LYNETTE REID, “PRECISION IN MEDICAL IMAGING: WHAT ARE THE ETHICAL AND EPISTEMIC TRADE-OFFS?”

Lynette Reid (Assoc. Prof. Bioethics, Dalhousie University) presents:

“PRECISION IN MEDICAL IMAGING: WHAT ARE THE ETHICAL AND EPISTEMIC TRADE-OFFS?”

Lunch workshop, Monday, Nov. 6, 2017, SAC Salon E, 12:30-1:45.

Free and open to the public – but please RSVP Here by Thurs, November 2nd so we can order food!

Abstract: “An imaging test is a way to let doctors see what’s going on inside your body,” says the American Cancer Society in its information for patients. It is natural to assume that a more accurate imaging test is always desirable when “looking inside the body” to screen for or to diagnose disease. But what does “accuracy” mean in imaging tests and in clinical practice? What are the limits we reach and tradeoffs involved in improving accuracy? Current debates about overdiagnosis in cancer screening show the need to scrutinize critically our deeply held assumptions about objectivity in medical imaging. I propose for debate that there may be conditions under which an imprecise medical image is a better medical image. What ethical and epistemic challenges would be raised by a deliberate choice for imprecise medical imaging? 

.Prof. Reid appears as part of our series on “Biosurveillance,” cosponsored by NC Biotech. Other speakers in the series include:

Benjamin Hippen, Oct. 6, 2017

Mark A. Rothstein, Feb. 22, 2018