Category Archives: Blog

Alexa will “See” You Now

Posted on May 15, 2019 by Matthew Eppinette

Amazon has reportedly filed a patent that will allow its Artificially Intelligent Virtual Assistant, Alexa, “to notice a user’s illness by detecting a change in their voice.” The most obvious use for this is, of course, advertising. The Next Web … Continue reading →

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What Do We Owe Children?

Posted on April 26, 2018 by Matthew Eppinette

In working on a writing project yesterday, I came across an issue of the journal Ethics & Medicine from 2014, which had an editorial piece entitled “Shouldn’t Children Want Parents of Their Own?” The article, which was written by ethicist … Continue reading →

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Ethics and Burnout

Posted on January 31, 2018 by Matthew Eppinette

The New England Journal of Medicine today published a brief piece examining burnout among healthcare providers. Certainly, this is a problem both for patients as well as for healthcare providers who of course require appropriate support in their jobs as … Continue reading →

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Consuming Fertility

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Matthew Eppinette

The Washington Post recently ran an article outlining a whole range of ways in which the business of fertility is reaching new heights of consumerism as consumers go about consuming more and more fertility products and services. Would-be parents seeking … Continue reading →

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What is Brave New World Really About?

Posted on October 5, 2017 by Matthew Eppinette

I’m a huge science fiction fan, and I particularly like works of speculative and dystopian fiction. Some of my favorite, relatively recent books include Oryx and Crake, Snow Crash, and Anathem. Perhaps the most significant dystopian work, however, is Aldous … Continue reading →

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Artificial Wombs: What’s Really Needed

Posted on August 15, 2017 by Matthew Eppinette

A recent article in Nature Communications announces the development of a kind of artificial womb (or extracorporeal gestational system). So far it has been used to further the development of premature lambs. Technology website Gizmodo breaks down the technical journal … Continue reading →

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In Case You Missed It

Posted on July 21, 2017 by Matthew Eppinette

Many bioethics stories cross my inboxes and screens each day. Some I write about here and in other venues, and others I simply blurb or write a short comment on via Twitter. Of course, not everyone is on social media … Continue reading →

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A Sad Anniversary

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Matthew Eppinette

Today, sadly, marks one year since physician-assisted suicide became legal in California. Perhaps this weekend you might want to watch (or re-watch) the documentary short film I helped make about the true impact of this law, Compassion and Choice DENIED. … Continue reading →

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Bioethics at the Oscars

Posted on February 27, 2017 by Matthew Eppinette

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, the big news coming out of the Academy Awards last night is the mixup regarding the Best Picture winner. Even without that, though, you probably wouldn’t have heard much about a nominated film … Continue reading →

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Update: D.C. Assisted Suicide Law

Posted on February 16, 2017 by Matthew Eppinette

Update to the update: the law has gone into effect. The House did not vote on the measure to block it, and the Senate version never left committee (both chambers would have needed to vote to block the bill by … Continue reading →

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