http://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/http://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/racialized-harm-in-crisis-response-policing-mental-health-and-racial-justice/?Police are routinely dispatched to mental health crises, yet these encounters disproportionately result in harm for individuals of color, a pattern long highlighted by racial justice movements like Black Lives Matter. This predictable pattern exposes a deeper ethical tension: can a system grounded in enforcement defend a model that endangers those it is meant to protect?Thu, 02 Apr 2026 09:00:00 PDThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/beyond-explainability-the-ethical-imperative-for-validated-and-interpretable-clinical-ai/?Explainability techniques seek to remedy the “black box” problem of AI. This piece argues that they are ethically insufficient in a health care context, and that interpretable and rigorously validated models should be used instead.Mon, 30 Mar 2026 09:00:00 PDThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/medicare-price-setting-and-the-collapse-of-american-primary-care/?The United States health care system has undervalued primary care for the last thirty years, which has directly disincentivized physicians from entering primary care and has led to severe access inequalities.Thu, 19 Mar 2026 09:00:00 PDThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/the-ethics-of-endometriosis-care-when-invisibility-becomes-injustice/?Endometriosis affects 1 in ten women, yet the average diagnosis takes 7–12 years. This diagnostic delay is not a medical mystery–it is a credibility crisis rooted in systemic gender bias in medicine. Accountability is a scientific obligation and an overdue legislative call to action.Thu, 12 Mar 2026 09:00:00 PDThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/care-under-surveillance-ice-hospitals-and-the-ethics-of-nonmaleficence/?Immigration enforcement in and around hospitals threatens trust, decreases quality, disrupts health care delivery, and places clinicians in morally impossible positions. This piece argues for concrete, legal hospital policies that protect patient safety, privacy, rights, and staff integrity.Thu, 05 Mar 2026 09:00:00 PSThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/bias-in-the-box-the-ethics-of-pulse-oximetry-and-skin-tone/?Pulse oximeters are essential tools for triage and treatment, yet they are significantly more likely to miss dangerously low oxygen levels in patients with darker skin. This discrepancy raises a fundamental ethical challenge: can a health care system justify a foreseeable and preventable distribution of harm in the name of population-level efficiency?Thu, 26 Feb 2026 10:48:00 PSThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/ethics-of-the-anti-rabies-pep/?Tianyu Tan, biology major, highlights facts about the Rabies virus and exploring ethical issues regarding diagnosis, access, and the high cost of obtaining necessary rabies treatments.Fri, 22 Aug 2025 10:48:00 PDThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/integrating-spiritual-health-into-holistic-patient-care/?The role that spirituality and religion may play in the Hispanic mortality paradox requires rethinking how spirituality and health care coexist.Fri, 16 May 2025 08:00:00 PDThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/misconduct-in-your-backyard-an-ethical-review-of-clinical-trials/?Even though clinical trials are essential to advancing scientific knowledge, they need to be conducted ethically. Unfortunately, this is not always the case as seen with ethical misconduct found in a clinical trial with Kaiser of Northern California.Wed, 14 May 2025 08:00:00 PDThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/access-is-power-barriers-and-facilitators-to-contraceptive-care-for-hispanic-adolescents/?The disparities in contraceptive use among Hispanic adolescents significantly impact unintended pregnancy rates.Mon, 12 May 2025 08:00:00 PDThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/how-americas-long-winded-history-of-individualism-promotes-health-inequity/?America values health care as a privilege rather than a human right, which should be contributed to our country’s deeply entrenched societal philosophy of individualism.Fri, 09 May 2025 10:48:00 PDThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/the-future-of-skin-vascular-and-nerve-transplants-for-financial-compensation/?Establishing an ethics-based system for compensating donors can help to increase the supply of tissues and help alleviate pain in injured individuals.Thu, 08 May 2025 10:48:00 PDThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/menopause-is-deprioritized-leaving-the-root-cause-of-womens-health-concerns-overlooked/?Inadequate knowledge about menopause is prevalent among both medical professionals and the general public, leading to lower levels of care among women.Mon, 05 May 2025 10:48:00 PDThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/opening-the-black-box-how-artificial-intelligence-increases-race-based-disparities-in-medicine/?Clinical support algorithms may prove to work well; however, many academics worry that they can lead to poor health outcomes for certain minorities, especially for the Black population in the United States. Thu, 01 May 2025 09:00:00 PDThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/the-destruction-of-safe-spaces/?The recent change toward protections that once prevented U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers from entering protected areas like hospitals, has devastating consequences, as seen in the case of Ulises Peña López.Tue, 22 Apr 2025 10:48:00 PDThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/inequities-in-organ-transplant-allocation/?UNOS scoring systems have disproportionately disadvantaged racial minorities and women in receiving organ transplants in the United States.Wed, 16 Apr 2025 10:48:00 PDThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/race-is-not-biology-the-dangerous-legacy-of-race-based-medicine/?Regardless of evidence demonstrating race as not genetic, the concept of racialized medicine continues to block African Americans from receiving equitable care.Fri, 11 Apr 2025 10:48:00 PDThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/racism-in-kidney-care-exposing-disparities-and-seeking-solutions/?From biased diagnostic tools to unequal access to treatment options, health care inequality is an issue in the United States. The system has failed Black Americans at every step of kidney disease.Mon, 17 Mar 2025 16:15:00 PDThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/the-evolving-ethics-of-pediatric-care-balancing-consent-autonomy-and-protection/?There has been a reassessment of how pediatric patients can and should be more involved in decisions concerning their own care.Wed, 12 Mar 2025 09:10:00 PDThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/fair-play-or-an-unfair-edge-navigating-the-ethics-of-sports-enhancement/?The pursuit of greatness within athletic competition often collides with the essence of fair play as some athletes strive for victory at all cost regardless of the consequences. Thu, 06 Mar 2025 16:00:00 PSThttp://www.scu.edu/ethics/healthcare-ethics-blog/menstrual-equity-ethical-responsibilities-in-access-and-workplace-accommodations/?Access to menstrual supplies and the ability to manage one's health with dignity and autonomy should be recognized as a basic right, not a privilege.Wed, 19 Feb 2025 07:48:00 PST