Faculty Bibliography

The NY SAFE Act requires individuals who own a handgun or an assault rifle to recertify their permits every 5 years; limits the capacity of ammo clips to 7 shots; clarifies and broadens the definition of assault weapons to restrict their sale; and requires nearly all gun transfers between private parties to be conducted through a federal firearms licensee, subject to a federal National Instant Criminal Background Check. There has long been a legal obligation in most states, generated by the famous 1976 Tarasoffcase in California, that mental health care professionals disclose a threat of violence to an identifiable third party if they think the threat is credible and the act imminent

Here, Caplan says if there is any silver lining in the ignorant, and grossly offensive statements offered about rape by the failed candidates for Senate in the recently concluded election, Missouri's Congressman Todd Akin and Indiana's Richard Mourdock, it is that they may have finally shown both the folly and the moral dodginess inherent in efforts by conservative fundamentalists to posit God's hand in every act, no matter how horrific or awful. They do this both in situations where misery besets an individual and where tragedy overwhelms a group and both are ethically disgusting. He adds he is inclined to think that the best explanation for hurricanes, floods, and other calamities is coincidence often compounded by poor human choices. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, there is a lot of prayer going on with mixed messages being sent, and God cannot satisfy everyone. Perhaps someday, fervent religious leaders will come to see that linking pregnancies resulting from rape and the destruction of a city to divine will and retribution is a very dicey and highly unethical thing to do

In this text, we present and elaborate ethical challenges in transplant medicine related to organ procurement and organ distribution, together with measures to solve such challenges. Based on internationally acknowledged ethical standards, we looked at cases of organ procurement and distribution practices that deviated from such ethical standards. One form of organ procurement is known as commercial organ trafficking, while in China the organ procurement is mostly based on executing prisoners, including killing of detained Falun Gong practitioners for their organs. Efforts from within the medical community as well as from governments have contributed to provide solutions to uphold ethical standards in medicine. The medical profession has the responsibility to actively promote ethical guidelines in medicine to prevent a decay of ethical standards and to ensure best medical practices.

Advances in the field of synthetic biology are creating many new practical applications. These new applications raise novel regulatory challenges. Biotechnological innovation was first addressed by the United States (US) National Institutes of Health (NIH) at the advent of recombinant DNA research.1 Today, synthetic biology requires consideration of the ethics and risks involved in the governance of an applied technology that spans national borders and has applications in a wide variety of sectors. Because approaches to governance vary by nation and sector, and can range from precautionary to prudent, it is necessary to consider the context from which different approaches arise if there is to be any successful move towards universal governance