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The television series 24 is set in the fictional US government Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) and each season depicts a 24 hour period in the life of Special Agent Jack Bauer. Although the series has been hugely successful, 24 has repeatedly aroused media attention for its dubious take on ethics. ...
The British Medical Journal's appalling coverage of the end of life debate over the past few months has led many to question what is going on at our flagship journal.[1,2] The controversy has arisen because the majority of the journal's coverage on physician assisted suicide took a different view to...
Smoking could be banned in offices and factories, restaurants and most pubs within four years under plans unveiled by the government. The plans form part of Health Secretary John Reid’s White Paper on Public Health, and are expected to become part of the government’s manifesto for next year’s general election....
A medical student thinking through his career options told me recently, 'The overriding need in this world is for people to hear the gospel; therefore the only thing worth doing with my life, if I am able, is to become an ordained minister.' For me this begs important questions, for...
Staff recruitment and retention in the National Health Service (NHS) has dominated the media health agenda in the past few months. The latest NHS saga reveals a morally questionable twist in the story. Overseas recruitment of health care workers has emerged as a key strategy in the government's attempts to...
'When the most powerful president in the world will not release money already allocated to prevent unwanted pregnancy, to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, for the poorest citizens in the world, where is the morality in that?'[1] Amy Coen - President of Population Action International At the time of writing,...
Speciesism noun human assumption of superiority.[1] The UK government has been widely cited as being in the process of drawing up a ‘Bill of Rights’ for pets. The wording may be imprecise, but proposed changes to legislation do aim to ensure a minimum quality of life for captive animals.[2] It...
'Curiosity without compassion is inhuman; compassion without curiosity is ineffective' Victor Wiesskopf [1] In early January, two companies announced dramatic advances in genetic engineering. The advance was the successful cloning of animals lacking the gene causing organ rejection in humans.[2] This development brings us one step closer to xenotransplantation, the ability to...
On 13 November 2001, Radio Afghanistan began broadcasting music for the first time in five years. Listeners in Kabul, carrying their radios in the street shouted with joy as women, who were forbidden to work under the Taliban regime, broadcast the news.[1] The Northern Alliance had 'liberated' Kabul. At the...
On 23 June 1988, James Hansen, a climate scientist with NASA's Goddard Institute, made a speech. The ramifications of that speech were far greater than Hansen could have imagined. He warned Washington that the world was getting warmer, due to the build up of greenhouse gases. These gases would have...
