Digital Commons Network^™

Algorithmic Bias: Causes And Effects On Marginalized Communities, Katrina M. Baha

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Individuals from marginalized backgrounds face different healthcare outcomes due to algorithmic bias in the technological healthcare industry. Algorithmic biases, which are the biases that arise from the set of steps used to solve or analyze a problem, are evident when people from marginalized communities use healthcare technology. For example, many pulse oximeters, which are the medical devices used to measure oxygen saturation in the blood, are not able to accurately read people who have darker skin tones. Thus, people with darker skin tones are not able to receive proper health care due to their pulse oximetry data being inaccurate. This …

The Contribution Of Ethical Governance Of Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning In Healthcare, Tina Nguyen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the Internet Age and technology progressively advancing every year, the usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI) along with Machine Learning (ML) algorithms has only increased since its introduction to society. Specifically, in the healthcare field, AI/ML has proven to its end-users how beneficial its assistance has been. However, despite its effectiveness and efficiencies, AI/ML has also been under scrutiny due to its unethical outcomes. As a result of this, two polarizing views are typically debated when discussing AI/ML. One side believes that AI/ML usage should continue regardless of its unsureness, while the other side argues that this technology is too …

China’S Strategies For Governance Of Biotechnological Changes And New Ethical Challenges, Yaojin Peng, Zhou Qi

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Biotechnology is changing greatly over recent years, providing huge benefits to human society. However, the ethics, safety, and negative externalities of biotechnology have become increasingly prominent. Currently, biotechnology is still in the early stage of development, and full of high uncertainty. Technological changes in this field have the characteristics of stronger subversiveness, complexity, and social relevance. The world is facing a process of great development of biotechnology, new outbreaks of ethical challenges, and ethical governance reforms. China should take this opportunity to promote the high-quality development of biotechnology on the one hand, and on the other hand, adopt a multi-pronged …

Constitutionalizing Nature's Law: Dignity And The Regulation Of Biotechnology In Switzerland, James Toomey

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The Swiss Constitution was amended by referendum in 1992 to include two unique provisions: Article 119, which imposes strict limits on genetic and reproductive technologies in humans in order to protect ‘human dignity’, and Article 120, which commits the Swiss federal government to limiting genetic technologies in non-human species on the basis of the ‘dignity of the creature’. This article analyzes the role of ‘dignity’ as a limit on biotechnologies in the Swiss constitutional order. It concludes that the understanding of dignity the constitution embraces codifies a contestable metaphysical theory of value at the constitutional level. Specifically, the Swiss constitutional …

Where Trying To Conceive Becomes A Community Effort: A Digital Ethnography Of Online Infertility Forums, Megan Burns

Sociology Honors Papers

Online forums for women using in vitro fertilization (IVF), or similar assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs), provide a useful setting to further evaluate and understand women’s expectations of motherhood, the relationship infertile women have with physicians and biomedicine, and their interactions on the forums. Some critics of ARTs consider them a tool of oppression in a pronatalist state. The pressure and desire to become a biological mother leads the women with access to these technologies to use them regardless. Through digital ethnographic research on four online ART forums, this research examines the intersection of altruism and self-interest in the ways forum-users …

A Bioethics Tool For The Implementation Of Global Principles By The Pharmaceutical Industry, Daniel J. Hurst

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to scandals of scientific misconduct, a climate of mistrust of science exists amongst the general public. This becomes of concern when we acknowledge that it is difficult for science and technology to flourish without broad societal trust. The pharmaceutical industry has often felt the brunt of such mistrust and has suffered many reputational setbacks over the past several years. Such reputational decline has a strong moral dimension, as it stems from issues such as the questionable conduct of clinical trials, pricing schemas, and access to medicines for low- or middle-income countries. The end product of such issues is the …

Ethics, Drugs And Rock And Roll: On The Integration Of Bioethics Into The Entrepreneurial Life, Angela Rossetti

NYMC Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Decline In Ethical Concerns About Reproductive Technologies Among A Representative Sample Of Us Women, Arthur L. Greil, Kathleen S. Slauson-Blevins, Karina M. Shreffler, Katherine M. Johnson, Michele Lowry, Andrea R. Burch, Julia Mcquillan

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Public awareness and utilization of assisted reproductive technology has been increasing, but little is known about changes in ethical concerns over time. The National Survey of Fertility Barriers, a national, probability-based sample of US women, asked 2031 women the same set of questions about ethical concerns regarding six reproductive technologies on two separate occasions approximately 3 years apart. At Wave 1 (2004–2007), women had more concerns about treatments entailing the involvement of a third party than about treatments that did not. Ethical concerns declined between Wave 1 and Wave 2, but they declined faster for treatments entailing the involvement of …

A Call To Forward-Thinking Bioethics, Heather G. Kuruvilla

Bioethics in Faith and Practice

It is said that hindsight is always 20/20. However, a reasoned approach to practical bioethics requires an awareness of developing technologies and their potential applications to clinical practice.

Statement Before The House Of Representatives Subcommittee On Health Of The Committee On Energy And Commerce, Fred D. Ledley

Natural & Applied Sciences Faculty Publications

Statement of Fred David Ledley, M.D.
Director, Center for Integration of Science and Industry
Professor, Natural and Applied Sciences and Management
Bentley University, Waltham, MA

Before the House of Representatives
Subcommittee on Health of the
Committee on Energy and Commerce

Hearing: 21st Century Cures: Examining the Role of Incentives in Advancing Treatments and Cures for Patients

June 11, 2014

Trait Selection And Welfare Of Genetically Engineered Animals In Agriculture, Michael Greger

Michael Greger, MD, FACLM

The release of the Final Guidance from the US Food and Drug Administration on the commercialization of genetically engineered animals has sparked renewed discussion over the ethical, consumer, and regulatory implications of transgenesis in animal agriculture. Animal welfare critiques have focused on unexpected phenotypic effects in animals used in transgenic research, rather than on the health and welfare implications of the intended productivity enhancement. Unless breeding goals are redefined to reflect social concerns, the occurrence and magnitude of undesirable side effects may increase and consumer confidence in the nascent technology may be undermined.

Book Review: Biotechnology And The Human Good, Dennis M. Sullivan

Science and Mathematics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Bioinformatics In The 21st Century, Heather G. Kuruvilla

Science and Mathematics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Reviving The Saracen's Head: A Commentary On The New Biotechnologies, Dennis M. Sullivan, Joseph W. Francis, James A. Sellers

Science and Mathematics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Biotech Century (Book Review), Philip A. Reed

STEMPS Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Response To Beauchamp, David H. Smith

Indiana Law Journal

Symposium: Emerging Paradigms in Bioethics

Principles And Particularity: The Role Of Cases In Bioethics, John D. Arras

Indiana Law Journal

Symposium: Emerging Paradigms in Bioethics

Bioethics With A Human Face, Carl E. Schneider

Indiana Law Journal

Symposium: Emerging Paradigms in Bioethics

Society And The Balance Of Professional Dominance, And Patient Autonomy In Medical Care, Bernice A. Pescosolido

Indiana Law Journal

Symposium: Emerging Paradigms in Bioethics

Are Principles Ever Properly Ignored? A Reply To Beauchamp Or Bioethical Paradigms, Karen Hanson

Indiana Law Journal

Symposium: Emerging Paradigms in Bioethics

Who Are The Parents Biotechnological Children?, Larry I. Palmer

Faculty Publications

We do not underestimate the difficulties of legislating on this subject. In addition to the inevitable confrontation with the ethical and moral issues involved, there is the question of the wisdom and effectiveness of regulating a matter so private, yet of such public interest. Legislative consideration of surrogacy may also provide the opportunity to begin to focus on the overall implications of the new reproductive biotechnology- in vitro fertilization, preservation of sperms and eggs, embryo implantation and the like. The problem is how to enjoy the benefits of the technology-especially for infertile couples-while minimizing the risk of abuse. The problem …

Narrative And Casuistry: A Response To John Arras, Richard B. Miller

Indiana Law Journal

Symposium: Emerging Paradigms in Bioethics

Introduction: Emerging Paradigms In Bioethics Symposium, Roger B. Dworkin

Indiana Law Journal

Symposium: Emerging Paradigms in Bioethics