Medical Ethics Unplugged

Greetings fellow Ethics Advocates,In this episode, we would like to discuss with you the recent court ruling on passive Euthanasia in India. It is a landmark decision and we believe that it is the right time to discuss the ethics of euthanasia in medicine. As doctors, one of the most important things to do is to save life. As a doctor, all of us have those moments of grief and pain, when performing a CPR or resuscitation of a patient, sometimes trying very hard when you already know the outcome. Ironically, euthanasia is one such decision, where we are happy to let go of life. But, why? Are we correct? Join us in this episode and share your views regarding the same. Thank you! The Medical Ethics Collective team is back with the second issue of the Medical Dossier magazine.This issue explores mental health among healthcare professionals—its true nature, the complexities surrounding it, and the often-unspoken realities within the profession. We then move on to the intricacies of the subject before arriving at our Readers’ Forum, featuring promising articles from readers of our very first issue.Our team is truly overwhelmed by the response you showed for the inaugural issue, and it motivates us to continue bringing you thoughtful and meaningful content.Your encouragement pushed us to be more creative and more focused while curating this month’s edition.Do take your time to read through the articles and share your valuable feedback with us.Kindly sign up for future editions and we would love to give your voices the recognition it needs through our magazine, so do write to us your opinions. 🔗 https://forms.gle/vjcxmVHPyTBL5wjcAGo Ethics!

In this episode, we explore the long and rich heritage of traditional medicine and how, despite centuries of practice and cultural significance, it has often been pushed to the margins in the era of modern medicine.We discuss how traditional healing systems evolved, why they came to be labeled as “alternative,” and the challenges they face today while coexisting with modern medical practices. The conversation also highlights important gaps in traditional medicine—areas where growth, regulation, and scientific integration are necessary for it to reach its true potential.Most importantly, this episode dives into the ethical dimensions of traditional medicine: What does ethical practice look like? How can patient safety, cultural respect, and scientific responsibility be balanced?Join us as we unpack these questions with our guest, Dr. Ibrahim Msangi, Ethics Secretariat, and reflect on how traditional medicine can move forward responsibly in today’s healthcare landscape.The Medical Ethics Collective team is back with the second issue of the Medical Dossier magazine.This issue explores mental health among healthcare professionals—its true nature, the complexities surrounding it, and the often-unspoken realities within the profession. We then move on to the intricacies of the subject before arriving at our Readers’ Forum, featuring promising articles from readers of our very first issue.Our team is truly overwhelmed by the response you showed for the inaugural issue, and it motivates us to continue bringing you thoughtful and meaningful content.Your encouragement pushed us to be more creative and more focused while curating this month’s edition.Do take your time to read through the articles and share your valuable feedback with us.Kindly sign up for future editions and we would love to give your voices the recognition it needs through our magazine, so do write to us your opinions. 🔗 https://forms.gle/vjcxmVHPyTBL5wjcAGo Ethics!

Thanks again for your interest!As a part of our mission to promote the understanding of medical ethics in India, this week we are publishing the first edition of our monthly magazine. I am sharing the copy of The Medical Ethics Dossier here today. Kindly take time to read the articles and we would be happy to receive articles and commentary from you in the future. Kindly consider signing up for the future editions:- https://forms.gle/vjcxmVHPyTBL5wjcAIn this episode, we would like to discuss the current issues related to medical influencers and medical professionals on Social Media.

In this episode of our podcast, we interview Mr. Sreekar, the founder of the Honest Hospital project. This was a very intellectually engaging conversation where we discuss over a wide variety of topics from staying ethical in healthcare, social medicine, healthcare policy in countries like Singapore, Switzerland and how can a doctor be more ethical in the future. The Honest Hospital Project is a successful movement on Instagram with around 20,000 followers in a very short span of time. We are extremely excited to present this episode to our listeners and please do hit that follow button, so that you are notified whenever an episode is published. The link to the Instagram Handle of the Honest Hospital project is here :

In this episode, we attempt to discuss the effects of artificial intelligence in healthcare and especially in mental health. Psychiatry happens to be one of the most unique specialties of medicine which requires immense empathy, cultural context and understanding of pain, trauma and emotion. Can a Chatbot do the same and offer the required empathy and compassion to a mentally ill person? Join us in this episode of our podcast to discuss the importance of Artificial Intelligence and it’s impact on mental health. Let’s build a world where ethics isn’t just a chapter in our textbooks. As a part of this podcast, the host Dr. Hareesh Anandan has started a substack handle to share weekly newsletters on Medical Ethics. The name of the publication is The Medical Ethics Newsletter. The link to the publication is given below https://substack.com/@drhareeshanandan?r=75ev9h&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=profile&shareImageVariant=blurSign up for weekly emails and let‘s discuss more interesting topics.

In this episode, we attempt to explore a disease which is a taboo even in today’s world — AIDS. This stigmatisations and the social constructs built around HIV are very much related to our knowledge and understanding of how the disease is being transmitted to the people and hence, more often healthcare professionals tend to judge them morally which eventually leads to the ill treatment of people living with HIV. As a result, the patients could lose trust in the healthcare system and the provider which ultimately would delay the patient care and the patient sometimes chooses not to turn to the hospital. Another very important thing that medical professionals do is discussing the history of the patient, obviously without revealing the identity, but still such acts can be a great betrayal of patient confidentiality. So, in conclusion, in this episode, join us to understand how the quality of care for the patients with HIV can be improved and if you are a patient living with HIV, please write to us at [email protected] your queries, grievances against healthcare workers and the society. We could offer you the support and assistance of how to navigate the problem and at the same time you could help us create more awareness among the public about the issues faced by you.

In this episode, we attempt to discuss the importance of sexual violence in healthcare especially from a legal standpoint and from a student perspective in medical colleges. We are excited to introduce our guests Advocate Abhirami who shares extremely valuable insights from a legal perspective for doctors who are struggling to navigate the system without adequate support. Dr. Srijani is an enthusiastic and committed towards speaking against sexual violence and is currently working on a research project on a study with a short survey on *Sexual Violence among Medical Students in India* Already 1700 responses have been recorded, we kindly request you to take a moment to fill the forms so that they can record responses from South India as well.Initiated after the RG Kar incident, it aims to *prevent further harm in medical spaces*- Your response can help stop another victim.All responses are completely anonymoushttps://forms.gle/dAzuPbN6ksqKY4sv8Please take a moment to fill the form and stand against abuse-- Hareesh Anandan and Vithya ManoharanHostsMEU Podcast Team.For queries:Contact us via Email: [email protected]

This episode is a short walk through the Tuskegee study, where in the US, African American men suffering from Syphilis in the US were denied treatment to study the natural course of the disease.

In this episode, we discuss the importance of healthcare economics as this area is rarely discussed in medical school and in India we are always not interested in understanding the difficulties of healthcare budgeting. This episode is a preliminary episode to dive into understanding the resource limitations and the challenges faced by medical professionals in delivering healthcare ethically in the midst of resource constraints.

In this episode, we have made an attempt to discuss the work place sexual harassment and tried to discuss how the systems operate in the developed world, where objectively the work place safety and crime against women are statistically better performing. Join us to discuss the issue in detail.

In this episode, we attempt to discuss the IVF Scam in South India, where parents were promised children through surrogacy but handed some other child through child trafficking or unknown means. Why are we as humans so desperate for children? Who decides the reproductive rights of an individual?

Following the recent incidents, we have tried to discuss the violence against medical practitioners in India and the causes of these incidents.

In this episode, we attempt to discuss the importance of reproductive health of transgender and non-binary individuals, help us all understand the ethical implications of the health of the underrepresented individuals.

In this episode, we discuss the importance of understanding the increasing rate of LSCS in Obstetrics practice and how the social media influencers and media are creating an unnecessary hype or false information. Join us to discuss the issue in detail.

In this episode, we have made an attempt to discuss the recent issue in Madhya Pradesh, where a doctor is arrested, following 19 deaths of children who consumed cough syrup that contained diethylene glycol.

In this episode, we wish to discuss how to improve the condition of women’s health in India. In the past 3 episodes, we have exclusively discussed about women’s health and ethics concerning the same. We offer our insights into the same in this episode!

In this episode, we have made an attempt to discuss the gender dynamics and how modern medicine in India is shaped and influenced by the outdated sexism. Join us for in depth discussions. Write to us at [email protected] to share your views which could be discussed in the further episodes!

In this episode, we have attempted to discuss the various aspects of how J.Sims and his inhumane experiments on the African American women has to this day shaped the women’s health care and what are the implications of the same in India.

Most of the times medical students feel that working conditions and training conditions associated with the department of OBGYN are very harsh and sometimes even the patients themselves feel the same. Why should women’s healthcare be so difficult and frightening to be obtained? In this episode, Dr. Hareesh A and Dr. Vithya M, explore the various causes and challenges associated with women’s health care in India and beyond. Join with us to explore more about the same.

In this episode, I attempt to discuss the importance of ethical principles of medical ethics and how ethical committee acts as a gate keeper in the medical research. Join me to understand the most important principles of research as medical research is the backbone of healthcare in evidence based medicine.

Join me in the conclusion of the three part series on the dark medical experiments done by the Japanese government in Chinese war criminals. Understanding the post war developments helps us to appreciate the importance of medical ethics in research, which forms a foundation of modern medicine.

This episode is a continuation of the Episode 12, where we discuss the detailed history of dark medical unethical experiments done by the Japanese government on the Chinese people. Bringing to you the horrible memories of vivisection, a procedure in which the dissection was performed on a live human being! Join me in this episode to explore history while we can’t allow history like these repeat itself.

In this episode, I try to discuss the horrific events that happened during world war 2 in Japan. These were some of the worst human experimentations known to mankind. I was immensely shook by the events and hence I decided this topic must be discussed as these historical events serve us the purpose of formulating the ethical principles for today’s research in the field of medicine.

After the assault on the ENT residents in Jammu, I wanted to discuss the difficulties of the ER doctors in India and elsewhere. The code of conduct for emergency physicians has been used to help me in discussing the ethical principles in the ER.

In this episode, I try to explore the reasons why an Indian medical residents commit suicide at an alarming rate. And more importantly what are we doing about it. Tune in to understand the philosophy of suicide and things we as medical fraternity must do to protect the well being of ourselves.

In this episode, I try to discuss the medical ethical breaches of Aarushi Hemraj double murder case. Content warning: The episode consists of disturbing stories of homicide, theories of sexual abuse and postmortem findings. Viewers discretion advised.

In this episode, I discuss the scam by the NMC, in Indian Medical Education. Rs.1000 Crores in bribery as exposed by CBI. Tune in to understand the systemic failures of medical education in India and understand bribery from a sociological standpoint.

Let’s explore the ethical,legal and moral nuances of the case where the Supreme Court passed an order against punishing the convict of POCSO Act.

Doctor‘s office or the OPD is typically where a first encounter between a patient and a doctor happens. This episode has been produced from the inspiration from Good Clinical Practice Guidelines, NHS and Berufsordnung für die in Deutschland Tätigen Ärztinnen und Ärzte(Code of Conduct for doctors in Germany) . Please understand the motto is not to police or prescribe but explore evolving standards.

Ironically, there is no evidence that Hippocrates Oath was written by Hippocrates. In this episode, I discuss how the informed consent was born and why it is just not a document that requires a signature and what Hippocrates oath teaches us about medical ethics!

In this episode, I discuss 2 things, that I never thought, I would be discussing in 2025. Yes, the horror of female foeticide and making maternal leave constitutional in 2025.

In this episode, I discuss about an important issue - Gender inequality and misogyny in medical research. It is distressing to discuss the issue in 2025 but the issue still persists. And about ChatGPT induced psychosis? That’s a whole another story.

This is the second part of the Contemporary Premiere, where we discuss hot medical news of the previous month in detail. In this episode, I try to talk about the quality and cost analyses of Private and Public Healthcare in India.

This is a 4 part limited-Series within our podcast, a special edition- (Contemporary Premiere: News Edition). In this episode, I go through the important medical headlines of May 2025. Ethical breaches and crisis. We discuss hair transplantation and bribery in detail. In the coming episodes, the other stories shall be discussed in detail.

In this mini episode, I try to explain the last two core ethical principles. One being confidentiality and the other veracity. At the end of this episode, one can understand all the six principles of medical ethics if you have listened to all the three episodes.

In this episode, I try to explain two main concepts— Beneficence and Justice. Acting in the best interest of the patient and treating them with justice forms two core principles of medical ethics. We explore with examples like unnecessary C Sections and how far have spoken against systemic injustice in medicine.

In this episode, I try to introduce you to the world of medical ethics and explain two of its core principles—Autonomy and Non Maleficence with case scenarios and ethical dilemmas. The patient’s relative might ask you to withhold a cancer diagnosis or you may be forced to prescribe antibiotics for even viral fever. Let’s discuss and dissect.

In this episode, I talk about my long term vision of starting this series and let you know why medical ethics in Indian perspective is so important. It is an episode to just set the tone for this podcast. I welcome you all!