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Bioethics 2024 Questions and Answers Fully Solved
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Exam of 5 pages for the course Bioethics at Bioethics (Bioethics 2024)
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Bioethics 2024What is bioethics? - answer Bioethics is the discussion of the ethical concerns within the
context of modern medicine and health care. It takes place in a number of settings, from
the media and classrooms, to labs, doctor's offices, and hospitals. It involves not just
doctors, but also patients, researchers, lawmakers, and the general public.
Bioethics applies ethical principles to the everyday medical care and health issues of
people within our society. The field of bioethics is constantly evolving as ethical theories
are applied and evaluated.
When doctors graduate medical school, they are required to recite the Hippocratic Oath,
which is a promise to treat the sick to the best of their ability and to do no harm. This
oath creates the standard for medical practice: for doctors to treat patients as best as
they can. This promise becomes problematic when doctors are faced with cases such
as patients who want an abortion, or patients who want to die because they have a
terminal illness and are suffering. These are urgent issues with deep moral implications.
Bioethics attempts to address these questions with practical real-world solutions, based
on ethical principles.
cont. - answerThere are so many different issues in bioethics that it is difficult to define
a specific list, especially as new issues are brought to light regularly. For example, the
African Ebola crisis raised a global-wide bioethical debate regarding access to health
care and moral obligations to help those in medical need. These issues were made
worse by the socio-economic differences between nations like the United States, which
is relatively wealthy, and Liberia, which is not. It was further complicated when western
humanitarian aid workers were infected and immediately received treatment that was
not given to the local population.
Another controversial issue in constant bioethics debate is abortion. Should doctors,
who have promised to do no harm, perform abortions? If a doctor performs an abortion,
is he or she committing murder? What about the mother? Does the fetus have rights of
personhood before birth? What about the mother's rights to make medical decisions
about her own body? These are only just a few of the questions regarding the abortion
debate, which also has broad ethical implications, including religious and civil liberties
concerns.
Yet another bioethical issue is the sale of body organs. Should people be allowed to sell
their organs for a profit? If they do not need a specific organ to live, such as an extra
kidney, then should people feel morally obligated to donate their organs? Bioethics can
help us determine an ethical solution to some of these questions.
, cont. - answerSome bioethical decisions are made on the individual level, such as
"Should I take prescription steroids to enhance my appearance?" or "Should I take a
test to determine if I have a fatal illness, and if I have it, should I tell my children?"
Others are nationwide issues, such as mandatory vaccination. Should all students
attending public schools be forced to be fully vaccinated?
Many bioethical issues are global, such as questions about human dignity and what to
do when human dignity is violated, such as inhumane experimentation or medical
exploitation. For example, what can the world community do when a country engages in
illegal human experimentation? What authority does the global community have to help
address such matters?
Finally, other questions discuss which ethical theory we should use to answer bioethical
questions. Should we adhere to the code of utilitarianism and do that which brings the
greater good to the greater amount of people? What implications would this have for
health care? Should we use Kant's categorical imperative, and always do what is
morally right and not worry about the consequences of our decisions? Alternatively,
should we follow a certain religious moral code, and if so, which religion?
Bioethical Issues in Human Experimentation (Tuskegee Syphillis Experminent) -
answerUnethical human medical experimentation has been an unfortunate legacy of
medical research studies. Regrettably, there are many. One of the most famous in the
United States is the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. In 1932, the US Public Health
Service and Tuskegee Institute began a study involving poverty-stricken sharecroppers,
600 black men, 399 of whom had syphilis. The men were told that they would be
receiving free treatment for "bad blood." They were also told that they would receive
free medical care, meals and transport on exam days, as well as burial stipends for
survivors. In fact, the men were never treated for syphilis, and even after 1947, when
penicillin was discovered to be an easy, safe, and effective cure, it was not offered to
them. What began as a 6-month study ended up as a 40-year farce in which 399 men
were forced to suffer at the expense of medical research.
The many bioethical concerns in the case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment include
social exploitation of minorities, and the issue of informed consent. Although the men
consented to be involved in the study, they did not consent to be exposed to known
danger through lack of medical care for their specific illnesses. In 1972, the Public
Health Service advisory panel determined that the study was "ethically unjustified" and
immediately terminated it. However, the damage was already done, with almost 400
black men and their families having suffered through 40 years of extreme mental and
physical distress.
cont. (Satesville Penitentiary in Illinios) - answerMeanwhile, in 1944, in the Statesville
Penitentiary in Illinois, a military research project had begun. There, 432 male inmates
were purposely infected with a vicious strain of malaria, and then treated with
experimental drugs, some of which had serious side effects. In this case, unlike the
Tuskegee experiment, all inmates were aware of the potential health risks but
consented anyway due to the promise of a reduced sentence or early parole.
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