Health Care Ethics Consortium of Georgia ...ethics in action

Salt is looming as the biggest bugaboo in the intensifying campaign to get Americans to adopt healthier eating habits. So here's something to think about: some people just can't help going after salt-drenched foods.

The idea of a "living will" may sound like you have control over what happens to you if you temporarily or permanently can't make medical decisions for yourself, but in practice it's not so clear cut.

The advisory report for the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans calls on people to cut the calories they consume from added sugars and solid fats (butter, marbled meats) and start eating a more nutrient-rich, plant-based diet.

When dozens of overdose victims who got painkillers from the same Kansas clinic started showing up at emergency rooms and the county morgue, federal prosecutors accused a doctor and his wife of indiscriminately writing prescriptions for powerful drugs at a so-called pill mill.

When is a genetic test actually a medical device that requires Food and Drug Administration approval?

Scientists are studying what happens to the cells as each of the roughly 22,000 human genes is turned off. They hope to find the genes involved in different diseases, the starting point for creating a drug.

Paying people to take their medications to avoid the much larger costs of hospitalization: Do monetary incentives work? Do such payments raise ethical questions or alter the doctor-patient relationship?

The primary goal of the $3 billion Human Genome Project — to ferret out the genetic roots of common diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s and then generate treatments — remains largely elusive even after ten years.

ON a Tuesday evening this spring, Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google, became part man and part machine. About 40 people, all gathered here at a NASA campus for a nine-day, $15,000 course at Singularity University, saw it happen.

Some medical ethicists voice concern about behind-the-scenes documentaries like “Boston Med.’’ They argue that cameras are inherently disruptive to hospital routine and worry about patient privacy and the possible impact on quality of care.

Should genetic tests be F.D.A. approved? If so, how much access should the public have to their genetic information?

Parents undergoing assisted fertility procedures should be counseled about increased risks for birth defects.

The public is interested in synthetic life only if regulations are set.

There haven't been many times when I have been at a loss for words when conducting an interview as a medical reporter. This was one of those moments.

Freshmen can submit swabs for DNA testing, or not. Some bioethicists are critical, but we doubt students will object.

It has long been one of the most vexing causes of America’s skyrocketing health costs: people not taking their medicine.

When a doctor recommends a test or a procedure, most patients simply go where the doctor tells them to go. Even if a patient does want to comparison-shop, there is no easy way to obtain complete and useful information.

The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on 23andMe and other companies that sell genetic tests directly to consumers.

FDA says genetic tests are medical devices and must be regulated.

We're all used to doctors asking us lifestyle-related health questions about drinking, smoking, using drugs or wearing seat belts. But should physicians also inquire about distracted driving?