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Peer-reviewed article

Does Pediatrics Need Its Own Bioethics?

Pediatric bioethics raises unique issues because children are constantly growing, developing, and changing. The ethical issues that arise for newborns are different from those that arise for seven-year-olds or 17-year-olds. Furthermore,…

By John D. LantosJanuary 1, 20101 min readin Perspectives in biology and medicine

Pediatric bioethics raises unique issues because children are constantly growing, developing, and changing. The ethical issues that arise for newborns are different from those that arise for seven-year-olds or 17-year-olds. Furthermore, children do not develop cognitive capacities or moral reasoning skills at the same rate. Thus, it is difficult to generalize about what is appropriate or inappropriate for children in either the clinical or the research setting. This article responds to some of the issues raised by a new volume of essays about pediatric bioethics. It puts these issues into historical context by examining the implications of Saul Krugman's famous studies on the etiology and prevention of hepatitis at New York's Willowbrook State School.

Originally published at Perspectives in biology and medicine · January 1, 2010.

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.

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