Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Category: Ethics

  • Enfreakment in the medicalization of difference

    Camille KrollChicago, Illinois, USA Exalted showman P.T. Barnum was thrilled when he discovered Joice Heth, a severely disabled elderly slave woman. In grotesque detail, he assessed the value of his first sideshow acquisition with relish: I was favorably struck with the appearance of the old woman . . . She might almost as well have…

  • Our divisive political climate and our ability to treat patients without bias

    Shane SobrioWashington, DC, United States Politics are divisive. That should not be a shock to anyone. However, the political climate in the USA at the moment is more than just divisive. Lately, there seems to be an underlying disdain for those we disagree with, in a way that even my grandparents say they have never…

  • Drug war or race war? Effects of illegal drug distribution in the African-American community

    Denise PowellSan Francisco, California, United States I also don’t believe in drugs. For years I paid my people extra so they wouldn’t do that kind of business. Somebody comes to them and says, “I have powders. If you up three, four-thousand-dollar investment, we can make fifty thousand distributing.” So they can’t resist. I want to…

  • Pushing back into chaos

    Kyra McComasSalt Lake City, Utah, United States Pain is perhaps the most useful yet most feared human experience. It has been crucial to our evolutionary development, but the modern era has sought to expunge it. The New York Times has reported that scientists may be able to use the genes from a woman who feels…

  • The beauty of gender diversity

    Lisa ShugollAsheville, North Carolina, USA The arts have always provided a rich source of material for the type of introspection and contemplation that can deepen our ability to respond empathetically to those whose concerns and life experiences are vastly different from our own. This capacity for empathy is especially important for clinicians hoping to provide…

  • The language game of medicine

    Gunjan SharmaDevon, United Kingdom “The arrow points only in the application that a living being makes of it.”– Ludwig Wittgenstein1 The language game Language is a fascinating concept when viewed through a philosophical lens. Imagine if we no longer had a word for jealousy. Would that mean such a thing could no longer exist? Jealousy…

  • Gender identity in the twenty-first century

    Piper HaitsukaKailua-Kona, Hawaii, USA Identity characterizes who a person is. Physical, mental, or chemical identity can have an array of diverse meanings. Gender and sex are two very different concepts that influence identity, but are often confused as being interchangeable words.1 Sex is a biological classification, whereas gender is a social science concept with a…

  • Seeing things differently: A reflection on clinical photography

    Michaela ClarkCape Town, South Africa Looking into the face of a patient is a necessary part of the clinical experience. Yet despite the physical proximity achieved in the doctor’s office, on the operating table, or in the petri dish, it is only when patients are perceived as legible objects that their bodies can be impartially…

  • The other pain crisis

    Adil MenonCleveland, Ohio, USA A guiding principle of medical care is that humans regardless of their superficial differences are fundamentally the same in their physiology. One of the oldest and most persistent refutations of this premise is the centuries old myth of a uniquely “African body,” characterized by diminished pain response and elevated stoicism, a…

  • Corruption and organ trafficking in Egyptian medicine

    Hossam Reda GhalabTanta, Egypt Healthcare for the indigent in developing countries often leaves much to be desired. Organ trafficking is rampant, its prevalence rising alarmingly and for some constituting a thriving business. In Egypt, each year hundreds of poor Egyptians sell their kidneys and livers in order to feed their families or pay off debts.…