Peer-reviewed article
Can we prevent sudden cardiac death in young athletes: the debate about preparticipation sports screening.
UNLABELLED: All high school athletes in the United States require a preparticipation screening examination. The American Heart Association recommends a focused history and physical examination. The European Society of Cardiology recommends…
UNLABELLED: All high school athletes in the United States require a preparticipation screening examination. The American Heart Association recommends a focused history and physical examination. The European Society of Cardiology recommends that all examinations include an electrocardiogram (ECG). We review the risks and costs of screening, discuss legal ramifications and analyse the ethical implications of these considerations. There are too many unknown about ECG screening to require it as routine testing for all high school athletes. CONCLUSION: Doctors must inform young athletes and their parents about the option of ECG screening and about the debate over its efficacy. Patients and parents may then choose to have an ECG or not. Mandatory universal screening is not warranted at this time.
Related writing.
Why the Dutch Keep Pediatric Euthanasia Illegal
Pediatric euthanasia in The Netherlands has a unique legal status - it is illegal, openly practiced, and well-regulated. The most surprising part isn't the law that enabled this — it's what happened after.
The Lost Aura of the Doctor in the Age of AI
	Artificial intelligence can now make difficult diagnoses, detect drug interactions, read medical images, predict outcomes, counsel patients — and even write peer reviews. As these capabilities expand, doctors risk becoming supervisors
The Tiniest Patients: Rethinking How We Decide
	When a baby is born at 22 or 23 weeks of pregnancy — half the normal gestational period — doctors and parents face one of the most agonizing decisions in all of medicine. Should they fight to keep the baby alive, knowing survival is u
Emilia Perez: New Life or New Gender?
The award-winning film Emilia Perez addresses a central question in gender medicine. When a patient wants to transition, is it because they want to change their gender or because they want to change their life? If the later, a gender trans
About the author
John D. Lantos is a pediatrician and bioethicist writing on AI in medicine, neonatal intensive care, and end-of-life decisions. His essays appear in JAMA, JAMA Pediatrics, the Hastings Center Report, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Aeon. Read more about John.