...Medical Ethics PHL 399 Summary # 3 Jeannie Taylor The topics encountered for this week’s readings involved stem cells, cloning of animals, the debate of human cloning, and gene therapy. Some terms that were new to me included: nascent, which basically means to be born; hubris which means full of pride; meliorist, which is a human’s effect on societal improvement; and the term despotism, meaning complete power or authority. In the reading on the President’s Council on Bioethics the council agreed that reproductive cloning was unacceptable. However it was not unanimous on therapeutic cloning. Majority of the council recommended a four year moratorium on research cloning and the remaining members recommended regulations of cloned embryos in research. A moral case for cloning for biomedical research is to provide possibilities of treating diseases. Research is limited to fourteen day old embryos that would be created to provide a good service for life and medicine. A moral case against cloning refers to embryos being treated as raw material solely to fulfill our own needs. There is also great concern of possibly causing harm to society by crossing reproduction margins and/or ruin to nascent human life. The four year moratorium hopes to provide some firm policies on cloning and allow time for a well researched and judicious decision to be attained. The central moral issue from the case of Dolly, the cloned sheep, is whether it is morally acceptable to clone...
Words: 1008 - Pages: 5
...Preventing a Brave New World Derek Brown Grantham University Abstract This paper wills discuss Leon Kass's conclusion that reproductive and therapeutic cloning of human embryos is unethical. It will also converse the steps in Kass's argument for his conclusion and will talk about the strengths and weaknesses of this argument? Preventing a Brave New World You ever see the mover Jurassic Park? Did you take notice the basis of the of is about cloning dinosaurs DNA; I know for one, the world is not ready for dinosaurs to walk free about the earth again. This also brings to mind a movie titled "The Boys from Brazil". This movie too depicts cloning, where the DNA of Hitler is used to clone babies with intent of one them again reigning over Germany; the world wouldn't be ready for another holocaust. To continue heading down in which cloning is the standard, then these types of cloning are a definite likelihood. Would you be ready for a "brave new world?" Or would you try to "prevent a brave new world?" You decided! Would it be so bad to have a world were all is good, no disease, famine, or illness; everyone is the epitome of their father and mother eyes and all those living in a world where cloning the norm. There are those in the here and now who see cloning, in all it facets, as a good and wonderful thing, to be done by all, if your hearts so desires. "Some among us are delighted, of course by the this state of affairs: some scientist and biotechnologist...
Words: 938 - Pages: 4
...Ethical dilemmas in the Use of Ultrasound in China Name Institution Ethics are the principles and values an individual uses to govern his activities and decisions. In an organization, a code of ethics is a set of principles that guide the organization in its programs, policies and decisions for the business (Trevino & Nelson, 2011). The ethical philosophy an organization uses to conduct business can affect the reputation, productivity and bottom line of the business. The ethics that leaders in an organization use to manage employees may have an effect on the morale and loyalty of workers. The code of ethics leaders use determines discipline procedures and the acceptable behavior for all workers in an organization. When leaders have high ethical standards, it encourages workers in the organization to meet that same level (Trevino & Nelson, 2011). Ethical leadership also enhances the company’s reputation in the financial market and community. A solid reputation for ethics and integrity in the community may improve the company’s business. Employees who use ethics to guide their behavior adhere to employee policies and rules while striving to meet the goals of the organization. Ethical employees also meet standards for quality in their work, which can enhance the company’s reputation for quality products and service. A positive and healthy corporate culture improves the morale among workers in the organization, which may increase productivity and employee retention; this...
Words: 1932 - Pages: 8
...which has sparked many disputes in the global world. Even in our own social circles, the viewpoints on posthumous reproduction tend to be varied. Additionally, posthumous production raises many moral, legal, and ethical concerns. Currently, hospitals do not have a strong ethical stand on posthumous reproduction, but recently they have been forced to develop policies regarding consent, and other legal practices. The following are four interviews done by the writers’ involved four different individuals, a hospital administrator, spiritual leader, healthcare colleague, and a friend. The writers also came to a resolution of dilemma based on research. The information presented is based on the ethical dilemma of a child dying, the parents desire to harvest the child’s eggs for the opportunity to conceive another child or treat any potential genetic anomalies. One of the researchers interviewed the hospital administer where she works. Regarding "posthumous reproduction", the administrator stated that the hospital offers this advanced technology to spouses of patients who meet criteria. The administrator agreed that there is a lack of guidelines and policies related to posthumous reproduction. Answering to the researcher’s question on personal bias, her reply was she does not allow her personal opinion to interfere with her responsibilities. She stated she is dedicated to her job and that her responsibility is to act in the best interest of the patient and the hospital in...
Words: 1407 - Pages: 6
...Chapter 1: Ethical Theory Meta-ethical positions include: * Ethical non-cognitivism (concept that ethics is a matter of feelings) * Ethical relativism (concept that ethics is relative to a particular point of view) * Ethical objectivism (notion that ethics is objective in nature). Meta-Ethical Positions Ethical Non-cognitivism The basis of ethical non-cognitivism is that ethical disagreement can be a highly emotional affair where no amount of reasoning is likely to convince the other party. * Example: “Let’s just agree to disagree” Ethical Relativism * Ethical relativism says that while ethical statements are cognitively meaningful, they do not hold in any objective sense because they depend on our point of view. * If we accept ethical relativism, then ethical disagreement among people who do not share the same perspective becomes impossible. * It assumes that if people agree on something, then it must be true. * Ethical relativism is suspect for a pragmatic reason: it is fundamentally at variance with our social practice. * Example: “To each his own”, or the belief that what’s right for one group isn’t necessarily right for another Ethical Objectivism * Ethical objectivism holds that right and wrong are objective phenomena. * Example: “I’m right and you’re wrong” What is Ethics? * As a discipline, ethics is a branch of philosophy. * It deals with questions of right and wrong conduct, and with what we ought to do and what...
Words: 23725 - Pages: 95
...Health Ethics Assignment 6 * Autonomy Is the personal rule of the self that is free from both controlling interferences by others and from personal limitations that prevent meaningful choice. Personal autonomy is at minimum, self-rule that is free from both controlling interference by others and from limitations, such as inadequate understanding, that prevent meaningful choice. The autonomous individual acts freely in accordance with a self-chosen plan, analogous to the way an independent government manages its territories and sets its policies. A person of diminished autonomy, by contrast, is in some respect controlled by others or incapable of deliberating or acting on the basis of his or her desires and plans. For example, prisoners and mentally retarded individuals often have diminished autonomy. According to this kind of conception, a person’s beliefs, desires, choices, decisions, etc. are autonomous when they fulfil certain procedural criteria. As the above quotation suggests, there can be different views about exactly how these criteria should be formulated. I would however argue that all plausible procedural theories of individual autonomy accept at least the following requirements. If a person’s behavior results from such things as compulsion and weakness of will, then it is not autonomous but heteronomous. If a person’s choices, decisions, beliefs, desires, etc. are due to such external influences as unreflect socialization, manipulation, coercion, etc...
Words: 2430 - Pages: 10
...Ethical and Legal Dilemmas of Surrogacy Christie Blackwell HCA 322 Dr. Nine Bell June 17, 2013 Ethical and Legal Dilemmas of Surrogacy Many individuals have a life plan consisting of college, marriage, and then children. After numerous methods of conception, many couples are still unable to conceive a child. A woman who enters into a contract with a couple, agreeing to carry and birth a child, then hand that child over to the contracted couple, who is often unable to conceive own their own naturally is considered surrogacy (Pozgar, 2012). Surrogacy raises many ethical and legal issues for all parties involved. Is it moral or immoral to enter into an agreement with a woman to birth a child for money? What are the legal rights of the woman conceiving or of the couple? Should the child be aware of the process in which he or she was born? Does the child have rights to access the confidential records of the process? These are a just a few questions that will be addressed throughout this paper. Discussed below is the history of surrogacy, the ethical and legal dilemmas that surround surrogacy, alternative solutions to surrogacy, and the potential effects and future implications of how surrogacy may be addressed. There are two types of surrogacy arrangements to consider. These types of surrogacy are genetic and gestational. Genetic or traditional surrogacy is where the surrogate mother contributes her genetic makeup to the offspring, whereas gestational surrogacy consists...
Words: 2976 - Pages: 12
...Via electronic bibliographic databases, websites and hand searches conducted in India, 113 relevant articles, books and reports were identified. These were classified according to topic area, publication date, disciplinary perspective, genre, and theoretical and methodological approaches. Topic areas were identified initially through an inductive approach, then rationalised into seven broad themes. Transnational consumption of health services; the transnational healthcare workforce; the production, consumption and trade in specific health-related commodities, and transnational diffusion of ideas and knowledge have all received attention from social scientists in work related to India. Other themes with smaller volumes of work include new global health governance issues and structures; transnational delivery of health services and the transnational movement of capital. Thirteen disciplines were found represented in our review, with social policy being a clear leader, followed by economics...
Words: 11974 - Pages: 48
...Research TOC BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY, “SOCIOBIOLOGY,” AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR Bobbi S. Low W hen Juliet was twelve, her father, without consulting her, betrothed her to a man more than twice her age. She, being in love with Romeo, complained. Her father’s answer was (Act III, Scene V): An you will not wed, I’ll pardon you! Graze where you will, you shall not house with me; … An you be mine, I’ll give you to my friend; An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets, For, by my soul, I’ll ne’er acknowledge thee, Nor what is mine shall never do thee good. Today, in the United States, Juliet would probably sue her father for child abuse. And she would be likely to win. What is common, approved, and thought ethical varies widely across human cultures in time and space: whether one may marry more than one person at a time; who chooses marriage partners; whether abortion and infanticide are approved or forbidden; whether one may eat all meats, some meats, or none; what kinds of killings are forbidden or encouraged. How are we to make sense of all this variety? Human behavior has traditionally been the province of anthropology, sociology, and psychology. Within each of these fields there exist diverse approaches. Recently, behavioral ecology, an evolutionary approach to why we behave as we do, has joined other fields in trying to explain some of the diversity in human behavior. With its roots in Charles Darwin’s work 1 on natural selection, it examines how environmental conditions...
Words: 9042 - Pages: 37
...shortcomings of somatic-cell gene therapy and germ-line genetic alteration, I argue that the testing and selective termination of genetically defective embryos is the only medically and morally defensible way to prevent the existence of people with severe disability, pain and suffering that make their lives not worth living for them on the whole. In addition, I consider the possible harmful effects on children born from frozen embryos after the deaths of their biological parents, or when their parents are at an advanced age. I also explore whether embryos have moral status and whether the prospects for disease-preventing genetic alteration can justify long-term cryopreservation of embryos. INTRODUCTION Recent advances in reproductive biotechnology have given us the ability to intervene in the process of human biological development from embryos to people. One type of intervention is the testing of embryos for genetic defects that cause disease, which enables us to choose between allowing these embryos to result in disabled people or selectively terminating their further development. Alternatively, in the foreseeable future it may become possible to prevent disease by correcting a mutation in embryonic cells or by inserting a normal gene into these cells. It even may become possible to manipulate genes in such a way as to enhance people's normal cognitive and physical functioning. Still another form of intervention in the development of a...
Words: 11455 - Pages: 46
...clusive use at Institute of Management Technology, Hyderabad (IMT,HYD), 2015 9-109-017 REV: FEBRUARY 18, 2009 ROBERT SIMONS KATHRYN ROSENBERG NATALIE KINDRED Sydney IVF: Stem Cell Research At Sydney IVF we absolutely respect your beliefs. Because of this, we have taken the care to devise acceptable assisted conception programs for virtually all faiths—Christianity (including the Brethren), Islam, Judaism (including supervised kosher treatment cycles), Hinduism, and Buddhism. We guarantee that your eggs and your sperm will never be used in a way that you have not explicitly or implicitly consented to. — (Sydney IVF website) This case study describes the strategy implementation choices made by executives at Sydney IVF Limited: an Australian business that tested and performed research using human embryos derived from in vitro fertilization. In vitro fertilization (IVF) was a process that allowed human eggs to be fertilized outside a woman’s womb. In a typical IVF cycle, a woman’s ovaries were stimulated with fertility drugs to encourage the production of anywhere from 3 to 30 eggs. These eggs were then retrieved from the ovaries and fertilized with sperm in a glass test tube or petri dish—hence the Latin term in vitro, which means “in glass.” The fertilized eggs grew in a specialized culture medium (a nutrient-rich salt solution) for several days. The resulting embryos—clusters of cells that form after an egg is fertilized—were then transferred back to...
Words: 10084 - Pages: 41
...PART A: The Principal of family determination in organ donation ABSTRACT: This article is written by Mingxu wang,, Wen zang, Xueliang Wang. In this article the point which is stressed upon is that wether family should be given the right to give consent for organ donation of a person if he himself has not stated any statement regarding his will on organ donation. Many ethical views of different societies are discussed, especially the Chinese including the Confucians. Some cases are also explained at the end in which the families of the dead are taking decision about the organ donations. Other problems relating to this matter are also highlighted. There are many school of thoughts based on different religions and different societies. In this article the Chinese, Confucians and Mencius are discussed in detail. The Chinese place their families at a very high position. They give a lot of importance and thus during the process of deciding wether to donate the organs or not, the family is given the highest authority. Confucians however not in favour of the process of organ transplantation. Their point of view is different. They like to keep their moral values. According to them the parts of an individual are gifts from their parents and they should not be messed with.They should be left as such. My opinion, after reading this article, is that after a person dies and he has not stated that wether he would not like to donate the organs then the decision...
Words: 4050 - Pages: 17
...out the nucleus with its unique DNA, and then fused the ovum with a cell (with its own DNA) from the donor,” (Fr. William Saunders). From this technique, it created an ewe called Dolly, who was an exactly identical to the original donor. After she made headlines, people were curious and the question arises, “If this can be done with animals, why not with human beings?” (Fr. William Saunders). The Catholic Church believes human cloning is wrong because it is immoral and it undermines the dignity of a human being. By using human cloning it violates the fundamental principles of on which human rights are based on and it violates the principle upon...
Words: 1963 - Pages: 8
...Charles Taiwo, Mariella Velasquez, Mark Young DeVry University Genetic Engineering Table of contents Title page ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1 Table of contents ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2 1. A brief description of the technology and an explanation of the associated science (Mariella Velasquez) ………………………………………………..……………. 3 2. Psychological considerations and sociological effects (Mariella Velasquez) …………. 3 3. The historical development and context of the technology (Wesley Rupe) …………. 13 4. Political and legal influences (Mark Young) (Not Complete) 5. Economic questions and considerations (Jawad Rana)………………………………….…… 21 6. The technology in its cultural context, media influence (Charles Taiwo) (Not Complete) 7. Implications for the environment (Charles Taiwo) (Not Complete) 8. Moral and ethical implications (Layli Stroia) ……………………………………………………..… 30 Outline A brief description of the technology and an explanation of the associated science Definition: What is Genetic Engineering? Genetic engineering (GE) is the process of manipulation of an organism genome to create a new DNA. The new DNA might be implanted in a totally different DNA species. It is widely used to create hybrids (some species are not able to naturally breed), correct genetic flows in any type of being. It is applied in fields such as agriculture, industrial, medicine and pharmaceutical...
Words: 8761 - Pages: 36
...Monsanto’s pledge on business ethics: Oxymoron? “Producing more, conserving more, improving lives – that’s sustainable agriculture. And that’s what Monsanto is all about. Billions of people depend upon what farmers do. And so will billions more. In the next few decades, farmers will have to grow as much food as they have in the past 10,000 years – combined. We work alongside farmers to do exactly that by selling seeds, traits developed through biotechnology, and crop protection chemicals. We are working to double yields in our core crops by 2030 with one-third fewer resources such as land, water and energy per unit produced and helping farmers to raise themselves from poverty to prosperity, along with many more people.” (Compiled from www.monsanto.com) On its website, Monsanto positions itself as a relatively new agricultural company that aims to help farmers produce healthier food by increasing productivity, repressing weeds and combating insects while ensuring that environmental standards are not only met but exceeded, and while protecting the safety of people and communities. Its leading product is ‘Roundup’, world’s best selling agriculture herbicide for the last thirty years. Monsanto is also the world leader in biotechnology. 90 percent of GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) crops grown on the planet belonged to Monsanto (1). But then Monsanto is also arguably the world's most controversial company, praised by those who see a future of environmentally friendly farming...
Words: 2170 - Pages: 9
