Bioethics Centre

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The Bioethics Centre at the University of Otago was established in 1988 in response to growing awareness of new ethical issues relating to law, medicine and technology; issues which touch the lives of everyone. It is rated as an Area of Research Strength in the University of Otago, with an international reputation.

For further information go to the Bioethics Centre.

Recent Deposits

How to Think About Enhancement: A Welfarist Approach

Zohny, Hazem (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

This thesis sets out to answer two questions: What are the implications of the welfarist account of enhancement, and on what basis should enhancements be developed and distributed? The welfarist account defines enhancement ...
When the numbers do not add up: Health research and health disparities in Aotearoa New Zealand

Tumilty, Emma (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

Decisions about health policy and services are, in part, informed by research. In this thesis, I argue health research and the systems which generate and then use it, fail to consider marginalised populations. As a ...
Deciding for Others: Incompetence, Best Interests and End-of-Life Cases

McAuley, Kathryn (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2016)

The ideal way through life for each of us is a journey, where we can control our own lives and make our own decisions. For some this is not possible, and for these people decisions need to be made on their behalf. ...
Suffering and the Dimensionality of Medical Knowledge: A Critique of Evidence Based Medicine

McHugh, Hugh Marshall (Thesis, Bachelor of Medical Science with Honours, 2016)

Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) is a recent philosophy that is highly influential in medicine. EBM is centred on the notion that medical practice should be supported by rigorous clinical research. This thesis explores a ...
Mapping Perspectives on an Ethically Challenging Paediatric Case

Reyneke, Marizanne (Thesis, Bachelor of Medical Science with Honours, 2016)

Objectives This project aims to identify and examine in detail some of the ethically challenging aspects of the care of infants who have serious medical conditions, by looking at a multidisciplinary team (MDT) and whãnau ...
Enhancement, disability and the riddle of the relevant circumstances

Zohny, Hazem (Journal Article, Journal of Medical Ethics, 2016)

The welfarist account of enhancement and disability holds enhanced and disabled states on a spectrum: the former are biological or psychological states that increase the chances of a person leading a good life in the ...
Ethics as Harmony and Improvisation in Responsive Equilibrium: the Core Psychophysical Process as a bio-logical foundation for ethical engagement

Noel-Bentley, Suzanne (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2016)

In this thesis I address the ethics of corporeal being at a foundational level. Rather than starting the discussion of ethics at an abstract level founded in propositions and logical arguments about principles, I offer an ...
The Minimally Conscious State: A Snapshot : An introduction to the state, and its current management in clinical practice

Corbett, Jared Michael (Thesis, Bachelor of Medical Science with Honours, 2016)

The Minimally Conscious State is a relatively new state, defined in order to separate patients who show signs of conscious awareness from those who are otherwise vegetative. Extensive research in this area has allowed for ...
Women's subjective experience of the ultrasound examination during pregnancy

Oakley, Margaret Elizabeth (Thesis, Master of Health Sciences, 1997)

Virtually all pregnant women in New Zealand undergo an ultrasound examination during pregnancy. Previous studies have been conducted to find out how women feel about the ultrasound examination, however, these studies were ...
Phenomenology of Depression: the lived-body and the silence of salience

Seniuk, Patrick (Thesis, Master of Health Sciences, 2015)

The aim of my research is not to determine the necessary and sufficient conditions that indicate presence of depression. Rather the aim is to examine how the DSM-5 criteria constrain our understanding of depression, whether ...
To Treat or Not to Treat: legal and ethical issues in the compulsory treatment of anorexia

McKinney, Cushla (Dissertation, Master of Bioethics and Health Law (MBHL), 2011)

Treatment resistance is a characteristic feature of anorexia nervosa, and is usually regarded as a symptom of the illness. In the case of some chronic anorexics, however, rejection of therapeutic intervention may be the ...
How does the concept of cultural competence affect the practice of bioethics and health law

Gray, Ben (Dissertation, Master of Bioethics and Health Law, 2014)

Cultural Competence is one of the competencies required of all Health Practitioners in New Zealand since the enacting of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act in 2003. This dissertation examines what relationship ...
A Journey to the Good Life: A philosophical inquiry into the bioethical concept of human enhancement

Broom, Stacey Lauren (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2014)

If we wish to live a good life, then we ought to be good people. In order to be a good person one must respect and revere the will to live and promote life for ourselves and others in ways motivated by charity and ...
Disclosure or discourse? A critical examination of consent in research using surplus clinical tissue

Collie, Nicola Dale (Thesis, Master of Health Sciences, 2014)

Patient tissue samples are a valuable resource for medical research, and can therefore be used to contribute to the well-being of people in the future. It is common when using tissue for research to seek the consent of the ...
Patient autonomy in end of life decisions

Chamberlain , Joshua (Thesis, Bachelor of Medical Science with Honours, 2014)

End of life scenarios must be patient driven and focused. In this thesis it is argued that patient intention is often misrepresented by being assimilated to extreme and clear-cut cases where patients are committed to a ...
Just prenatal testing? The science, ethics, and policy of testing for Down syndrome

Cole, Robert (Thesis, Bachelor of Medical Science with Honours, 2013)

Prenatal testing for Down syndrome (DS) has been available for over forty years. With the development of screening technologies, testing is now offered to all pregnant women. But is the increasing use of these tests really ...
Preventing harm in resuscitation medicine

Ardagh, Michael (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2001)

Assumptions regarding urgency and impaired patient competence during resuscitation have left resuscitation medicine relatively free of the influence of medical ethics. As a consequence resuscitators are without clear ...
Caring for autonomous Being: identity addiction and dementia

Bowyer, Lynne (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2013)

In this thesis I call into question the metaphysical assumptions that inform western thought and which dominate our understanding of the world and ourselves within it. I argue that the abstract theoretical orientation of ...
Nature and Nurture: Are We Missing a Third Option?

Johnston, Ebony Nicole (Thesis, Master of Health Sciences, 2013)

In light of my own situation, I have been drawn to question whether all experiences can be explained in terms solely of nature and nurture. This has led me to seriously question the notion of genetic determinism. While the ...
Allocation and Ageism in Aotearoa: An exploration of the ethical justification for age-based healthcare rationing

Lambie, Deborah (Thesis, Bachelor of Medical Science with Honours, 2013)

New Zealand’s population, like many first world countries, is ‘ageing’. This will place our healthcare system under increasing and changing pressures, as there will be a greater proportion of older people in our population ...