ABSTRACT
Bioethics1 is front-page news in the United Kingdom. What is more, it is front-page news virtually every day. Whilst the terms “ethics” and “bioethics” rarely appear in such reports, the high profile of these stories reflects deep public concern about the values underpinning current medical practice and about the ethical and social implications of developments in biotechnology. A scan of the newspapers reveals a very broad range of topics. There is discussion of examples of incompetence within the medical profession and of the most appropriate way to regulate the health care professions. There are stories following up the Alder Hey scandal, in which the organs of children were removed and stored inappropriately without parental consent. There is discussion too about what would constitute an ethical approach to resource allocation and about the need for public involvement in such decisions. There is concern about the impact of poverty on health. These issues are all present alongside the usual headline stories about the ethical implications of developments in reproductive technology and the ethics of reproductive choice; about the ethical implications of genetic testing and of the potential for genetic therapy; about the risks associated with the genetic modification of foods and crops and about the recent parliamentary approval of embryonic stem cell research.
