Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Center for the Study of Society and Medicine
Study of Society and Medicine
Related posts
From Epistemic Injustice to Epistemic Imagination: Reframing Older Age, Disability, and Dying in Bioethics
This editorial appears in the October 2026 Issue of the American Journal of Bioethics In Ageism, Ableism, and Epistemic Injustice: Tracing Absence and Construction in Bioethics and Public Health, Langmann and Goldberg demonstrate how ageism and ableism operate as epistemic forces that shape whose knowledge counts in bioethics and public health. Older adults and people […]
Individualizing Informed Consent: For Whom, and How Far?
This editorial appears in the October 2026 Issue of the American Journal of Bioethics In 2018, the U.S. federal guidelines were updated to require the reasonable person standard during informed consent in research settings. According to the standard, researchers must disclose to participants the risks, benefits, and purpose of the research that an “average person” […]
The End of an Absolute: Jehovah’s Witnesses Reconsider Blood Product TransfusionsBlood Products
The September 18th, 2026, announcement from the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW) is one of the most consequential changes to the religion’s medical doctrine in modern times. For decades, JWs were told to refuse transfusion of blood and its four principal components (red cells, white cells, plasma, and platelets). That’s no longer the case. […]
Does the fitness industry pose a problem to our health?
Earlier this month at a Hyrox competition in Beijing, China, Australian athlete Joanna Wietrzyk soiled herself … and continued competing. As a result of her decision to not leave the course, her fellow competitors found themselves exposed to her waste. The photos went viral. People from across the globe weighed in. Eventually came online abuse […]