’t see pictures of our own body parts? If they could punish us for looking at our own bodies, they would.
- Kwaneta Harris
These ‘experts’ sold the U.S. on a disastrous COVID plan, and never paid a professional price
I am deeply interested in the forces that shape physician practice and how we may perpetuate harm rather than care. Anti-vaccination propaganda from doctors is one of those topics.
In 2019 you would have been considered a quack if you suggested that the best way to get rid of a virus is to spread the virus. But that became mainstream and influenced politicians at the highest levels. — Jonathan Howard, M.D.
Michael Hiltzik explores the combination of prestige bias, unchecked libertarianism, and the failures of herd immunity theories.
If you’re interested in learning more about the covid misinformation machine, Jonathan Howard’s new book We Want Them Infected catalogs the rise and outsized influence of physicians in propagating bad science and misinformation. I had the pleasure of publishing one of Dr. Howard’s essays on Bioethics Today on the physician-led misinformation disaster.
These Vital Signs: A Doctor's Notes on Life and Loss in Tweets By Sayed Tabatabai
I’ve followed Dr. T on Twitter for a while and am so excited to see his new book out in the world.
“Exploring themes of illness, dying, grief, and joy, universal in its reach, These Vital Signs tells stories both remarkable and utterly ordinary of a doctor and the patients who have shaped him.”
Educational Opportunities
Mütter Museum History of Vaccines
“A Living, Changing Chronicle of the Compelling History of Vaccination.”
The Mütter Museum in Philadelphia has a curated website on vaccine history and information. You can learn tidbits about employer vaccine mandates, vaccine development and testing, and a timeline of smallpox eradication.
That’s it!
As always, thanks for being curious!
Hit reply and let me know what ethics issues you are most curious about this week—I’d love to hear from you!
See you next week!
Be Well & Be Curious,
Alyssa
