Paul C. McLean
Cognoscenti contributor
Paul C. McLean is the author of "Blood Lines: Fatherhood, Faith and Love in the Time of Stem Cells." He's an ethics associate at Boston Children’s Hospital and writing support faculty at Harvard Medical School’s Center for Bioethics.
Recently published
Dental Sedation Kills 4-Year-Old Who Might Have Been Saved By A Toothbrush
“Children should never, ever die during sedation for a dental procedure," an author in the journal Pediatrics writes. And yet, this isn’t an isolated case.
Medical Ethics: In The Charlie Gard Case, Listen To The Nurses
In the tragic case of Charlie Gard, the British baby with brain damage whose fate pitted doctors against parents, a medical ethicist would give special consideration to his nurses.
In Pausing Human Research On Zika, Medical Ethicists Acknowledge A Dark Past
Ethics review of human subject research matters, writes Paul C. McLean. In pushing pause on a Zika study, the NIH ethics panel indicated awareness of a history too often either...
Ethicist Dad: Passage Of 21st Century Cures Act Fills Me With Both Hope And Dread
An ethicist and father whose daughter could have been killed by contaminated heparin worries that, while the 21st Century Cures Act could indeed lead to new cures, it could also...
The Loneliest Patients: When They Can't Make Decisions, Who Will?
They're the 'unbefriended,' patients lacking the mental capacity to make medical decisions and relatives to do it for them. As this population grows, so does the urgency of how to...
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Medical Ethics: Incontinence A Fate Worse Than Death? Really?
Many survey respondents consider incontinence a fate worse than death -- but there's a big difference between an imagined disability and a real one.
Contending With The Specter Of Death, 140 Characters At A Time
So often Kate Granger’s tale of dying has become one of living, which may be her greatest gift.
If The Brain Is Dead, Are You?
In medical ethics, a matter of language separates life from death. So why do some families release their loves ones, while others cling to hope?
Healing Garden, Heartbreaking Dilemma: Seeing The Prouty Debate From Both Sides
The Prouty Garden at Boston Children’s Hospital is slated for demolition, with a new clinical building set to go in its place. The issue has deeply divided patients and caregivers....
This Dog's Life: Celebrating The Research Beagle That Helped Save My Daughter
Until age 3, her name was a four-digit number, tattooed in her ear. We named her Hutch, for the place in Seattle where the cure and so much of the...