Ethical Issues in Research

Even though codes of ethics are written down, they are not known as rules, but it is given to set the boundaries of what is and is not an acceptable way to conduct research

If one was to ask the question, “What do ethics mean to you?” These responses would be likely to follow. “Ethics is what my feelings tell me is right or wrong.” “Ethics have to do with my religious beliefs.” “Being ethical means following the laws.” Those replies would be expected. Many do relate ethics with their feelings, but it is not a matter of following feelings. In fact, we will often times stray from living ethically if we were guided by our feelings. Although religions urge high ethical standards, if ethics were limited to religion, ethics would only apply to religious people. Following the law is not the same as being ethical. Ethical standards may be incorporated in the law, but laws, won’t always conform to

Ethics are statements written that mirrors the principles of society it reflects society’s views of what is right or humanitarian. However, morals are not written and are codes setting out what is thought to be good enough or offensive behaviour.

A 35-year-old man named Paul, who has a supportive wife and two adventurous kids, has been diagnosed with a very severe case of bone cancer for 1 year now. Since this type of cancer is so severe, chemotherapy is starting to not work as well. Paul’s oncologist unfortunately had to suggest a final option for Paul to try which was a clinical research trial. Clinical research trials are experimental studies that deem whether or not a medical drug, treatment, surgery, or device is safe and beneficial for humans to use ("National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute"). As explained in Marcia Angell’s Article, “The Ethics of Clinical Research in the Third World”, the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Health Organization (WHO) provides a guideline

Ethical standards also require that researchers should make sure when they are conducting any research on a participant, the participant is put into danger. As

When the ethics of the research being done are heavily violated,

The Belmont Report: Ethical principles and guidelines for the protection of human subjects of research. Retrieved December 13, 2011, from hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/belmont.html

As research strives to make a greater impact on society, there are regulations that must be enforced to

One ethical principle is that of respect for persons who are involved in the research. According to the Belmont Report (1979) this principle should honor a person and their autonomous choices, however, the report observes that not all individuals are “capable of self-determination” (sec. Part B 1. Respect for Persons). This incapability requires that those persons be protected (Belmont Report, 1979). Wertheimer (2011) corroborates this in stating that group soft-paternalism is implicit that research should not capitalize on or abuse vulnerable populations, or those population groups who are not able to make rational self-determination. The presence of group soft-paternalism by Wertheimer (2011) in exploiting vulnerable groups also supports the Belmont Report (1979) ethical principle of justice. This principle ensures that persons selected for research are not merely being selected based on their vulnerability (Belmont Report, 1979, sec. Part B 3.

Bell (2005) mentioned that ethical research involves acquiring informed consent of people to be interviewed, questioned, observed or taken materials from and reaching to an understanding of how the data will be used and analysis will be reported and published. In guiding the activities of researchers, Denscombe (2010) described three ethical; “protection of participants’ interest”, “avoiding deception or misinterpretation” and “informed consent of participants”.

Class notes conclude, “1974 legislation requires IRB’s to “protect human subjects from research that is risky, harmful, or does

1.It's so difficult for people to do the right thing because doing the wrong thing because doing the wrong thing is easier than doing the right thing.Some people also derive pleasure from doing the wrong thing

There are many ethical issues in the healthcare field. These issues range from insurance coverage, senior care, childhood immunizations, beneficence, abortion, medicinal marijuana, honesty and medical research (Fritzsche, D., 2004). Today we will discuss the ethical concerns in only one aspect of heath care and that topic is research (Benatar, S., 2000). Medical research is necessary in order to make strides in health care, introduce new medications, to discover new symptoms and disorders and to test new treatment options for current medical problems. Students of medicine, universities and pharmaceutical companies conduct this research primarily. Much of this research is time consuming and costly, therefore obtaining funding is not

Ethical issues in the healthcare field ARISE from different perspectives of individuals rights and clinical research. There have been many advances in technology for the treatment of cancer that come from clinical research have CREATED many new ethical problems. Bone marrow transplantation is a major case where research has the potential benefit, but RESOURCES provide this life-saving option are scarce. Bone marrow is a spongy type tissue inside some of the bones in the body, which includes the thigh and hip bones. A bone marrow contains immature cells, called stem cells. There are two types of bone marrow there is yellow bone marrow which is a fatty tissue and red bone marrow, known as myeloid tissue. Yellow bone marrow CONTAINS mesenchymal stem cells

Over time there has been numerous ethical violations in clinical research; some more significant than others. In 1906, when the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed, there were no regulations regarding the ethical use of human participants in research. There were no consumer regulations such as the Food and Drug Administration, Common Rule and Institutional Review Boards.