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Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized various healthcare domains, where AI algorithms sometimes even outperform human specialists. However, the field of clinical ethics has remained largely untouched by AI advances. This study explores the attitudes of anesthesiologists and internists towards the use of AI-driven preference prediction tools to support ethical decision-making for incapacitated patients. Methods: A questionnaire was developed and pretested among medical students. The questionnaire was distributed to 200 German anesthesiologists and 200 German internists, thereby focusing on physicians who often encounter patients lacking decision-making capacity. The questionnaire covered attitudes toward AI-driven preference prediction, availability and utilization of Clinical Ethics Support Services (CESS), and experiences with ethically challenging situations. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis was performed. Qualitative responses were analyzed using content analysis in a mixed inductive-deductive approach. Results: Participants were predominantly male (69.3%), with ages ranging from 27 to 77. Most worked in nonacademic hospitals (82%). Physicians generally showed hesitance toward AI-driven preference prediction, citing concerns about the loss of individuality and humanity, lack of explicability in AI results, and doubts about AI's ability to encompass the ethical deliberation process. In contrast, physicians had a more positive opinion of CESS. Availability of CESS varied, with 81.8% of participants reporting access. Among those without access, 91.8% expressed a desire for CESS. Physicians' reluctance toward AI-driven preference prediction aligns with concerns about transparency, individuality, and human-machine interaction. While AI could enhance the accuracy of predictions and reduce surrogate burden, concerns about potential biases, de-humanisation, and lack of explicability persist. Conclusions: German physicians frequently encountering incapacitated patients exhibit hesitance toward AI-driven preference prediction but hold a higher esteem for CESS. Addressing concerns about individuality, explicability, and human-machine roles may facilitate the acceptance of AI in clinical ethics. Further research into patient and surrogate perspectives is needed to ensure AI aligns with patient preferences and values in complex medical decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The so‐called "empirical turn" in bioethics gave rise to extensive theoretical and methodological debates and has significantly shaped the research landscape from two decades ago until the present day. Attentive observers of the evolution of the bioethical research field now notice a new trend towards the inclusion of data science methods for the treatment of ethical research questions. This new research domain of "digital bioethics" encompasses both studies replacing (or complementing) socio‐empirical research on bioethical topics ("empirical digital bioethics") and argumentative approaches towards normative questions in the healthcare domain ("argumentative digital bioethics"). This article draws on insights taken from the debate on the "empirical turn" for sounding out perspectives for the newly developing field of "digital bioethics." We particularly discuss the disciplinary boundaries, chances and challenges, and potentially undesirable developments of the research field. The article closes with concrete suggestions on which debates need to be initiated and which measures need to be taken so that the path forward of "digital bioethics" will be a scientific success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have witnessed intensive efforts to specify which requirements ethical artificial intelligence (AI) must meet. General guidelines for ethical AI consider a varying number of principles important. A frequent novel element in these guidelines, that we have bundled together under the term explicability, aims to reduce the black‐box character of machine learning algorithms. The centrality of this element invites reflection on the conceptual relation between explicability and the four bioethical principles. This is important because the application of general ethical frameworks to clinical decision‐making entails conceptual questions: Is explicability a free‐standing principle? Is it already covered by the well‐established four bioethical principles? Or is it an independent value that needs to be recognized as such in medical practice? We discuss these questions in a conceptual‐ethical analysis, which builds upon the findings of an empirical document analysis. On the example of the medical specialty of radiology, we analyze the position of radiological associations on the ethical use of medical AI. We address three questions: Are there references to explicability or a similar concept? What are the reasons for such inclusion? Which ethical concepts are referred to? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Roman medicine, face packs, plasters, unguents, and peelings were part of the therapy of dermatological diseases, but also served cosmetic purposes. Ancient medical textbooks inform us about the ingredients for these applications. Beyond medical literature, other genres contain information about dermatological applications. The Roman poet Ovid (43 BC–17 AD) wrote a didactic poem recording five recipes for topical applications for female faces (Medicamina faciei femineae). Researchers debate the relation of Ovid's poem to Roman medicine: Does the poem contain therapeutical or cosmetical information, or is it mere belles lettres? Aims: The objective of the paper is to conduct a medico‐historical classification of Ovid's poem by determining whether the ingredients of Ovid's recipes were thought to be effective by the authors of Roman medical textbooks. Methods: First, translation and identification of the ingredients were carried out. Second, comparison of the ingredients' functions regarding the therapy of dermatological diseases in two important Roman medical textbooks was realized. For this purpose, several commentaries on the text of Ovid were used and a keyword search in Roman medical textbooks was performed. Results: Ovid's five recipes contain 23 ingredients. All ingredients can be found in medical textbooks. We find that 14 of these ingredients serve cosmetic purposes, 17 serve the therapy of dermatological diseases, and 13 serve both. Conclusion: Ovid's recipes contain drugs that were considered effective by the authors of Roman medical textbooks. These drugs were recommended both for therapeutic and cosmetic purposes by the same authors. Therefore, Ovid's didactic poem is not mere belles lettres, but contains serious medical and cosmetical information. As far as we know, it is the first Roman text that contains dermatological recipes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on COVID-19 and mental health: Data mining reveals blind spots After approximately one year of COVID-19 with its huge impact on global mental health, we as psychiatrists might take a step back and ask ourselves: What have we achieved and where do we want to go? To this end, a PubMed-search on 20 November 2020 using the search string [(Psychiatry OR "mental health disorders" OR "mental health") AND (COVID-19 OR SARS-CoV-2)] yielded 4773 results. [Extracted from the article]

Objectives: In Antiquity, colchicine was used as a poison and as a remedy for Podagra. Research so far has revealed that the physician Alexander of Tralles was the first who used it in the 6th century AD. Alexander recommended a plant he called "Hermodaktylon", which takes off the pain in the feet immediately. "Hermodaktylon" is identified with Colchicum autumnale L., which contains colchicine in his bulbs and seeds. We will present new data that varieties of Colchicum were used for medical treatment of Podagra far earlier than hitherto known by research., Methods: We performed a systematic full text search in Greek and Latin original sources of Antiquity for "Hermodaktylon"/"Hermodactylus" and for the synonyms "Ephemeron"/"Ephemerum", "Kolchikon"/"Colchicum", and "Bolbos (agrios)"/"bulbus (agrestis)". We analysed our findings with philological and historico-critical methods., Results: There are 48 text passages in original sources. Lucian of Samosata (2nd century AD) was the first who mentioned a plant he called "bolbos" as a remedy for Podagra. The Byzantine physician Jacobus Psychrestes (5th century AD) developed two recipes. Aëtius of Amida (6th century AD) transmitted two recipes. One case with an overdose of colchicine was discovered which resulted in the death of a patient in Byzantine times., Conclusions: New specific recipes containing Colchicum were discovered. Jacobus Psychrestes and Aëtius used Colchicum systematically for the therapy of Podagra earlier than the 6th century AD. However, the therapeutic use of Colchicum was already known in the 2nd century AD.

Introduction: Gallstones are rarely mentioned in the medical texts of antiquity. The physician, Alexander of Tralles mentions-for the first time-stones in the gallbladder as a possible cause for obstructive jaundice. This designation is found in his textbook on medicine under the heading "obstruction of the liver". Based on that observation, we describe the ancient history of hepatic obstruction and investigate the connection with the rare reference of gallstones in the medical texts of antiquity., Methods: First, we evaluated the medico-historical literature on bile-stones and liver obstruction in antiquity, which has been published since 1900. The identified ancient sources we have analyzed for the purposes of etiology, diagnostics and therapy. Second, we searched for additional ancient sources with a combined keyword search in Greek and Latin text databases to check the completeness of the mentions of gallstones and liver obstructions known from the research literature., Results: There are two mentions of stones in the liver and gallbladder: Aristotle probably describes stones in the liver of slaughtered sacrificial animals and the late-antique physician, Alexander of Tralles, in the gallbladder of humans. The mechanical obstruction of the bile ducts as a cause of jaundice has been known since Diocles of Karystos (4 th century BC). For the first time, Galen of Pergamon describes the disease pattern of a liver obstruction (2 nd century AC). This was due to the coagulation of the yellow bile, one of the four humors of ancient humoral pathology., Conclusion: Although gallstones were rarely mentioned, the clinical presentation of gallstone disease was known to ancient authors of medical texts and was referred to as liver obstruction., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)