What can we learn from Michael Jackson's tragic premature death? The autopsy will be performed later today which may reveal the immediate cause of death. But whatever the immediate medical cause of death, the ultimate cause is clear: de…

Last time I wrote about our potential to model ourselves on others, to be inspired by the good example they might be setting.  In this blog I shift the focus to the role model and the idea of leading by example. How might we recognise…

Part of the debate "The NHS should not treat self-inflicted injuries" Proposer: Dr Mark SheehanUpdate 1 There is a robust system in place in the NHS that grapples with questions like ours regularly. Far from these being my decisio…

This past April, The New York Times reported that a form of enhanced interrogation known as “waterboarding” was used on Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, confessed mastermind of the 9-11 attacks, upwards of 183 times, and that the same technique was …

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) contains haematopoietic stem cells, which can be used for the treatment of several lethal disorders, including leukaemia and several types of anaemia. Other sources of haematopoietic stem cells are bone marrow and…

In the last six months I have heard that the current economic crisis proves that free market capitalism is a failure. I have also heard that it proves that government intervention is responsible for market booms and busts. I have read that …

Part of the debate "The NHS should not treat self-inflicted illness" Opposer: Charles Foster (Barrister & teacher of medical law and ethics at Oxford. He is attached to the Ethox Centre and is an Associate Fellow of Green Temp…

Part of the debate "The NHS should not treat self-inflicted illness" Proposer: Dr Mark Sheehan (Oxford BRC Ethics Fellow at the Ethox Centre and James Martin Research Fellow in the Program on the Ethics of the New Biosciences)Open…

Moderator: Dr Paula Boddington Should the NHS treat self-inflicted illness? This question raises a plethora of different issues, about science, society, social policy, as well as philosophical questions about human nature and individual fre…

Recently the Atlantic (see here) published results of a 72-year longitudinal study, known as the Grant Study. The study, led  by psychiatrist George Vaillant, followed the lives of 268 men who entered Harvard University in the late 30…