Medicine and Inequality
I am committed to engaging with issues of inequality and oppression, in their many forms, within my bioethical and philosophical scholarship. For several years, I have argued that the practice of non-consensual educational pelvic exams on anesthetized patients by medical students is morally problematic and that all patients should have the opportunity to consent for an intimate exam is performed on their unconscious body. This scholarship, along with the legal advocacy of Robin Wilson’s team at the Epstein Program and the voices of many others, has led to a sweeping legislative shift in the United States, with 21 new laws requiring consent for pelvic exams on anesthetized patients being passed since 2021, and dozens being introduced.
I have also written about issues related to race and medical research, including how white ignorance shows up in pain research and how placebo /nocebo effects are likely to be unfairly distributed across populations as a result of the unequal treatment of racialized patients in the clinical encounter. Further work on inequality and medicine includes a discussion of the problematic role of using personal responsibility in decisions related to resource allocation in health care, an investigation of the push away from using the term ‘medically assisted suicide’, and a critical examination of the diagnosis 'excited delirium'.

Representative Work:
· Byju, A., Friesen, P., (2023) Making Up Monsters, Redirecting Blame: An Examination of Excited Delirium. Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology
· Friesen, P. (2020) Trust in Health Care after the Death of Joyce Echaquan. Impact Ethics.
· Friesen, P. (2018) Educational pelvic exams on anesthetized women: why consent matters, Bioethics. 32(5), 298-307.
Recent/ Forthcoming Work:
· Friesen, P., Sun, W., Towle, S., (2024) Consent and Educational Sensitive Exams on Anesthetized Patients: Experiences of Medical Students Across Canada. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada.
· Friesen, P., Gligorov, N., (2022) White Ignorance in Pain Research: Racial Differences and Racial Disparities. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal.
· Friesen, P., Perez, T., Towle, S., (2021) Birthing Alone: An Ethical Analysis of Pandemic Policies Banning Birthing Partners International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics
Recent/ Upcoming Talks:
· “Complaining about Consent: Using Anesthetized Bodies as Teaching Tools” (April 22nd, 2026), at Writing on Medicine in Climate of Controversies, Social Studies of Medicine Annual Workshop, McGill University, panel with Tone, A., Sadjadi, S.
· “Questions of Consent: A Roundtable Discussion” (Feb 12th, 2026) at McGill University, with Campbell, A., Klein, A., Gold, I., Holmgren, L., and Yachin, P.
· “Anesthetized Bodies as Teaching Tools: Consent and Controversy” (Jan 28th, 2026) at the Research Group on Health Law seminar series, McGill University
Media Engagement/ Coverage:
· PBS Newshour, The New York Times, This American Life, The Associated Press, VICE, ELLE, ABC4, WBAL Maryland, Forbes, Bust, Medscape, Medium, Gothamist, Capital Gazette, Deseret News, Commonwealth, The Bridge, Houston Chronicle.