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Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

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A person in a suit smiling against a light gray background.

From the Eyeball Test to the Algorithm — Quality of Life, Disability Status, and Clinical Decision Making in Surgery

Charles Binkley, bioethics fellow at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics published in New England Journal of Medicine.

In an article published by the New England Journal of Medicine, Charles Binkley writes about the role of a surgeon's own discretion when performing surgeries and the roles that ableism, disability, and quality of life play in that process. Binkley discusses the role that the "eyeball test" has played in the decision-making process and the ethical issues that arise when gauging the quality of life for a patient. 

"There is a big difference between looking at a tumor and judging, 'I can’t get that out' and looking at a patient living with a disability and judging, 'It won’t be worth it to you.'"

Charles Binkley, bioethics fellow at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics published in New England Journal of Medicine

Ethics
media, bioethics