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robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman
@robertklitzman.bsky.social
99 followers 60 following 28 posts
Prof. of Psychiatry & Director of the Bioethics MS Program at Columbia University | Author, most recently, of DOCTOR, WILL YOU PRAY FOR ME? & DESIGNING BABIES https://sps.columbia.edu/person/robert-klitzman-md
sps.columbia.edu
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robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · 11d
RFK, Jr. fires NIH scientists who were whistleblowers about public health threats, raising ethical concerns
nytimes.com/2025/10/02/h...
#bioethics #RFKJr #science #nih #ethics #vaccines
Kennedy Fires N.I.H. Scientist Who Filed Whistle-Blower Complaint
nytimes.com
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robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · 18d
What will happen to Obamacare? Huge threat from Congress raises major ethical concerns -- from @nytimes.com
#bioethics #trump #congress #republicans #GOP #taxcuts #healthcare

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/h...
Why Obamacare Bills May Double Next Year
www.nytimes.com
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robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · 23d
Review in the Hastings Center Report of my new book, Doctor, Will You Pray for Me?: Medicine, Chaplains, and Healing the Whole Person onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Link to book: amazon.com/Doctor-Will-...

#bioethics #chaplains #spirituality #religion #health #doctors
God 2.0?
Robert L. Klitzman's Doctor, Will You Pray for Me? Medicine, Chaplains, and Healing the Whole Person (Oxford University Press, 2024) offers a fervent apology for the increasingly crucial role of chap...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · 24d
Existential Threats and Other Disasters: Conference in Paris, June 11–12, 2026.
I’ll be speaking there! Abstract submission deadline is 3 weeks from now.

Details: csb.eu.com/conference/

#bioethics #healthcare #refugees #climatechange #AI #Paris
Existential Threats and Other Disasters –International Conference
"Existential Threats and Other Disasters: Novel (Bio)ethical Solutions for Novel Challenges" at Reid Hall in Paris, France (June 11–12, 2026)
csb.eu.com
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robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · 26d
The CRISPR Babies: My thoughts in the new Science History Podcast
www.sciencehistory.org/stories/dist...

#bioethics #genetics #healthcare #eugenics
CRISPR: Big Breakthrough, Big Questions
CRISPR is a powerful technology, but altering the genes of children gave us pause.
www.sciencehistory.org
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robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · Sep 5
RFK, Jr., Congressional testimony raises many ethical concerns -- from @nytimes.com
nytimes.com/2025/09/04/u...
#vaccines #antivaxxers #Trump #publichealth #bioethics #measles #polio #healthcare
A Defiant Kennedy Defends Vaccine Changes and C.D.C. Shake-Up
nytimes.com
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robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · Aug 26
What really causes autism and what we should about it: my essay from the @hastingscenter.bsky.social forum
What Really Causes Autism and What We Should Do About It : The Hastings Center for Bioethics
There are crucial questions about what causes autism and how to prevent and address it.
www.thehastingscenter.org
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robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · Aug 15
New AI abilities to 'read' ALS patient's words offers hope, but also raises important neuroethics questions--see @carlzimmer.com's piece in the @nytimes.com
nytimes.com/2025/08/14/s...
#bioethics #neuroethics #healthcare #neurology #brain #healthpolicy #law
For Some Patients, the ‘Inner Voice’ May Soon Be Audible
nytimes.com
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robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · Aug 5
Rising tide of fake scientific papers, which may increase due to funding cuts, raises major concerns -- see @carlzimmer.com's piece in @nytimes.com

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/s...
#bioethics #MedSky
Fraudulent Scientific Papers Are Rapidly Increasing, Study Finds
www.nytimes.com
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Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · Aug 2
Trump launches pilot plan to cover weight loss drugs, but what of the costs of Ozempic? My further thoughts in @newsweek.com from @jesusmesa.bsky.social
www.newsweek.com/medicare-upd...
#bioethics #MedSky #Medicare
Medicare update: Trump admin launching pilot program to cover Ozempic
Drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists were initially developed to treat Type 2 diabetes but have become a cultural phenomenon.
www.newsweek.com
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Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · Jul 21
New research suggests that polygenic risk scores predict childhood obesity; but ethical questions arise, given possible misunderstandings of relative risks & other factors.
From @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/h...
#obesity #BigFood #genetics #health #bioethics #ozempic #healthcare
Obesity Prediction Could Be Guided by Genetic Risk Scores
www.nytimes.com
robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · Jul 16
Problems with ChatGPT in toys: my thoughts in today’s NYT's letter to the editor
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/o...
#bioethics #ethics #AIethics #ChatGPT
Opinion | Where Have All the Novel-Reading Men Gone?
www.nytimes.com
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Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · Jun 30
ChatGPT Barbie poses concerns for children's mental health -- from @nytopinion.nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/o...
#bioethics #AI #AIethics #Congress #mentalhealth
Opinion | Don’t Let Silicon Valley Move Fast and Break Children’s Minds
www.nytimes.com
robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · Jun 28
Read more about last week's wonderful conversation with neuroethicist Dr. Joseph Fins here: sps.columbia.edu/news/coma-co...
#bioethics #neuroethics #neuroscience
From Coma to Consciousness: Examining the Ethics and Neuroscience of Brain Injury
Dr. Joseph Fins and Bioethics program director Dr. Robert Klitzman explore new ethical practices for patients in a coma or a minimally conscious state.
sps.columbia.edu
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robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · Jun 14
Trump attacking NEJM, Science & other journals, threatening independent science
www.bmj.com/content/389/...
#bioethics #science #NEJM
NEJM the latest journal to receive letter from Trump appointed attorney asking about bias
The New England Journal of Medicine ( NEJM ) has become the latest and most high profile journal to receive a letter from Edward Martin Jr, a Republican activist who was appointed US attorney for Wash...
www.bmj.com
Reposted by Dr. Robert Klitzman
jlme-journal.bsky.social
The Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics @jlme-journal.bsky.social · Jun 13
Author @robertklitzman.bsky.social analyzes how regulations can strike a balance between protecting surrogates from exploitation and allowing people who cannot have children to become parents in "Gestational Surrogacy, the Pope and Needs for Regulations."
#Surrogacy
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Independent Articles Gestational Surrogacy, the Pope, and Needs for Regulations Robert Klitzman Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Mailman School of Public Health and Masters of Bioethics Program, Columbia University, New York, United States Abstract As surrogacy grows, many states and countries are enacting or considering relevant regulations, while others oppose it. Ethical, legal and policy questions arise: how to balance the rights of various kinds of parents (e.g., heterosexual and same-sex couples and single individuals) against the rights and well-being of surrogates. Concerns include risks of exploitation, autonomy, benefits of enabling prospective parents to create loving families, and mitigating possible harms through regulations. Though a few instances of abuse have been reported in developing countries, these do not appear to have occurred in developed countries, where robust regulations exist. The limited data available on surrogates in general (i.e., including traditional and non-commercial surrogacy) do not suggest exploitation or trafficking. In 2021, New York State enacted robust regulations allowing commercial surrogacy. Subsequent competing bills have sought to loosen or enhance certain restrictions. These regulations may be a model for commercial surrogacy regulations elsewhere, but certain ethical, legal and policy questions remain (e.g., where to draw the line to prevent trafficking). Additional data and exploration of these challenges are crucial Keywords: assisted reproductive technologies; ethics; policy; surrogacy; religion
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robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · Jun 12
RFK Jr's vaccine advisory panel contain anti-vaxxers, raising major ethical concerns
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/u...
#bioethics #vaccines #RFKJr #CDC
Kennedy Announces Eight New Members of C.D.C. Vaccine Advisory Panel
www.nytimes.com
robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · Jun 10
Testing embryos for Alzheimer's, etc?: My thoughts in Inc. Magazine
www.inc.com/ben-sherry/k...
#genetics #bioethics #biotech
This 25-Year-Old Biotech Founder Says His Startup Can 'Optimize' Embryos for Intelligence
Nucleus Genomics founder Kian Sadeghi is making bold claims about his company's genetic testing technology.
www.inc.com
robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · May 30
RFK Jr's health report uses bad science thanks to AI -- from @washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
White House MAHA Report may have garbled science by using AI, experts say
The report, led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was intended to address the reasons for the decline in Americans’ life expectancy.
www.washingtonpost.com
robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · May 30
New technologies for screening embryos: my thoughts on @cnbc.com
www.cnbc.com/video/2025/0...
#bioethics #genetics #infertility #IVF
This start-up is lowering the chances of passing on life-threatening diseases to your children—but it will cost you
IVF was conceived as a reproductive method for people with infertility issues, but over the past decade, other patient groups have turned to it to prevent passing on genetic conditions to their child.
www.cnbc.com
robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · May 7
Making America Great by Investing in Science: My thoughts in the @hastingscenter.bsky.social forum
www.thehastingscenter.org/to-make-amer...
#trump #nih #nsf #maga #rfkjr #bioethics
To Make America Healthy Again, Stop Divesting from Science
Proposed cuts to federal research funding and attacks on universities imperil the longstanding global leadership of the United States in scientific and medical discoveries and raise profound bioethica...
www.thehastingscenter.org
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Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · Apr 30
The high costs of Ozempic: My thoughts in @newsweek.com
from @jesusmesa.bsky.social
www.newsweek.com/2025/05/09/w...
#healthcare #obesity #bioethics #insurance #ozempic
How Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs are eating away at body positivity
How GLP-1 drugs like Mounjaro and Ozempic are redefining the debate about size, weight loss and privilege
www.newsweek.com
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robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · Apr 25
On @vox.com's Today Explained podcast discussing bringing back extinct animals:
www.vox.com/today-explai...
#bioethics #genetics #direwolf
Today, Explained podcast
Today, Explained is Vox’s daily news explainer podcast. Hosts Sean Rameswaram and Noel King will guide you through the most important stories of the day. You can listen to it, and more Vox podcasts, h...
www.vox.com
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robertklitzman.bsky.social
Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · Apr 24
RFK, Jr.'s comments on autism are inaccurate and pathologize autism -- from @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/o...
#ethics #autism #autismspeaks #genetics #disabilities #disabilityrights #nih #vaccines #bioethics #healthcare #HHS #scientificfalsehood
Opinion | Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Comments on Autism Take America Back a Century
Kennedy implies that disabled people are a taxpayer burden.
www.nytimes.com
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Dr. Robert Klitzman @robertklitzman.bsky.social · Apr 24
Catch my conversation with @randycohen48.bsky.social for Person Place Thing here: personplacething.org/530-robert-k...

#healthcare #spirituality #religion #chaplains #newguinea #prion #kuru #Creutzfeldt-jakobdisease #cjd #neuro #stoneage #bioethics
530: Robert Klitzman | Person Place Thing with Randy Cohen
Person Place Thing with Randy Cohen is an interview show based on this idea: people are particularly engaging when they speak not directly about themselves but about something they care about. Guests ...
personplacething.org