At the Interface of Sport and Bioethics

Francisco Javier López Frías – Assistant Professor, Kinesiology and Health Science, Utah State University

Abstract: This panel sheds light on a sphere of human experience, namely sport, that merits closer attention in bioethics. Panelists reveal that sport enriches our understanding of long-standing debates and discussions in bioethics, and that bioethics informs our understanding of challenging ethical issues in sport. While bioethicists have studied the use of performance-enhancing drugs and, more recently, the inclusion of transgender and intersex athletes in competitive sport— both topics that warrant careful consideration— the field would benefit from studying many other issues at the interface of sport and bioethics. Examples include disability and adaptive sport, athlete health and wellbeing, the value/role of sport for certain patient populations, the risk of brain injury in high-contact sports, emotional/physical abuse of athletes, and the role sports industries (e.g. football, soccer, ice hockey, motorsport, etc.) play in the “manufacture of doubt.” This panel serves as a launching pad for more formal inquiry at this interface. Panelists examine 1) issues related to disability and fairness in sports by exploring a) what reasonable modifications look like and b) the extent to which such modifications constitute “enhancements”; 2) the value/role of sport in the pediatric patient population-- giving thought to both able-bodied and disabled children; and 3) conflicts of interest involving team health care professionals. Panelists and co-authors have expertise in clinical care, law, philosophy, sport ethics, bioethics, education, history, and public health ethics. They have participated in NCAA Division I athletics, adaptive sport, recreational sport, and sport at the international level, as well as coached youth sports.

Keywords: disability, pediatrics, conflict of interest