A healthy debate: Exploring the views of medical doctors on the ethics of artificial intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is moving towards the health space. It is generally acknowledged that, while there is great promise in the implementation of AI technologies in healthcare, it also raises important ethical issues. In this study we surveyed medical doctors based in The Netherlands, Portugal, and the U.S. from a diverse mix of medical specializations about the ethics surrounding Health AI. Four main perspectives have emerged from the data representing different views about this matter. The first perspective (AI is a helpful tool: Let physicians do what they were trained for) highlights the efficiency associated with automation, which will allow doctors to have the time to focus on expanding their medical knowledge and skills. The second perspective (Rules & Regulations are crucial: Private companies only think about money) shows strong distrust in private tech companies and emphasizes the need for regulatory oversight. The third perspective (Ethics is enough: Private companies can be trusted) puts more trust in private tech companies and maintains that ethics is sufficient to ground these corporations. And finally the fourth perspective (Explainable AI tools: Learning is necessary and inevitable) emphasizes the importance of explainability of AI tools in order to ensure that doctors are engaged in the technological progress. Each perspective provides valuable and often contrasting insights about ethical issues that should be operationalized and accounted for in the design and development of AI Health.

Stem cells in court: historical trends in US legal cases related to stem cells.

Using two legal research platforms, we identified 193 stem-cell-related legal cases that were decided in US courts. Classifying the cases by category, we examined historical trends in the types of legal cases related to stem cells. Major types of cases involved plaintiffs seeking to overturn denial of health insurance coverage decisions, disputes related to intellectual property, false advertising, breaches of contract, exposure to hazardous agents, regulatory decisions, stem cell procedures and professional standard of care, use of stems cells in research, and public funding of embryonic stem cell research. Analysis of court decisions provides insight into contemporary and historical legal issues related to stem cells and reveals the breadth of stem-cell-related cases now being decided by US courts.

Overview of the Moral Status of iPS Cells.

The production of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells in 2006 by Takahashi and Yamanaka was a major breakthrough in stem cell research. IPS cells technology holds great promise for cell therapy, disease modelling, and drug testing, but it poses ethical questions concerning the moral status of somatic cells, which can re-gain pluripotency (iPS cells). This article provides an overview of the arguments that substantiate the debate on the moral assessment of iPS cells: potentiality argument; relational properties/standard view; and genetic basis for moral status.