Title: Desafíos Bioéticos en neurociencias del siglo XXI. El presente y el future

Edition: Ediciones Journal

Edited by: Alejandra T. Rabadán

Published by: Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

ISBN: 978-987-8452-16-6

Pages: 415

Year: 2022

Dr. Alejandra Rabadán, a prestigious Argentine Neurosurgeon with a strong interest in bioethics, edited “Desafíos bioéticos en neurociencias del siglo XXI.” A pioneering text on the current and future ethical challenges involved in the practice of clinical neurosurgery. This work is among her last contribution before her premature and sudden death in January 2022.

The conception and completion of this project are commendable. The chapters cover subjects from fetal surgery to psychiatric surgery and stem cell therapy. The all-encompassing text has 26 coauthors, most of them with a stellar career in neurosurgery, neurology, and the neurosciences who join philosophers, lawyers, and psychologists in this endeavor. This is the most comprehensive contemporary review in Spanish of this critical matter to the best of my knowledge.

This book is an outstanding resource for practicing neurosurgeons who are curious about the opinion of prestigious clinicians on contentious issues. And the readers of this book will be rewarded by the writings of passionate humanitarians who share thoughts developed after years of solid practice and intellectual curiosity.

The authors, understandable, so considering their background, devout a large portion of their contribution to the pathophysiology of a clinical condition. They review the current research and, in many cases, base their recommendations on the report of randomized control trials. As a result, each chapter is a valuable source of clinical information about a topic. Still, the bioethical discussion is developed in a few paragraphs, too few for a book whose main intention is the bioethical debate about a clinical condition. In those paragraphs, we find the circular argument; it is ethical to be ethical. We can safely conclude that deontology, the doctrine of duty and obligation is the dominant ideology of the authors. As a disclaimer, I also endorse deontology as the backbone of clinical practice.

Soon neurosurgeons will be pondering how far we are ready to go into the Pandora box of modifying human behavior through neurosurgical intervention. The ethical debate on the implications of future clinical neurosciences practices will pivot around utilitarianism or consequentialism.

I am confident that the implications of this question did not escape the curious and brilliant mind of Dr. Alejandra Rabadán. It is a loss to our profession that she will not be at the helm of the second edition of this extraordinary text.

Declaration of patient consent

Patient’s consent not required as there are no patients in this study.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.