Policy & Ethics

Where science meets society: regulatory decisions, research ethics, public health policy, and the debates around how scientific knowledge is applied, funded, and communicated.

There is no denying when public figures experience medical issues they can draw greater awareness and attention toward disease prevention; informing society and providing beneficial education.
US news media headlines appear daily on the so-called “opioid crisis”.  A major thread in public policy discussions is an asserted need to “solve” the crisis by limiting production of opioid analgesics and reducing medical exposure to potenti
In the name of battling our misnamed "opioid epidemic," (1) which has only resulted in making things worse (2) there is a casualty that is far worse than anything that could be caused by a drug - the loss of
With right-to-die legislation in its fledgling stages in the United States, the bioethics surrounding assisted suicide are in play as they haven’t been in the past.
I once asked a Seattle businessman what he thought of consultants. "They borrow your watch to tell you what time it is," he said coldly.
The California Energy Commission just voted unanimously to require new homes to be constructed with solar panels.
Science and medicine often deal with issues that are about finding "the needle in the haystack." We might get a better handle on p-values and science's “reproducibility” problem by considering, metaphorically, those haystacks and needles
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s recent announcement that EPA will not use “secret science” — that is science for which the underlying data is not available — is challenging.
"Taste great! Less filling!" This mindless Miller Lite commercial was shoved down our throats beginning in 1974 in what could be reasonably be expected to be found in a remake of Clockwork Orange. As if:
In the not-so-new realm of nontraditional health coverage, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is expanding their Medicare Advantage plan to include benefits that meet patients “unique health needs” and improve “their quality of l