For my Capstone Course (Contemporary issues in Organizational Leadership) my group decided to discuss the ethics in regards to medical research and treatment, which has been an ongoing debate in our society.
2. Contemporary version of philosophy or ethics
of life and death
Ethics of medicine
Environmental ethics
Ethical issues arising from contemporary
"advanced biomedical technology
Civil movement
“Academic" research and discussion
Ethics of medical research and
treatment: the study of the moral and
ethical choices faced in medical research and
in the treatment of patients, especially when
the application of advanced technology is
involved
BIOETHICS DEFINED!
3. BIOETHICS DEFINED!
The objective of bioethics is to consider how to
maintain respect for and protection of the
individual in light of our expanding knowledge of
the life sciences and their applications
http://
www.library.dal.ca/kellogg/Bioethics/definition.htm
10. …I SWEAR in the presence of the
Almighty and before my family…
…I will treat without exception all who
seek my ministrations, so long as the
treatment of others is not compromised…
THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH
11. …I will neither prescribe nor administer
a lethal dose of medicine to any patient
even if asked nor counsel any such thing
nor perform the utmost respect for
every human life from fertilization to
natural death and reject abortion that
deliberately takes a unique human life…
….I will neither treat any patient nor carry
out any research on any human being
without the valid informed consent of the
subject….
THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH
12. WHAT ARE THE HOT
TOPICS TODAY?
Stem Cells
Issue – Destruction of human embryos to gather stem cells
Solution – scientists have found a way to reprogram human
skin cells to act like embryonic stem cells. Eliminates the issue
of destroying embryos to get stem cells.
Article -
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/11/20/stem.cells.skin/index.html?ir
Video (2:28) -
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/11/20/stem.cells.skin/index.html?ir
13. MORE HOT TOPICS
Reproduction
Gender selection – 3 methods available – one is controversial
because it involves creation of human embryos to find the desired
gender with the others being discarded.
Article –
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/conditions/11/16/pdg.gender.selection/index.h
End-of-life treatment decisions
A new computer program is being developed that would predict the
patient’s preferred treatment compared to the decision of a loved
one. Results of the study have shown that in comparison of the
choice from the computer and the choice from a loved one, both
made the same decision as the patient two-thirds to three-quarters
of the time.
Article -
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/06/21/computer.decides/index.html?iref=
Media Representation: i.e. House, MD, Grey’s
Anatomy, Scrubs, etc.
14. EDUCATION OF BIOETHICS
The educational offerings in Bioethics are a fairly
new trend. Only since the late 1990’s have
schools have been offering Undergraduate,
Masters and Doctorate programs in the field.
Currently there are:
28 Schools offering Masters Degree Programs
16 Schools offering Doctorate Degrees
Only a Handful of Undergraduate Degrees
15. EDUCATION OF BIOETHICS
The mission of most school’s programs is to
“provide a deeper understanding of the
ethical issues related to patient care and
health care practice”. Typically Bioethics
Degree programs overlap with other degrees in
Law, Public Administration, Health
Administration, Nursing or MD fields.
Sample Course Names, provided by the
University of Minnesota’s Course Catalog are:
Biomedical Ethics
Ethical and Legal Issues in Genetic Counseling
Gender and the Politics of Health
Moral and Ethical positions in Nursing
17. SOCIETIES
American Society for Bioethics and Humanities developed
a set of core competencies for bioethics consultation that
detail the qualifications bioethics consultants must possess
in order to operate prospectively and intervene in
developing cases.
Encouraging consideration of issues in human values as they relate to
health services, the education of healthcare professionals and
research.
Conducting educational meetings dealing with such issues.
Stimulating research in areas of such concern.
Contributing to the public discussion of these endeavors and interests
including how they relate to public policy.
The International Society of Bioethics. Was founded in
1996 at the proposal of the Spanish medical doctor Marcelo
Palacios.
The exclusive aim of the SIBI is to promote, support, disseminate and
consolidate the knowledge of Bioethics and to foster a legal, social and
ethical analysis of any problem posed by scientific advances,
especially in Medicine and Biotechnology. The SIBI carries out these
tasks through its Scientific Committee.
18. DRUG COMPANY ETHICS, DOCTOR
RELATIONS
Doctors being bribed by large drug companies to
prescribe medicines.
http://www.newstarget.com/016676.html
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an
international humanitarian aid organization that
provides emergency medical assistance to
populations in danger. The forefront of their
campaign is to ensure that disadvantaged
populations get the medicines they need.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0999/is_7277_322/ai_
69651926
http://www.accessmed.msf.org/#
20. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES AND
TRENDS
(DISCUSSION)
More topics evolve with societal views
Courses, Degrees, and Institutions will focus
more on Bioethics
Possibilities of professional positions in hospitals
Pressure Groups
New groups, agencies, and non-profits may become
available for the public to join to fight against
immoral actions
New Government groups
New laws
What other trends do you see coming from the
Bioethics move of the 21st
century?
21. THANK YOU
The future will be determined in part by happenings that it
is impossible to foresee; it will also be influenced by trends
that are now existent and observable.
~Emily G. Balch
Notas do Editor
Some people say that bioethics began in the USA and has spread around the world, but other people insist that bioethics has existed throughout the ages in every region. Which is right? Probably it depends on the definition of "bioethics."
If we define "bioethics" as a kind of philosophy or ethics of life and death, we can find a great deal of literature from ancient times in every region.
Medical Ethics – ethics of medicine
Environmental Ethics – had various traditions throughout the world.
Advanced Biomedical Technology – organ transplantation, selective abortion, IVF and gene theraphy.
Civil Movement – claimed the rights of patients, women, and members of minority groups
Academic research and discussion - the United States of America would probably be one of the earliest countries to have institutionalized it as an academic discipline. Bioethics as an academic discipline emerged from the late 1970s to 1980s in the USA, but what about other countries?
Criteria described determination of a condition known as “irreversible coma,” “cerebral death,” or brain death.
These criteria lead to the Uniform Determination Death Act in 1980; serves as a model statute for the adoption of state legislation defining death.
Act asserts, “An individual, who has sustained either:
(1) irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions,
(2) irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brainstem, is dead.
(3) brain death continues to be a topic of international debate among medical clinicians, philosophers, and ethicists.
(4) discussions due to awareness of continuing technological advances, neurodiagnostic developments, and clinical insights.
One of the greatest ethical breaches of trust between physicians & patients in a U.S. clinical study, are
brought to light.
Conducted experiments between 1932 and 1972 on 399 black men in the late stages of syphilis in Tuskegee Alabama by the U.S. Public Health Service.
Most illiterate sharecroppers from one of the poorest counties in Alabama, were never told what disease they were suffering from or of its seriousness.
Told they were being treated for “bad blood”…doctors had no intention of curing them of syphilis.
Study was meant to discover how syphilis affected blacks as opposed to whites…theory was
The first major 1976 “right to die” case involving persistent vegetative state (PVS).
She lived for 9 years after being removed from life support.
Her father wanted her taken off respirator, but her doctor refused…stating she did not fit the legal definitions for brain death according to the Harvard Criteria…
NJ Supreme Court used an individuals right to privacy as guaranteed by the US Constitution in that the right to privacy included a patient’s right to refuse medical treatment in some situations.
June 5, 1981 – five cases of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) was reported among previously healthy young men in Los Angeles.
All men were described as “homosexuals”; two had died.
CDC developed an investigative team to identify risk factors and to develop a case definition for national surveillance.
Within 18 months, all major risks factors for immnodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) were identified.
Current Statistics: estimated 1 million people currently living with HIV in the US, with 40K new infections annually.
70% of new infection occur in men; 30% in women.
54% of new infections in US are among African Americans; 64% occurring in women.
75% of new infections in women are heterosexually transmitted.
½ of all new infections in the US occur in people 25 years or younger.
In the patient with Lou Gehrig’s disease (Thomas Yourk), Dr. Kevorkian administered the injection himself as opposed to Yourk completing the process himself.
After assisting in the suicide of almost 100 terminally ill patients.
Convicted of second-degree homicide and the delivery of a controlled substance.
It was proven that he had directly killed a person because his patient was not physically able to kill himself.
Allow funding for research using existing stem cell lines only, “where the decision on life and death has already been made.”
Scientists informed the President that research on 60 existing stem cell lines “has great promise that could lead to breakthrough therapies and cures. This allows us to explore the promise and potential of stem cell research without crossing a fundamental moral line..