Hastings Center Report September-October 2026

The Hastings Center Report examines the moral dimensions of family presence in patient suffering, including the value of witnessing a conscious patient's pain. The report also addresses the ethics of AI and psychiatry, including clinician reactions to absent families and the role-specific obligations of surrogate decision-makers.

A statistically significant spike in shark bites occurs every October in Hawaiian waters, primarily driven by tiger sharks. The research found a strong link between the October spike and the tiger shark's reproductive cycle, specifically parturition, which occurs during September-October.

The Hastings Center has received $1.5 million in funding from PCORI to develop a measure of organizational trustworthiness and investigate its role in shaping research engagement processes and outcomes. The study aims to strengthen patient-centered and stakeholder-driven comparative clinical effectiveness research.

Vardit Ravitsky, President of The Hastings Center, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine for her contributions to bioethics and public health. The academy recognized her work on reproductive health, gene editing, and the use of AI in healthcare.

Employment among Americans with disabilities has reached a record high of 40.3% in September, according to the National Trends in Disability Employment Jobs Report. This milestone increase comes despite slower U.S. job growth, and reflects a significant improvement in labor force participation rates for people with disabilities.

The article discusses the ethics of describing gene-editing therapy for sickle cell disease. Despite FDA approval, it argues that framing these treatments as a 'cure' is misleading and may cause unrealistic expectations. The essay also highlights the need for structural drug policy reform to expand freedom.