Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Reimagining Icarus: Ethics, Law And Policy Considerations For Commercial Human Spaceflight, Sara M. Langston

Sara Langston

Commercial human spaceflight presents an area for engaging novel human activity and objectives, to include space exploration, entertainment, transportation and extraterrestrial resource acquisition. The inherent dangers and lack of scientific and medical certainty involved however raise interrelated questions of ethics, bioethics, law and public policy. This is particularly the case with spaceflight participant (SFP) screening, selection, and commercial human spaceflight activities where regulations are currently silent or lacking. In the absence of established law, ethics can play an important role by informing industry standards, policies and best practices. Understanding the fundamental ethical values at stake in the application of new …

Ethical Aspects Of Prenatal Genetic Diagnostics, Hille Haker

Hille Haker

Starting with some basic distinctions, i.e. the distinction between an ethics of human self-fulfilment ,of individual and social values and of virtues on one hand, and an ethics of individual rights, of obligation and of social justice on the other, this paper explores the manifold scenario of the problems of prenatal diagnosis with respect to these different aspects of ethical analysis. This is followed by a normative evaluation of the status of the human embryo, and by an elaboration of different adressees of responsibility in the field of biomedicine and, especially, of prenatal genetic diagnosis. The author comes to the …

Abortion And Animal Rights: Does Either Topic Lead To The Other?, Nathan M. Nobis

Nathan M. Nobis, PhD

The Pedagogical Significance Of The Bush Stem Cell Policy: A Window Into Bioethical Regulation In The United States (President George W. Bush, Fifth Anniversary Essay Collection), O. Carter Snead

O. Carter Snead

The enormous significance of the Bush stem cell funding policy has been evident since its inception. The announcement of the policy on August 9, 2001 marked the first time a U.S. president had ever taken up a matter of bioethical import as the sole subject of a major national policy address. Indeed, the August 9th speech was the President's first nationally televised policy address of any kind. Since then, the policy has been a constant focus of attention and discussion by political commentators, the print and broadcast media, advocacy organizations, scientists, elected officials, and candidates for all levels of office …

The “Babe” Vegetarians: Bioethics, Animal Minds And Moral Methodology, Nathan Nobis

Nathan M. Nobis, PhD

Here I discuss the role the film “Babe” has played in helping people address these challenges and make this moral progress. It is thought that a significant number of young people (mostly girls, now young women) became vegetarians due to their seeing “Babe.” These people are often called “Babe Vegetarians,” influence by what has been called “The Babe Effect.” Many of their stories are found on the internet.

Surrogacy As The Sale Of Children: Applying Lessons Learned From Adoption To The Regulation Of The Surrogacy Industry's Global Marketing Of Children, David M. Smolin

David M. Smolin

This article will argue that most surrogacy arrangements as currently practiced do constitute the “sale of children” under international law, and hence should not be legally legitimated. Hence, maintaining the core legal norm against the sale of children requires rejecting currently constituted claims of a right to procreate through surrogacy. Given the underlying purpose of all human rights law in maintaining the inherent human dignity of all human beings, a claimed legal right built upon the sale of human beings must be rejected.

Caritas In Communion: Theological Foundations Of Catholic Health Care, M. Lysaught

M. Therese Lysaught

No abstract provided.

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.

Ebola And Bioterrorism, Joshua P. Monroe

Joshua P Monroe

This paper will be a comparison of the United States government’s reaction to the recent outbreak of Ebola and will compare this response with the potential response by the United States government toward an act of biological or chemical warfare. The paper will analyze these responses from a cultural, political, legal, and policy standpoint

How Are We Going To Live With Alzheimer's Disease?, Jason Karlawish

Jason Karlawish

No abstract provided.

To The Bitter End: Disparities In End-Of-Life Care, Alberto Coustasse, Theresa Quiroz, Sue G. Lurie

Alberto Coustasse, DrPH, MD, MBA, MPH

Although technological advancements have provided the means to sustain life and provide care regardless of whether the treatment is appropriate and compassionate given the condition of the patient, bioethical, legal, and moral concerns related to disparities in care still arise in the United States. These concerns call into question the necessity to continue life-sustaining or palliative care treatments when patients and/or families are faced with end-of-life decisions. This study will focus on various historical, clinical cultural, and ethical issues that have placed this dilemma into a controversial public spectrum, by using case studies retrieved from referenced literature, which illustrate disparities …

Researchers’ Perceptions Of Ethical Challenges In Cluster Randomized Trials: A Qualitative Analysis, Andrew Mcrae, Carol Bennett, Judith Belle Brown, Charles Weijer, Robert Boruch, Jamie Brehaut, Shazia Chaudhry, Allan Donner, Martin Eccles, Jeremy Grimshaw, Merrick Zwarenstein, Monica Taljaard

Charles Weijer

Background

Cluster randomized trials (CRTs) pose ethical challenges for investigators and ethics committees. This study describes the views and experiences of CRT researchers with respect to: (1) ethical challenges in CRTs; (2) the ethics review process for CRTs; and (3) the need for comprehensive ethics guidelines for CRTs.

Methods

Descriptive qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with a purposive sample of 20 experienced CRT researchers.

Results

Informants expressed concern over the potential for bias that may result from requirements to obtain informed consent from research participants in CRTs. Informants suggested that the need for informed consent ought to be related to …

Bioethics In Canada, Charles Weijer, Anthony Skelton, Samantha Brennan

Samantha Brennan

This comprehensive introduction to bioethical issues emphasizes Canadian policies, issues, and scholars. Using the human lifespan as an organizing narrative, Bioethics in Canada explores ethical theories through a diverse selection of readings discussing traditional and cutting-edge topics in the field.

Readership : Bioethics in Canada is a core text for bioethics courses, generally offered in second- or third-year through philosophy departments at Canadian universities.

http://www.oupcanada.com/catalog/9780195440157.html

The Bad Habit Of Bearing Children, H Theixos, S.B. Jamil

H Theixos

Procreation – the act of having and raising biological children – is generally not a life choice that is subject to moral scrutiny; there is a standing assumption that parents act morally when they bring or intend to bring new life into existence with the intent of fostering and nurturing the future child(ren). We argue that this assumption is not morally justifiable under present societal conditions, and basic tenets of moral decency obligate prospective parents, under certain defeasibility conditions, to prioritize adoption over procreation. We conclude that for the subset of prospective parents who are unaffected by the defeasibility conditions, …

Eight Is Enough?: The Ethics Of The California Octuplets Case, Scott Paeth

Scott R. Paeth

The recent California octuplets case raises a number of important issues that need to be addressed in the context of the increasingly widespread practice of in vitro fertilization. This paper explores some of those issues as looked at from the perspective of protestant theological ethics and public theology, examining the moral responsibilities of the various participants in the process, both before and after the octuplets’ birth, including the mother, her doctors, the health care bureaucracy, the wider society, and the media. Each of these participants failed in significant respects to consider the ethical implications of the births in this complicated …

Health Care Ethics In Canada, Françoise Baylis, Barry Hoffmaster, Susan Sherwin, Kirstin Borgerson

C. Barry Hoffmaster

No abstract provided.

The Rationality And Morality Of Dying Children, Barry Hoffmaster

C. Barry Hoffmaster

Formal reason is not adequate to explain how we think through real-life problems and make moral decisions about them. A far richer account of rationality is necessary. Interviews conducted with children who have leukemia, and who must figure out by themselves that they are dying and how they should handle that information, illustrate a range on informal tools that must be part of that account.

The Role And Legal Status Of Health Care Ethics Committees In The United States, Diane E. Hoffmann, Anita J. Tarzian

Diane Hoffmann

Over a quarter of a century has passed since health care ethics committees (HCECs) in the United States received legal recognition as alternatives to the courts in resolving conflicts related to patient end-of-life care. By the mid to late 1980s HCECs had been established in over half of U.S. hospitals and had received a certain legitimacy in the health care system. Given their age and growth one could characterize them developmentally as emerging from adolescence and establishing themselves in young adult-hood. As a result, we might expect that they would have resolved the identify crisis characterizing the adolescent years. Yet, …

Ethical Issues Posed By Cluster Randomized Trials In Health Research, Charles Weijer, Jeremy Grimshaw, Monica Taljaard, Ariella Binik, Robert Boruch, Jamie Brehaut, Allan Donner, Martin Eccles, Antonio Gallo, Andrew Mcrae, Raphael Saginur, Merrick Zwarenstein

Charles Weijer

The cluster randomized trial (CRT) is used increasingly in knowledge translation research, quality improvement research, community based intervention studies, public health research, and research in developing countries. However, cluster trials raise difficult ethical issues that challenge researchers, research ethics committees, regulators, and sponsors as they seek to fulfill responsibly their respective roles. Our project will provide a systematic analysis of the ethics of cluster trials. Here we have outlined a series of six areas of inquiry that must be addressed if the cluster trial is to be set on a firm ethical foundation: 1. Who is a research subject? 2. …

Of Mice But Not Men: Problems Of The Randomized Clinical Trial, Samuel Hellman, Deborah Hellman

Deborah Hellman

No abstract provided.

Funding Stem Cell Research: The Convergence Of Science, Religion & Politics In The Formation Of Public Health Policy, Edward A. Fallone

Edward A Fallone

The controversy over the funding of stem cell research by the federal government is used as a case study for examining how policy choices are made in the field of public bioethics. This article examines the manner in which the decision to fund stem cell research has been influenced by the convergence of evolving scientific knowledge, conflicting religious values, and the role of elected officials in a representative democracy. The article begins by reviewing the current state of scientific knowledge concerning adult stem cells, embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, and the process of direct cell re-programming. Because each …

Review Of "Health Law And Bioethics: Cases In Context", Michele L. Mekel

Michele L Mekel

A review of the book "Health Law and Bioethics: Cases in Context"

Conceptual Problems In Research Ethics, Charles Weijer

Charles Weijer

This poster addresses these issues:
• What good is medical research?
• What is owed to the study subject?
• When is research risk acceptable?
• How should we conduct research in developing countries?
• How should we conduct research involving communities?

Undesirable Implications Of Disclosing Individual Genetic Results To Research Participants, Leslie Meltzer Henry

Leslie Meltzer Henry

The bioethics and legal community are divided over whether investigators who conduct biomedical research are ethically and/or legally obligated to disclose incidental genetic findings to research participants. This paper argues that the justification for disclosure rests on the mistaken view that principles of beneficence, respect, reciprocity, and/or justice require researchers to offer participants individual genetic results. Whereas these principles and others obligate physicians to share individually relevant results with patients with whom they share a fiduciary relationship in the clinical care setting, they do not similarly obligate investigators to share such information with participants in the research setting. Furthermore, proposals …

Book Review: "Human Dignity And Bioethics: Essays Commissioned By The President's Council On Bioethics, Leslie Meltzer Henry

Leslie Meltzer Henry

The President’s Council on Bioethics frequently invokes -- but never defines -- the notion of human dignity in its reports on caregiving, stem-cell research, cloning, assisted reproduction, and biomedical enhancement. This article argues that the Council employs the language of dignity so loosely in its policy recommendations that the word is often nothing more than a rhetorical trump card to reject policies at odds with the Bush administration’s perspective. This article examines how the Council uses the word dignity; explores competing philosophical, theological, and political understandings of the word; and suggests ways in which a more productive dialogue about dignity's …

Feminism, Law, And Bioethics, Karen H. Rothenberg

Karen H. Rothenberg

Feminist legal theory provides a healthy skepticism toward legal doctrine and insists that we reexamine even formally gender-neutral rules to uncover problematic assumptions behind them. The article first outlines feminist legal theory from the perspectives of liberal, cultural, and radical feminism. Examples of how each theory influences legal practice, case law, and legislation are highlighted. Each perspective is then applied to a contemporary bioethical issue, egg donation. Following a brief discussion of the common themes shared by feminist jurisprudence, the article incorporates a narrative reflecting on the integration of the common feminist themes in the context of the passage of …

Ethical Considerations In The Conduct Of Vaccine Trials In Developing Countries, Charles Weijer, C. Lanata, C. Plowe

Charles Weijer

No abstract provided.

Ethical Challenges In Icu Research, Charles Weijer

Charles Weijer

No abstract provided.

When Can Physicians Say “No” To Families And Patients?, Charles Weijer

Charles Weijer

No abstract provided.

Prosecuting Doctors For Trusting Patients, Deborah Hellman

Deborah Hellman

In an escalating phase of our country’s war on drugs, doctors treating patients in pain are being prosecuted for drug trafficking under the Controlled Substances Act. While doctors surely can be guilty of drug trafficking when they sell drugs for money, lately some doctors have been prosecuted for violations of a statute that requires knowingly distributing or dispensing controlled substances in an unauthorized manner for simply being willfully blind to the fact that their patients were reselling the drugs. While willful blindness may be an apt substitute for knowledge in the traditional drug courier scenario, doctors in these cases are …