Ethical dilemmas concerning decision-making within health care leadership: a systematic literature review.

PubMed

Zydziūnaite, Vilma; Suominen, Tarja; Astedt-Kurki, Päivi; Lepaite, Daiva

2010-01-01

The objective was to describe the research methods and research focuses on ethical dilemmas concerning decision-making within health care leadership. The search was conducted on Medline and PubMed databases (1998-2008). The systematic review included 21 selected articles. The ethical dilemmas concerning decision-making within health care leadership are related to three levels: institutional (particular organization), political and local interface (local governmental structure), and national (professional expertise and system). The terms that are used as adequate to the term of "ethical dilemma" are the following: "continuous balancing," "result of resource allocation," "gap between professional obligations and possibilities," "ethically controversial situation," "concern about interactions," "ethical difficulty," "outcome of medical choices," "concern about society access to health care resources," "ethically difficult/challenging situation," "(the consequence of) ethical concern/ethical issue." In qualitative studies, a semi-structured interview and qualitative content analysis are the most commonly applied methods; in quantitative studies, questionnaire surveys are employed. In the research literature, there is a lack of specification according to professional qualification of health care professionals concerning ethical dilemmas by decision-making within health care management/administration. The research on ethical dilemmas in health care leadership, management, and administration should integrate data about levels at which ethical dilemmas occur and investigate ethical dilemmas as complex phenomena because those are attached to decision-making and specific nuances of health care management/administration. In this article, the presented scientific problem requires extensive scientific discussions and research on ethical dilemmas concerning decision-making within health care leadership at various levels.

The Marginalisation of Indigenous Students within School Mathematics and the Math Wars: Seeking Resolutions within Ethical Spaces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russell, Gale L.; Chernoff, Egan J.

2013-01-01

In mathematics education, there are (at least) two seemingly disparate and unethical issues that have been allowed to continue unresolved for decades: the math wars (traditional versus reform teaching and learning of mathematics) and the marginalisation of Indigenous students within K-12 mathematics. Willie Ermine, an Indigenous scholar, has…

NATO and Hybrid Conflict: Unresolved Issues from the Past or Unresolvable Threats of the Present?

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

order to strengthen the relationship between the UK and France, the Treaty of Dunkirk was signed in March 1947 expressing the Western European... Dunkirk Treaty was mainly a projection of European concerns about the reemergence of German aggression. The Rio Pact was more a representation of

Normative ethics in sports medicine.

PubMed

Bernstein, Joseph; Perlis, Clifford; Bartolozzi, Arthur R

2004-03-01

The relationship between a team physician and an athlete differs significantly from the traditional doctor-patient relationship. To better define the ethical norms and ideals in sports medicine, we surveyed the views of practicing team physicians in the Ivy, National Football, and National Hockey Leagues and compared them with responses offered by professional ethicists. Six hypothetical cases were presented, each representing a distinct area of ethical conflict: advertising, conflicting healthcare goals, confidentiality, innovative treatments, enabling dangerous behavior, and treating children. Thirty-one ethicists and 131 team physicians responded to the surveys. Subjects were asked to rate agreement or disagreement with statements that followed the case description. Responses were converted to scores ranging from 0 to 100. A priori, a difference greater than 20 points was set to represent significant disagreement. By that standard, there was agreement between the physicians and ethicists for 18 of 23 statements. We concluded that team physicians and ethicists share many of the same ethical views on common ethical issues in sports medicine. The high degree of variance in the responses in both groups, however, suggests that many unresolved areas remain in the field of ethics in sports medicine.

Ethical concerns and dilemmas of Finnish and Dutch health professionals.

PubMed

Hopia, Hanna; Lottes, Ilsa; Kanne, Mariël

2016-09-01

Healthcare professionals encounter ethical dilemmas and concerns in their practice. More research is needed to understand these ethical problems and to know how to educate professionals to respond to them. To describe ethical dilemmas and concerns at work from the perspectives of Finnish and Dutch healthcare professionals studying at the master's level. Exploratory, qualitative study that used the text of student online discussions of ethical dilemmas at work as data. Participants' online discussions were analyzed using inductive content analysis. The sample consisted of 49 students at master's level enrolled in professional ethics courses at universities in Finland and the Netherlands. Permission for conducting the study was granted from both universities of applied sciences. All students provided their informed consent for the use of their assignments as research data. Participants described 51 problematic work situations. Among these, 16 were found to be ethical dilemmas, and the remaining were work issues with an ethical concern and did not meet criteria of a dilemma. The most common problems resulted from concerns about quality care, safety of healthcare professionals, patients' rights, and working with too few staff and inadequate resources. The results indicated that participants were concerned about providing quality of care and raised numerous questions about how to provide it in challenging situations. The results show that it was difficult for students to differentiate ethical dilemmas from other ethical work concerns. Online discussions among healthcare providers give them an opportunity to relate ethical principles to real ethical dilemmas and problems in their work as well as to critically analyze ethical issues. We found that discussions with descriptions of ethical dilemmas and concerns by health professionals provide important information and recommendations not only for education and practice but also for health policy. © The Author(s) 2015.

Microbicide research in developing countries: have we given the ethical concerns due consideration?

PubMed

Moodley, Keymanthri

2007-09-19

HIV prevention research has been fraught with ethical concerns since its inception. These concerns were highlighted during HIV vaccine research and have been elaborated in microbicide research. A host of unique ethical concerns pervade the microbicide research process from trial design to post-trial microbicide availability. Given the urgency of research and development in the face of the devastating HIV pandemic, these ethical concerns represent an enormous challenge for investigators, sponsors and Research Ethics Committees (RECs) both locally and internationally. Ethical concerns relating to safety in microbicide research are a major international concern. However, in the urgency to develop a medically efficacious microbicide, some of these concerns may not have been anticipated. In the risk-benefit assessment of research protocols, both medical and psycho-social risk must be considered. In this paper four main areas that have a potential for medical and/or psycho-social harm are examined. Male partner involvement is controversial in the setting of covert use of microbicides. However, given the long-term exposure of men to experimental products, this may be methodologically, ethically and legally important. Covert use of microbicides may impact negatively on relationship dynamics leading to psychosocial harm to varying extents. The unexpectedly high rates of pregnancy during clinical trials raise important methodological and ethical concerns. Enrollment of adolescents without parental consent generates ethical and legal concerns that must be carefully considered by RECs and trial sites. Finally, paradoxical outcomes in recent trials internationally have advanced the debate on the nature of informed consent and responsibility of researchers to participants who become HIV positive during or after trials. Phase 3 microbicide trials are an undisputed research and ethical priority in developing countries. However, such trials must be conducted with attention to both methodological and ethical detail. It is imperative that guidelines are formulated to ensure that high ethical standards are maintained despite the scientific urgency of microbicide development. Given the controversy raised by emergent ethical issues during the course of microbicide development, it is important that international consensus is reached amongst the various ethics and regulatory agencies in developing and developed countries alike.

Ebola epidemic of 2014-2015: unresolved ethical issues.

PubMed

Garbuglia, Anna Rosa

2016-01-01

Some ethical aspects of the management of the Ebola epidemic in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone which started in January 2014, have been questionable. First, as regards the prevention of the spread of the virus, the necessary epidemiological investigations on the origin of the infection were not carried out adequately and this did not help to curb the spread of the disease. A disparity has been observed between the western and African countries' access to the treatment of patients; this infringes on the principle of equality. This paper also focuses on how the Global Public Goods for Health principle was not fully respected in the management of the epidemic.

Cell-based therapeutic strategies for multiple sclerosis.

PubMed

Scolding, Neil J; Pasquini, Marcelo; Reingold, Stephen C; Cohen, Jeffrey A

2017-11-01

The availability of multiple disease-modifying medications with regulatory approval to treat multiple sclerosis illustrates the substantial progress made in therapy of the disease. However, all are only partially effective in preventing inflammatory tissue damage in the central nervous system and none directly promotes repair. Cell-based therapies, including immunoablation followed by autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, mesenchymal and related stem cell transplantation, pharmacologic manipulation of endogenous stem cells to enhance their reparative capabilities, and transplantation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, have generated substantial interest as novel therapeutic strategies for immune modulation, neuroprotection, or repair of the damaged central nervous system in multiple sclerosis. Each approach has potential advantages but also safety concerns and unresolved questions. Moreover, clinical trials of cell-based therapies present several unique methodological and ethical issues. We summarize here the status of cell-based therapies to treat multiple sclerosis and make consensus recommendations for future research and clinical trials. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain.

Asian public concern over the ethics of scientists: predictors and implications for research ethics.

PubMed

Smolak, Alex; Gorroochurn, Prakash; Kamarulzaman, Adeeba; Janjua, Nazli

2012-01-01

The following two research questions were examined in this study: 1) What is the public's level of concern with ethics in science; and 2) Are religious affiliation, religious involvement, and education predictors of that concern in Asia? The sample includes 7,963 men and women between the ages of 20 and 59 from ten Asian countries. An overall low level of relative concern toward ethics in science was reported. Lower educational attainment was associated with lower odds of concern. Christian religious affiliation and moderate religious involvement were also associated with lower odds of concern. This article highlights the importance of more active research into social perspectives on ethics in science.

The marginalisation of Indigenous students within school mathematics and the math wars: seeking resolutions within ethical spaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russell, Gale L.; Chernoff, Egan J.

2013-03-01

In mathematics education, there are (at least) two seemingly disparate and unethical issues that have been allowed to continue unresolved for decades: the math wars (traditional versus reform teaching and learning of mathematics) and the marginalisation of Indigenous students within K-12 mathematics. Willie Ermine, an Indigenous scholar, has proposed the use of ethical spaces to explore and analyse occurrences of unethical situations arising between the "intersection of Indigenous law and Canadian Legal systems" (Ermine, Indigenous Law Journal 6(1):193-203, 2007). This paper brings Ermine's notion of ethical spaces to the field of mathematics education research as the theoretical framework for analysing the aforementioned issues. The result of this analysis is a potential single theoretical resolution to both dilemmas that can also serve as a significant factor in the processes of decolonisation.

Genomic medicine: health care issues and the unresolved ethical and social dilemmas.

PubMed

Idemyor, Vincent

2014-01-01

Our perception of the mechanism by which single genes can cause disease is evolving. This has led to the understanding of the pathophysiological basis of common diseases. Genomic Medicine continues to contribute to the understanding of the molecular basis of disease. Medicine has strived to achieve the goal of tailoring interventions to individual variations in risk and treatment response and advances in medical genomics will facilitate this process. Relevant to present-day practice is the use of genomic information to classify individuals according to disease susceptibility or expected responsiveness to a pharmacologic treatment and to provide targeted interventions. By investigating the genetic profile of individuals, medical professionals are able to select patients and use the information obtained to plan out a course of treatment that is much more in step with the way their body works. However, society is concerned about the effect genetic knowledge will have on ethnic or racial groups. Currently, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act prohibits discrimination based on genetics. There is a need to increase the understanding of the social and ethical challenges that genomics information may pose to clinicians and scientists. This review is not meant to be exhaustive; rather, clinically relevant examples are used to illustrate how genomic medicine can facilitate the provision of molecular diagnostic methods that improve drug therapy. Finally, the rapid pace of change in genomics may likely make my conclusions today obsolete tomorrow.

When Others' Performance Just Isn't Good Enough: Educational Leaders' Framing of Concerns in Private and Public

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sinnema, Claire E. L.; Le Fevre, Deidre; Robinson, Viviane M. J.; Pope, Denyse

2013-01-01

Effective instructional leadership demands that leaders address the inevitable problems and concerns that exist in any educational organization. Unfortunately, much evidence suggests that many important concerns, including teacher performance issues, continue to be unaddressed and unresolved. This article portrays the nature of concerns facing 77…

Forgive Me Now, Fire Me Later: Mass Communication Students' Ethics Gap Concerning School and Journalism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conway, Mike; Groshek, Jacob

2009-01-01

Survey data on mass communication students' perceptions of plagiarism and fabrication indicate an ethics gap in which students are more concerned about ethical breaches in journalism than in academics. Further analyses found that the ethics gap increases among students near graduation who had higher levels of concern and suggested harsher…

[Dissent in public health ethics. A guarantor for political credibility?].

PubMed

Michelsen, K

2009-05-01

Public health covers public activities linked with cure, prevention and health promotion directed to positively influence the health of populations. As far as these criteria are met, health policies are public health. Public health holds many ethical implications. Resources and health opportunities are redistributed, ends and means of public health as well as rights and duties have to be discussed, and conflicts exist between targets. Ethical policy counselling is an important complement to natural and social scientific policy counselling. However, ethical counselling cannot solve conflicts about values and norms nor does it claim to do so. There are different theories and approaches, recommended principles differ and are in conflict with each other. It must not be expected that a generally accepted frame for public health ethical policy counselling will be developed. Public health ethics can develop an ordering effect and enforce more clarity for actors about their values and norms, but in case of unresolvable dissent between experts it can also be misused to give support to the legitimation of political decisions. Orientation of consulting activities towards the "pragmatistic model" (Habermas) and a counselling of the civil society is promising to prevent such exploitation.

When sex doesn't sell: using sexualized images of women reduces support for ethical campaigns.

PubMed

Bongiorno, Renata; Bain, Paul G; Haslam, Nick

2013-01-01

Images of scantily clad women are used by advertisers to make products more attractive to men. This "sex sells" approach is increasingly employed to promote ethical causes, most prominently by the animal-rights organization PETA. Yet sexualized images can dehumanize women, leaving an unresolved paradox--is it effective to advertise an ethical cause using unethical means? In Study 1, a sample of Australian male undergraduates (N = 82) viewed PETA advertisements containing either sexualized or non-sexualized images of women. Intentions to support the ethical organization were reduced for those exposed to the sexualized advertising, and this was explained by their dehumanization of the sexualized women, and not by increased arousal. Study 2 used a mixed-gender community sample from the United States (N = 280), replicating this finding and extending it by showing that behaviors helpful to the ethical cause diminished after viewing the sexualized advertisements, which was again mediated by the dehumanization of the women depicted. Alternative explanations relating to the reduced credibility of the sexualized women and their objectification were not supported. When promoting ethical causes, organizations may benefit from using advertising strategies that do not dehumanize women.

When Sex Doesn't Sell: Using Sexualized Images of Women Reduces Support for Ethical Campaigns

PubMed Central

Bongiorno, Renata; Bain, Paul G.; Haslam, Nick

2013-01-01

Images of scantily clad women are used by advertisers to make products more attractive to men. This “sex sells” approach is increasingly employed to promote ethical causes, most prominently by the animal-rights organization PETA. Yet sexualized images can dehumanize women, leaving an unresolved paradox – is it effective to advertise an ethical cause using unethical means? In Study 1, a sample of Australian male undergraduates (N = 82) viewed PETA advertisements containing either sexualized or non-sexualized images of women. Intentions to support the ethical organization were reduced for those exposed to the sexualized advertising, and this was explained by their dehumanization of the sexualized women, and not by increased arousal. Study 2 used a mixed-gender community sample from the United States (N = 280), replicating this finding and extending it by showing that behaviors helpful to the ethical cause diminished after viewing the sexualized advertisements, which was again mediated by the dehumanization of the women depicted. Alternative explanations relating to the reduced credibility of the sexualized women and their objectification were not supported. When promoting ethical causes, organizations may benefit from using advertising strategies that do not dehumanize women. PMID:24367591

The ethical foundations of behavior therapy.

PubMed

Kitchener, Richard F

1991-01-01

In this article, I am concerned with the ethical foundations of behavior therapy, that is, with the normative ethics and the meta-ethics underlying behavior therapy. In particular, I am concerned with questions concerning the very possibilty of providing an ethical justification for things done in the context of therapy. Because behavior therapists must be able to provide an ethical justification for various actions (if the need arises), certain meta-ethical views widely accepted by behavior therapists must be abandoned; in particular, one must give up ethical subjectivism, ethical skepticism, and ethical relativism. An additional task is to show how it is possible to provide a nonsubjective, nonskeptical, and nonrelativistic moral justification for an ethical statement. Although this is a monumental task, I provide a rough sketch of such a model, one that is congenial to the value judgments underlying behavior therapy.

Clarifying perspectives: Ethics case reflection sessions in childhood cancer care.

PubMed

Bartholdson, Cecilia; Lützén, Kim; Blomgren, Klas; Pergert, Pernilla

2016-06-01

Childhood cancer care involves many ethical concerns. Deciding on treatment levels and providing care that infringes on the child's growing autonomy are known ethical concerns that involve the whole professional team around the child's care. The purpose of this study was to explore healthcare professionals' experiences of participating in ethics case reflection sessions in childhood cancer care. Data collection by observations, individual interviews, and individual encounters. Data analysis were conducted following grounded theory methodology. Healthcare professionals working at a publicly funded children's hospital in Sweden participated in ethics case reflection sessions in which ethical issues concerning clinical cases were reflected on. The children's and their parents' integrity was preserved through measures taken to protect patient identity during ethics case reflection sessions. The study was approved by a regional ethical review board. Consolidating care by clarifying perspectives emerged. Consolidating care entails striving for common care goals and creating a shared view of care and the ethical concern in the specific case. The inter-professional perspectives on the ethical aspects of care are clarified by the participants' articulated views on the case. Different approaches for deliberating ethics are used during the sessions including raising values and making sense, leading to unifying interactions. The findings indicate that ethical concerns could be eased by implementing ethics case reflection sessions. Conflicting perspectives can be turned into unifying interactions in the healthcare professional team with the common aim to achieve good pediatric care. Ethics case reflection sessions is valuable as it permits the discussion of values in healthcare-related issues in childhood cancer care. Clarifying perspectives, on the ethical concerns, enables healthcare professionals to reflect on the most reasonable and ethically defensible care for the child. A consolidated care approach would be valuable for both the child and the healthcare professionals because of the common care goals. © The Author(s) 2015.

Does uncontrolled cardiac death for organ donation raise ethical questions? An opinion survey.

PubMed

Goudet, V; Albouy-Llaty, M; Migeot, V; Pain, B; Dayhot-Fizelier, C; Pinsard, M; Gil, R; Beloucif, S; Robert, R

2013-11-01

Organ donation after uncontrolled cardiac death raises complex ethical issues. We conducted a survey in a large hospital staff population, including caregivers and administrators, to determine their ethical viewpoints regarding organ donation after uncontrolled cardiac death. Multicenter observational survey using a questionnaire, including information on the practical modalities of the procedure. Respondents were asked to answer 15 detailed ethical questions corresponding to different ethical issues raised in the literature. Ethical concerns was defined when respondents expressed ethical concerns in their answers to at least three of nine specifically selected ethical questions. One thousand one hundred ninety-six questionnaires were received, and 1057 could be analysed. According to our definition, 573 respondents out of 1057 (54%) had ethical concerns with regard to donation after cardiac death and 484 (46 %) had no ethical concerns. Physicians (55%) and particularly junior intensivists (65%) tended to have more ethical issues than nurses (52%) and hospital managers (37%). Junior intensivists had more ethical issues than senior intensivists (59%), emergency room physicians (46%) and transplant specialists (43%). Only 46% of hospital-based caregivers and managers appear to accept easily the legitimacy of organ donation after cardiac death. A significant number of respondents especially intensivists, expressed concerns over the dilemma between the interests of the individual and those of society. These results underline the need to better inform both healthcare professionals and the general population to help to the development of such procedure. © 2013 The Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Avoid Ethical Misconduct in Manuscript Preparation.

PubMed

Hicks, Rodney W; Harris, Ruth

2016-01-01

In order for nurses and other health care professionals to make important contributions to the literature, there must be an awareness of the many areas where unintentional ethical conflicts can arise. Leading ethical concerns include plagiarism, duplicate submission, authorship standards, bias, and conflicts of interest. Although many sources are available on the variety of ethical concerns, this article takes the position to identify the area of concern and describe why it is an ethical violation. Solutions are posed for resolving the conflict, including why medical librarians can help in the publishing process.

Research ethics in dissertations: ethical issues and complexity of reasoning.

PubMed

Kjellström, S; Ross, S N; Fridlund, B

2010-07-01

Conducting ethically sound research is a fundamental principle of scientific inquiry. Recent research has indicated that ethical concerns are insufficiently dealt with in dissertations. To examine which research ethical topics were addressed and how these were presented in terms of complexity of reasoning in Swedish nurses' dissertations. Analyses of ethical content and complexity of ethical reasoning were performed on 64 Swedish nurses' PhD dissertations dated 2007. A total of seven ethical topics were identified: ethical approval (94% of the dissertations), information and informed consent (86%), confidentiality (67%), ethical aspects of methods (61%), use of ethical principles and regulations (39%), rationale for the study (20%) and fair participant selection (14%). Four of those of topics were most frequently addressed: the majority of dissertations (72%) included 3-5 issues. While many ethical concerns, by their nature, involve systematic concepts or metasystematic principles, ethical reasoning scored predominantly at lesser levels of complexity: abstract (6% of the dissertations), formal (84%) and systematic (10%). Research ethics are inadequately covered in most dissertations by nurses in Sweden. Important ethical concerns are missing, and the complexity of reasoning on ethical principles, motives and implications is insufficient. This is partly due to traditions and norms that discount ethical concerns but is probably also a reflection of the ability of PhD students and supervisors to handle complexity in general. It is suggested that the importance of ethical considerations should be emphasised in graduate and post-graduate studies and that individuals with capacity to deal with systematic and metasystematic concepts are recruited to senior research positions.

The 'over-researched community': An ethics analysis of stakeholder views at two South African HIV prevention research sites.

PubMed

Koen, Jennifer; Wassenaar, Douglas; Mamotte, Nicole

2017-12-01

Health research in resource-limited, multi-cultural contexts raises complex ethical concerns. The term 'over-researched community' (ORC) has been raised as an ethical concern and potential barrier to community participation in research. However, the term lacks conceptual clarity and is absent from established ethics guidelines and academic literature. In light of the concern being raised in relation to research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), a critical and empirical exploration of the meaning of ORC was undertaken. Guided by Emanuel et al.'s (2004) eight principles for ethically sound research in LMICs, this study examines the relevance and meaning of the terms 'over-research' and 'over-researched community' through an analysis of key stakeholder perspectives at two South African research sites. Data were collected between August 2007 and October 2008. 'Over-research' was found to represent a conglomeration of ethical concerns often used as a proxy for standard research ethics concepts. 'Over-research' seemed fundamentally linked to disparate positions and perspectives between different stakeholders in the research interaction, arising from challenges in inter-stakeholder relationships. 'Over-research' might be interpreted to mean exploitation. However, exploitation itself could mean different things. Using the term may lead to obscured understanding of real or perceived ethical concerns, making it difficult to identify and address the underlying concerns. It is recommended that the term be carefully and critically interrogated for clarity when used in research ethics discourse. Because it represents other legitimate concerns, it should not be dismissed without careful exploration. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Managing ethical issues in patient care and the need for clinical ethics support.

PubMed

Doran, Evan; Fleming, Jennifer; Jordens, Christopher; Stewart, Cameron L; Letts, Julie; Kerridge, Ian H

2015-02-01

To investigate the range, frequency and management of ethical issues encountered by clinicians working in hospitals in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. A cross-sectional survey was conducted of a convenience sample of 104 medical, nursing and allied health professionals in two NSW hospitals. Some respondents did not provide data for some questions, therefore the denominator is less than 105 for some items. Sixty-two (62/104; 60%) respondents reported occasionally to often having ethical concerns. Forty-six (46/105; 44%) reported often to occasionally having legal concerns. The three most common responses to concerns were: talking to colleagues (96/105; 91%); raising the issue in a group forum (68/105; 65%); and consulting a relevant guideline (64/105; 61%). Most respondents were highly (65/99; 66%) or moderately (33/99; 33%) satisfied with the ethical environment of the hospital. Twenty-two (22/98; 22%) were highly satisfied with the ethical environment of their department and 74 (74/98; 76%) were moderately satisfied. Most (72/105; 69%) respondents indicated that additional support in dealing with ethical issues would be helpful. Clinicians reported frequently experiencing ethical and legal uncertainty and concern. They usually managed this by talking with colleagues. Although this approach was considered adequate, and the ethics of their hospital was reported to be satisfactory, most respondents indicated that additional assistance with ethical and legal concerns would be helpful. Clinical ethics support should be a priority of public hospitals in NSW and elsewhere in Australia.

Ethical Concerns: Negotiating Truth and Trust

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGarvey, Lynn M.; Sterenberg, Gladys

2009-01-01

Few studies in mathematics education explicitly address ethical issues arising from student interactions. The ethical concerns held by students are expressed in their words, actions, and interactions. The purpose of this article is to explore the ethical nature of copying as it arises in a mathematics classroom. We investigate the basis for…

Ethical concerns: comparison of values from two cultures.

PubMed

Wros, Peggy L; Doutrich, Dawn; Izumi, Shigeko

2004-06-01

The present study was a secondary analysis of data from two phenomenological studies of nurses in the USA and Japan. The study incorporated hermeneutics and feminist methodologies to answer the following questions. Are there common values and ethical concerns and values within the nursing cultures of Japan and the USA? What are some commonalities and differences between Japanese nurses' ethical concerns and those of American nurses? Findings indicated that nurses from the USA and Japan share common values and ethical concerns as professional nurses, including competence, respect for the patient as a person, responsibility, relationship and connection, importance of the family, caring, good death, comfort, truth-telling, understanding the patient/situation, and anticipatory care. Although ethical concerns are similar, related background meanings and actions often look different between cultures; truth-telling is described as an example. Nurses in each country also hold unique values not found in the nursing practice of the other country. Understanding these commonalities and differences is critical for the development of global nursing ethics.

Toward an ethics of psychoanalysis: a critical reading of Lacan's ethics.

PubMed

Kirshner, Lewis A

2012-12-01

Lacan's seminar The Ethics of Psychoanalysis (1959-1960) pursues, from a Freudian perspective, a fundamental philosophical question classically addressed by Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics: How is human life best lived and fulfilled? Is there is an ethic of this type intrinsic to psychoanalysis? Lacan placed the problem of desire at the center of his Ethics. His notorious self-authorized freedom from convention and probable crossing of limits (see Roudinesco 1993) may have led mainstream analysts to ignore his admonition: "At every moment we need to know what our effective relationship is to the desire to do good, to the desire to cure" (Lacan 1959-1960, p. 219). This means that the analyst's desire, as well as the patient's, is always in play in his attempt to sustain an ethical position. An examination of Lacan's seminar highlights this link, but also points to a number of unresolved issues. The patient's desire is a complex matter, readily entangled in neurotic compromise, defense, and transference, and the analyst's commitment to it is also problematic because of the inevitable co-presence of his own desire. Lacan suggested that more emphasis be placed in training on the desire of the analyst, but beyond that a proposal is advanced for the institutionalization of a "third" as reviewer and interlocutor in routine analytic practice. Analysis may not be a discipline that can be limited to a dyadic treatment relationship.

Ethical issues in research and publication.

PubMed

Iammarino, N K; O'Rourke, T W; Pigg, R M; Weinberg, A D

1989-03-01

Ethical considerations inherent in the process of research and publication represent one issue of particular concern to professionals. Members of a profession usually are guided by a code of ethics that specifies standards for practice. However, rarely do professional preparation programs sufficiently prepare students to deal with the concerns associated with research and professional publication. The authors address three specific areas of concern for health educators: the student-professor relationship, joint authorship, and ethics in publishing. Potential problems are discussed, and implications for the profession are cited.

Quality in ethics consultations.

PubMed

Magill, Gerard

2013-11-01

There is an increasing need for quality in ethics consultations, though there have been significant achievements in the United States and Europe. However, fundamental concerns that place the profession in jeopardy are discussed from the perspective of the U.S. in a manner that will be helpful for other countries. The descriptive component of the essay (the first two points) explains the achievements in ethics quality (illustrated by the IntegratedEthics program of the Veterans Health Administration) and the progress on standards and competencies for ethics consultations (represented by the Core Competencies of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities). Based on these achievements, the analytical component of the essay (the final three points) identifies and seeks to resolve three fundamental concerns (with increasing levels of importance) that compromise quality in ethics consultations: standards of quality; professionalism; and credentialing. The analysis argues for clearer standards of quality in ethics consultation and urges further professionalism by explaining the need for the following: interpreting the ASBH core competencies in a normative manner, developing a Code of Ethics, and clarifying the meaning of best practices. However, the most serious concern that threatens quality in ethics consultations is the lack of a credentialing process. This concern can be resolved effectively by developing an independent Ethics Consultation Accreditation Council to accredit and standardize graduate degree programs, fellowship experiences, and qualifying examinations. This credentialing process is indispensable if we are to strategically enhance quality in ethics consultations.

Toward a Democratic Ethic of Curricular Decision-Making: A Guide for Educational Practitioners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simpson, Douglas J.; Jackson, Michael J. B.; Bunuan, Rommel L.; Chan, Yoke-Meng; Collins, B. Renee; King, Erica L.; Mosley, Linder K.

2004-01-01

In this article, the authors present a philosophical exploration of the import of a democratic ethic in making decisions concerning curricula. Specifically, the authors offer a guide for ethical decision making that is concerned with promoting fairness and acting on social justice principles. The ethical responsibilities of educators are explored,…

Security and privacy of EHR systems--ethical, social and legal requirements.

PubMed

Kluge, Eike-Henner W

2003-01-01

This paper addresses social, ethical and legal concerns about security and privacy that arise in the development of international interoperable health information systems. The paper deals with these concerns under four rubrics: the ethical status of electronic health records, the social and legal embedding of interoperable health information systems, the overall information-requirements healthcare as such, and the role of health information professionals as facilitators. It argues that the concerns that arise can be met if the development of interoperability protocols is guided by the seven basic principles of information ethics that have been enunciated in the IMIA Code of Ethics for Health Information Professionals and that are central to the ethical treatment of electronic health records.

Ethics and geographical equity in health care

PubMed Central

Rice, N.; Smith, P.

2001-01-01

Important variations in access to health care and health outcomes are associated with geography, giving rise to profound ethical concerns. This paper discusses the consequences of such concerns for the allocation of health care finance to geographical regions. Specifically, it examines the ethical drivers underlying capitation systems, which have become the principal method of allocating health care finance to regions in most countries. Although most capitation systems are based on empirical models of health care expenditure, there is much debate about which needs factors to include in (or exclude from) such models. This concern with legitimate and illegitimate drivers of health care expenditure reflects the ethical concerns underlying the geographical distribution of health care finance. Key Words: Health economics • resource allocation • ethics of regional health care finance • capitation systems PMID:11479357

Unsolved problems. [the physics of B stars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

The level of understanding of the physics of single, isolated B stars is assessed and unresolved problems are defined. The significant observational results concerning the effective temperatures, radii, masses and mantles are summarized. The results of the theory of the evolution of massive stars are confronted with the observed luminosities and effective temperatures of B stars. In addition the implications of stellar spectra theory are compared with observed spectra and a heuristic model for a mantle is developed. The chief unresolved problems for B stars concern developing detailed models for (1) the internal structure of massive stars which are beginning to evolve rapidly as they complete burning hydrogen in their cores; (2) mantles; and (3) the transfer of radiation in high temperature inhomogeneous moving bodies of gas.

The future of microarray technology: networking the genome search.

PubMed

D'Ambrosio, C; Gatta, L; Bonini, S

2005-10-01

In recent years microarray technology has been increasingly used in both basic and clinical research, providing substantial information for a better understanding of genome-environment interactions responsible for diseases, as well as for their diagnosis and treatment. However, in genomic research using microarray technology there are several unresolved issues, including scientific, ethical and legal issues. Networks of excellence like GA(2)LEN may represent the best approach for teaching, cost reduction, data repositories, and functional studies implementation.

Ethical objections against including life-extension costs in cost-effectiveness analysis: a consistent approach.

PubMed

Gandjour, Afschin; Müller, Dirk

2014-10-01

One of the major ethical concerns regarding cost-effectiveness analysis in health care has been the inclusion of life-extension costs ("it is cheaper to let people die"). For this reason, many analysts have opted to rule out life-extension costs from the analysis. However, surprisingly little has been written in the health economics literature regarding this ethical concern and the resulting practice. The purpose of this work was to present a framework and potential solution for ethical objections against life-extension costs. This work found three levels of ethical concern: (i) with respect to all life-extension costs (disease-related and -unrelated); (ii) with respect to disease-unrelated costs only; and (iii) regarding disease-unrelated costs plus disease-related costs not influenced by the intervention. Excluding all life-extension costs for ethical reasons would require-for reasons of consistency-a simultaneous exclusion of savings from reducing morbidity. At the other extreme, excluding only disease-unrelated life-extension costs for ethical reasons would require-again for reasons of consistency-the exclusion of health gains due to treatment of unrelated diseases. Therefore, addressing ethical concerns regarding the inclusion of life-extension costs necessitates fundamental changes in the calculation of cost effectiveness.

Experiences of ethical issues when caring for children with cancer.

PubMed

Bartholdson, Cecilia; Lützén, Kim; Blomgren, Klas; Pergert, Pernilla

2015-01-01

The treatment for pediatric cancer is often physically, socially, and psychologically demanding and often gives rise to ethical issues. The purpose of this study was to describe healthcare professionals' experiences of ethical issues and ways to deal with these when caring for children with cancer. A study-specific questionnaire was given to healthcare professionals at a pediatric hospital in Sweden. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze answers to open-ended questions. The data were sorted into 2 domains based on the objective of the study. In the next step, the data in each domain were inductively coded, generating categories and subcategories. The main ethical issues included concerns of (1) infringing on autonomy, (2) deciding on treatment levels, and (3) conflicting perspectives that constituted a challenge to collaboration. Professionals desired teamwork and reflection to deal with ethical concerns, and they needed resources for dealing with ethics. Interprofessional consideration needs to be improved. Forums and time for ethics reflections need to be offered to deal with ethical concerns in childhood cancer care. Experiences of ethical concerns and dealing with these in caring for children with cancer evoked strong feelings and moral perplexity among nursing staff. The study raises a challenging question: How can conflicting perspectives, lack of interprofessional consideration, and obstacles related to parents' involvement be "turned around," that is, contribute to a holistic perspective of ethics in cancer care of children?

Ethical concerns related to grateful patient philanthropy: the physician's perspective.

PubMed

Wright, Scott M; Wolfe, Leah; Stewart, Rosalyn; Flynn, John A; Paisner, Richard; Rum, Steve; Parson, Gregory; Carrese, Joseph

2013-05-01

Philanthropic contributions to academic medical centers from grateful patients support research, patient care, education, and capital projects. The goal of this study was to identify the ethical concerns associated with philanthropic gifts from grateful patients. A qualitative study design was selected. Investigators conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 Department of Medicine physicians at Johns Hopkins who were identified by Development Office staff as experienced and successful in this realm-those having relationships with multiple patients who have made philanthropic contributions. Interview transcripts were independently coded by two investigators. Content analysis identified several themes related to ethical concerns. Eighteen informants (90 %) were Associate Professors or Professors; two (10 %) were females. Four thematic domains emerged related to ethical concerns associated with philanthropy from grateful patients: (i) impact of gift on the doctor-patient relationship; (ii) gift acquisition considered beyond the physician's professional role; (iii) justice and fairness; and (iv) vulnerability of patients. Despite acknowledging at least one of the aforementioned concerns, eleven physician informants (55 %) expressed the view that there were no ethical issues involved with grateful patient philanthropy. In this paper, we report that physicians involved in grateful patient philanthropy are aware of, and in some cases troubled by, the ethical concerns related to this activity. Further studies could examine how best to prepare faculty for the challenges that may accompany these gifts so as to help them maintain expected professional and ethical standards when accepting grateful patient philanthropy.

A Relational Ethics Framework for Advancing Practice with Children with Complex Health Care Needs and Their Parents.

PubMed

Carnevale, Franco A; Teachman, Gail; Bogossian, Aline

2017-12-01

Children with complex health care needs are an emerging population that commonly requires long-term supportive services. A growing body of evidence has highlighted that these children and their families experience significant challenges. Many of these challenges involve ethical concerns that have been under-recognized. In this article, we (a) outline ethical concerns that arise in clinical practice with children with complex health care needs and their families (e.g.: exclusion of children's voices in discussions and decisions that affect them; difficulties in defining their best interests; clashes across the array of social roles that parents manage; limited recognition of the ethical significance of parents' and other family members' interests) and (b) propose a relational ethics framework for addressing these concerns. Our framework draws on hermeneutical interpretation and moral experience as foundational orientations, recognizing children with complex health care needs as relationally embedded agents, who while dependent and entitled to protection, are simultaneously agential. Children's and parents' interests are relationally intertwined and interdependent. Families are recognized as significant social microcosms for the cultivation and transmission of intergenerational cultural heritage, narratives, and outlooks. We describe strategies for (a) conducting a relational ethics inquiry and (b) reconciliation of identified ethical concerns through a process of rapprochement. A relational ethics framework can promote clinical practices that are ethically attuned to the complexity of this population's needs.

Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in the Intensive Care Unit: A Dialogue on Core Ethical Issues

PubMed Central

Goligher, Ewan C.; Ely, E. Wesley; Sulmasy, Daniel P.; Bakker, Jan; Raphael, John; Volandes, Angelo E.; Patel, Bhavesh M.; Payne, Kate; Hosie, Annmarie; Churchill, Larry; White, Douglas B.; Downar, James

2016-01-01

Objective Many patients are admitted to the intensive care unit at or near the end of their lives. Consequently, the increasingly common debate regarding physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia (PAS/E) holds implications for the practice of critical care medicine. The objective of this manuscript is to explore core ethical issues related to PAS/E from the perspective of healthcare professionals and ethicists on both sides of the debate. Synthesis We identified four issues highlighting the key areas of ethical tension central to evaluating PAS/E in medical practice: (1) the benefit or harm of death itself, (2) the relationship between PAS/E and withholding or withdrawing life support, (3) the morality of a physician deliberately causing death, and (4) the management of conscientious objection related to PAS/E in the critical care setting. We present areas of common ground as well as important unresolved differences. Conclusions We reached differing positions on the first three core ethical questions and achieved significant agreement on how critical care clinicians should manage conscientious objections related to PAS/E. The alternative positions presented in this paper may serve to promote open and informed dialogue within the critical care community. PMID:28098622

Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in the ICU: A Dialogue on Core Ethical Issues.

PubMed

Goligher, Ewan C; Ely, E Wesley; Sulmasy, Daniel P; Bakker, Jan; Raphael, John; Volandes, Angelo E; Patel, Bhavesh M; Payne, Kate; Hosie, Annmarie; Churchill, Larry; White, Douglas B; Downar, James

2017-02-01

Many patients are admitted to the ICU at or near the end of their lives. Consequently, the increasingly common debate regarding physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia holds implications for the practice of critical care medicine. The objective of this article is to explore core ethical issues related to physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia from the perspective of healthcare professionals and ethicists on both sides of the debate. We identified four issues highlighting the key areas of ethical tension central to evaluating physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in medical practice: 1) the benefit or harm of death itself, 2) the relationship between physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia and withholding or withdrawing life support, 3) the morality of a physician deliberately causing death, and 4) the management of conscientious objection related to physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in the critical care setting. We present areas of common ground and important unresolved differences. We reached differing positions on the first three core ethical questions and achieved unanimity on how critical care clinicians should manage conscientious objections related to physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. The alternative positions presented in this article may serve to promote open and informed dialogue within the critical care community.

Ethically sustainable governance in the biobanking of eggs and embryos for research.

PubMed

Stroud, Karla; O'Doherty, Kieran C

2015-12-01

Biobanking of human tissues is associated with a range of ethical, legal, and social (ELS) challenges. These include difficulties in operationalising informed consent protocols, protecting donors' privacy, managing the return of incidental findings, conceptualising ownership of tissues, and benefit sharing. Though largely unresolved, these challenges are well documented and debated in academic literature. One common response to the ELS challenges of biobanks is a call for strong and independent governance of biobanks. Theorists who argue along these lines suggest that since fully informed consent to a single research project is often not feasible, research participants should be given the additional protection of being allowed to consent to the governance framework of the biobank. Such governance therefore needs to be transparent and ethically sustainable. In this paper we review the governance challenges of establishing and maintaining human tissue biobanks. We then discuss how the creation of a biobank for eggs and embryos, in particular, may introduce additional or unique challenges beyond those presented by the biobanking of other human tissues. Following previous work on biobank governance, we argue that ethically sustainable governance needs to be participatory, adaptive, and trustworthy.

Animal Rights as a Mainstream Phenomenon.

PubMed

Rollin, Bernard E

2011-01-19

Businesses and professions must stay in accord with social ethics, or risk losing their autonomy.A major social ethical issue that has emerged in the past four decades is the treatment of animals in various areas of human use. Society's moral concern has outgrown the traditional ethic of animal cruelty that began in biblical times and is encoded in the laws of all civilized societies. There are five major reasons for this new social concern, most importantly, the replacement of husbandry-based agriculture with industrial agriculture. This loss of husbandry to industry has threatened the traditional fair contract between humans and animals, and resulted in significant amounts of animal suffering arising on four different fronts. Because such suffering is not occasioned by cruelty, a new ethic for animals was required to express social concerns. Since ethics proceed from preexisting ethics rather than ex nihilo, society has looked to its ethic for humans, appropriately modified, to find moral categories applicable to animals. This concept of legally encoded rights for animals has emerged as a plausible vehicle for reform.

Crossroads: Integrated Models for Teaching Ethics and Spirituality.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gorman, Michael J., Ed.

This anthology presents seven articles that focus on the integration of ethical and spiritual concerns into the academic curriculum. The argument is made for the inclusion of ethical and religious concerns in the study of subjects such as literature, history, foreign languages and cultures, and science. The articles include: "The Voice of the…

Ethical Concerns Raised by the Use of the Internet in Academia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peace, A. Graham; Hartzel, Kathleen S.

2002-01-01

Outlines several major ethical and social concerns that face an institution in attempting to integrate "cyberspace" into its academic arena. Focuses on American universities, though the issues are relevant for all levels of education in all geographic areas. Discusses major ethical dilemmas that academic use of cyberspace may present. Identifies…

The Ethical Implication of Bartering for Mental Health Services: Examining Interdisciplinary Ethical Standards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, Joel A.

2013-01-01

The present paper discusses literature concerning the practice of bartering for counseling, psychological, or social work services in lieu of traditional monetary payment. The author contrasts the language concerning the practice of bartering found in the respective ethical codes for each profession, and presents literature describing both risks…

Views on the Efficacy and Ethics of Punishment: Results from a National Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DiGennaro Reed, Florence D.; Lovett, Benjamin J.

2008-01-01

Punishment-based interventions are among the most controversial treatments in the applied behavior analysis literature. The controversy concerns both the efficacy and the ethics of punishment. Five hundred randomly selected members of the Association for Behavior Analysis were sent a survey concerning their views on the efficacy and ethics of…

Exposure ethics: does HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis raise ethical problems for the health care provider and policy maker?

PubMed

Venter, Francois; Allais, Lucy; Richter, Marlise

2014-07-01

The last few years have seen dramatic progress in the development of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). These developments have been met by ethical concerns. HIV interventions are often thought to be ethically difficult. In a context which includes disagreements over human rights, controversies over testing policies, and questions about sexual morality and individual responsibility, PrEP has been seen as an ethically complex intervention. We argue that this is mistaken, and that in fact, PrEP does not raise new ethical concerns. Some of the questions posed by PrEP are not specific to HIV prophylaxis, but simply standard public health considerations about resource allocation and striking a balance between individual benefit and public good. We consider sexual disinhibition in the context of private prescriptions, and conclude that only unjustified AIDS-exceptionalism or inappropriate moralism about sex supports thinking that PrEP raises new ethical problems. This negative conclusion is significant in a context where supposed ethical concerns about PrEP have been raised, and in the context of HIV exceptionalism. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Financial incentives for antipsychotic depot medication: ethical issues.

PubMed

Claassen, Dirk

2007-04-01

Giving money as a direct incentive for patients in exchange for depot medication has proved beneficial in some clinical cases in assertive outreach (AO). However, ethical concerns around this practice have been raised, and will be analysed in more detail here. Ethical concern voiced in a survey of all AO teams in England were analysed regarding their content. These were grouped into categories. 53 of 70 team managers mentioned concerns, many of them serious and expressing a negative attitude towards giving money for depot adherence. Four broad categories of ethical concern following Christensen's concept were distinguished: valid consent and refusal (n = 5), psychiatric paternalism (n = 31), resource allocation (n = 4), organisational relationships (n = 2), with a residual category others and unspecified (n = 11). The main concerns identified are discussed on the background of existing ethical theories in healthcare and the specific problems of community mental health and AO. Points for practice are derived from this discussion. A way forward is outlined that includes informed consent and an operational policy in the use of incentives, further randomised controlled trials and qualitative studies, and continuing discussions with all stakeholders, especially service users.

Balancing Ethics and Quality in Educational Research--The Ethical Matrix Method

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tangen, Reidun

2014-01-01

This paper addresses ethical issues in educational research with a focus on the interplay between research ethics and both internal and external quality of research. Research ethics is divided into three domains: (1) ethics "within" the research community; (2) ethics concerning relationships with "individuals and groups directly…

Animal Rights as a Mainstream Phenomenon

PubMed Central

Rollin, Bernard E.

2011-01-01

Simple Summary The twentieth century has witnessed a bewildering array of ethical revolutions, from civil rights to environmentalism to feminism. Often ignored is the rise of massive societal concern across the world regarding animal treatment. Regulation of animal research exists in virtually all western countries, and reform of “factory farming” is regnant in Europe and rapidly emerging in the United States. Opponents of concern for animals often dismiss the phenomenon as rooted in emotion and extremist lack of appreciation of how unrestricted animal use has improved human life. Such a view totally ignores the rational ethical basis for elevating legal protection for animals, as explained in this essay. Abstract Businesses and professions must stay in accord with social ethics, or risk losing their autonomy. A major social ethical issue that has emerged in the past four decades is the treatment of animals in various areas of human use. Society's moral concern has outgrown the traditional ethic of animal cruelty that began in biblical times and is encoded in the laws of all civilized societies. There are five major reasons for this new social concern, most importantly, the replacement of husbandry-based agriculture with industrial agriculture. This loss of husbandry to industry has threatened the traditional fair contract between humans and animals, and resulted in significant amounts of animal suffering arising on four different fronts. Because such suffering is not occasioned by cruelty, a new ethic for animals was required to express social concerns. Since ethics proceed from preexisting ethics rather than ex nihilo, society has looked to its ethic for humans, appropriately modified, to find moral categories applicable to animals. This concept of legally encoded rights for animals has emerged as a plausible vehicle for reform. PMID:26486217

Neurofunctional Correlates of Ethical, Food-Related Decision-Making

PubMed Central

Cherry, J. Bradley C.; Bruce, Jared M.; Lusk, Jayson L.; Crespi, John M.; Lim, Seung-Lark; Bruce, Amanda S.

2015-01-01

For consumers today, the perceived ethicality of a food’s production method can be as important a purchasing consideration as its price. Still, few studies have examined how, neurofunctionally, consumers are making ethical, food-related decisions. We examined how consumers’ ethical concern about a food’s production method may relate to how, neurofunctionally, they make decisions whether to purchase that food. Forty-six participants completed a measure of the extent to which they took ethical concern into consideration when making food-related decisions. They then underwent a series of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans while performing a food-related decision-making (FRDM) task. During this task, they made 56 decisions whether to purchase a food based on either its price (i.e., high or low, the “price condition”) or production method (i.e., with or without the use of cages, the “production method condition”), but not both. For 23 randomly selected participants, we performed an exploratory, whole-brain correlation between ethical concern and differential neurofunctional activity in the price and production method conditions. Ethical concern correlated negatively and significantly with differential neurofunctional activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). For the remaining 23 participants, we performed a confirmatory, region-of-interest (ROI) correlation between the same variables, using an 8-mm3 volume situated in the left dlPFC. Again, the variables correlated negatively and significantly. This suggests, when making ethical, food-related decisions, the more consumers take ethical concern into consideration, the less they may rely on neurofunctional activity in the left dlPFC, possibly because making these decisions is more routine for them, and therefore a more perfunctory process requiring fewer cognitive resources. PMID:25830288

Neurofunctional correlates of ethical, food-related decision-making.

PubMed

Cherry, J Bradley C; Bruce, Jared M; Lusk, Jayson L; Crespi, John M; Lim, Seung-Lark; Bruce, Amanda S

2015-01-01

For consumers today, the perceived ethicality of a food's production method can be as important a purchasing consideration as its price. Still, few studies have examined how, neurofunctionally, consumers are making ethical, food-related decisions. We examined how consumers' ethical concern about a food's production method may relate to how, neurofunctionally, they make decisions whether to purchase that food. Forty-six participants completed a measure of the extent to which they took ethical concern into consideration when making food-related decisions. They then underwent a series of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans while performing a food-related decision-making (FRDM) task. During this task, they made 56 decisions whether to purchase a food based on either its price (i.e., high or low, the "price condition") or production method (i.e., with or without the use of cages, the "production method condition"), but not both. For 23 randomly selected participants, we performed an exploratory, whole-brain correlation between ethical concern and differential neurofunctional activity in the price and production method conditions. Ethical concern correlated negatively and significantly with differential neurofunctional activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). For the remaining 23 participants, we performed a confirmatory, region-of-interest (ROI) correlation between the same variables, using an 8-mm3 volume situated in the left dlPFC. Again, the variables correlated negatively and significantly. This suggests, when making ethical, food-related decisions, the more consumers take ethical concern into consideration, the less they may rely on neurofunctional activity in the left dlPFC, possibly because making these decisions is more routine for them, and therefore a more perfunctory process requiring fewer cognitive resources.

Bioethics for human geneticists: models for reasoning and methods for teaching.

PubMed Central

Parker, L. S.

1994-01-01

The ethical issues raised by the Human Genome Project (HGP) and by human genetics in general are not entirely novel. In fact, the ethical issues surrounding genetic research and the provision of genetic services fit into the evolution of bioethics, a field of inquiry which has its roots in concerns of the 1970s, concerns about the dignity and self-determination of individuals and about the development of medical technologies. Although bioethics has been largely occupied with patient-centered concerns, attention is currently shifting toward socially oriented issues, such as the justice of the existing health-care system. Genetic counseling has already incorporated many of the lessons of early bioethics and, as a profession, adheres to a consultand-centered ethic which reflects the values incorporated into the doctrine of informed consent, which is a cornerstone of bioethics. The mandate of the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications Program of the HGP--to anticipate ethical problems arising from advances in genetics and to educate the public about genetics--reflects not only the nonpaternalistic approach of early bioethics but also bioethics' increasing attention to the ethical import of systemic and institutional factors, as well as an anticipatory and preventive approach to dealing with ethical concerns. Because bioethics has so much to contribute to current consideration of ethical issues in human genetics, it is important to provide training in ethics to those working in the field. Guidelines for using a case-oriented approach are suggested. PMID:8279464

Ethical and Economic Issues in Academe: The Point of View of a University President.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hardin, Paul

Ethical dilemmas concerning faculty compensation are considered by a university president who served as a nonadministrative professor of law for 10 years. It is suggested that trustees, administrators, and board members have as much to be concerned about as do faculty members when compensation and ethical dilemmas are addressed. The fact that…

Clinical and Ethical Implications for Teacher-Training in Behavior Modification.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brion-Meisels, Linda

The ethical issues concerning the use of behavioral procedures are founded on concerns relating to behavioral control. One major recurring ethical issue is that of coercion. The focus of this paper centers on the question: Ought behavioral programs to be employed even when they might be against the volition of the participant? A theoretical and…

Ethical standards for mental health and psychosocial support research in emergencies: review of literature and current debates.

PubMed

Chiumento, Anna; Rahman, Atif; Frith, Lucy; Snider, Leslie; Tol, Wietse A

2017-02-08

Research in emergencies is needed to understand the prevalence of mental health and psychosocial problems and strengthen the evidence base for interventions. All research - including operational needs assessments, programme monitoring and evaluation, and formal academic research - must be conducted ethically. While there is broad consensus on fundamental principles codified in research ethics guidelines, these do not address the ethical specificities of conducting mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) research with adults in emergencies. To address this gap, this paper presents a review of multidisciplinary literature to identify specific ethical principles applicable to MHPSS research in emergencies. Fifty-nine sources meeting the literature review inclusion criteria were analysed following a thematic synthesis approach. There was consensus on the relevance of universal ethical research principles to MHPSS research in emergencies, including norms of participant informed consent and protection; ensuring benefit arises from research participation; researcher neutrality, accountability, and safety; and the duty to ensure research is well designed and accounts for contextual factors in emergency settings. We go onto discuss unresolved issues by highlighting six current debates relating to the application of ethics in emergency settings: (1) what constitutes fair benefits?; (2) how should informed consent be operationalised?; (3) is there a role for decision making capacity assessments?; (4) how do risk management approaches impact upon the construction of ethical research?; (5) how can ethical reflection best be achieved?, and (6) are ethical review boards sufficiently representative and equipped to judge the ethical and scientific merit of emergency MHPSS research? Underlying these debates is a systemic tension between procedural ethics and ethics in practice. In summary, underpinning the literature is a desire to ensure the protection of participants exposed to emergencies and in need of evidence-based MHPSS. However, there is a lack of agreement on how to contextualise guidelines and procedures to effectively maximise the perspectives of researchers, participants and ethical review boards. This is a tension that the field must address to strengthen ethical MHPSS research in emergencies.

Moral mindfulness: The ethical concerns of healthcare professionals working in a psychiatric intensive care unit.

PubMed

Salzmann-Erikson, Martin

2018-06-22

Healthcare professionals working on inpatient wards face the externalizing or challenging behaviour of the patients who are admitted. Ethical values and principles in psychiatric nursing have been reported to be important when approaching patients during the most acute phase of deterioration in their mental health. Hence, the aim of this study was to discover and describe staff members' ethical and moral concerns about their work as healthcare professionals in a psychiatric intensive care unit. The study has a qualitative descriptive design and makes use of Framework Analysis. Registered nurses and psychiatric aides in a psychiatric intensive care unit in Sweden were observed during ethical reflection meetings. Four to six staff attended the 90-min meetings. The data comprise observations from six meetings, which provided 94 pages of text. The results demonstrate that the work was described as being both motivating and exhausting. The staff faced ethical concerns in their daily work, as patients often demonstrated challenging behaviours. Three themes were identified as follows: (i) concerns about the staff impacting on patients' experience of care, (ii) concerns about establishing a safe working environment, and (iii) concerns about becoming unprofessional due to expectations and a high workload. Ethical concerns included simultaneously taking into account both the patients' dignity and safety aspects, while also being exposed to high workloads. These elements of work are theorized as influencing complex psychiatric nursing. If we are to bring these influential factors to light in the workplace, advanced nursing practice must be grounded in moral mindfulness. © 2018 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

5 CFR 2638.313 - Agency opinions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

....313 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS GOVERNMENT ETHICS OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS AND EXECUTIVE AGENCY ETHICS PROGRAM RESPONSIBILITIES Formal Advisory Opinion Service § 2638.313 Agency opinions. If the designated agency ethics official issues a written opinion concerning the application of...

Focus on Teaching: Ethics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Worley, Rebecca B.; Dyrud, Marilyn A.

1998-01-01

Notes that business today is concerned with the translation and application of ethical principles into everyday business life. Offers a list of Web sites on ethics and business ethics at various colleges and universities. (SR)

Moving Beyond the Theoretical: Medical Students' Desire for Practical, Role-Specific Ethics Training.

PubMed

Stites, Shana D; Clapp, Justin; Gallagher, Stefanie; Fiester, Autumn

2018-05-04

Background It has been widely reported that medical trainees experience situations with profound ethical implications during their clinical rotations. To address this most U.S. medical schools include ethics curricula in their undergraduate programs. However, the content of these curricula vary substantially. Our pilot study aimed to discover, from the students' perspective, how ethics pedagogy prepares medical students for clerkship and what gaps might remain. This qualitative study organized focus groups of third- and fourth-year medical students. Participants recounted ethical concerns encountered during clerkship rotations and reflected on how their medical school ethics curriculum informed their responses to these scenarios. Transcripts of the focus group sessions were analyzed using a grounded theory approach to identify common themes that characterized the students' experiences. While students' accounts demonstrated a solid grasp of ethical theory and attunement to ethical concerns presented in the clinic, they also consistently evinced an inability to act on these issues given clerks' particular position in a complex learning hierarchy. Students felt they received too little training in the role-specific application of medical ethics as clinical trainees. We found a desire among trainees for enhanced practical ethics training in preparation for the clerkship phase of medical education. We recommend several strategies that can begin to address these findings. The use of roleplaying with standardized patients can enable students to practice engagement with ethical issues. Conventional ethics courses can focus more on action-based pedagogy and instruction in conflict management techniques. Finally, clear structures for reporting and seeking advice and support for addressing ethical issues can lessen students' apprehension to act on ethical concerns.

Public reporting on quality, waiting times and patient experience in 11 high-income countries.

PubMed

Rechel, Bernd; McKee, Martin; Haas, Marion; Marchildon, Gregory P; Bousquet, Frederic; Blümel, Miriam; Geissler, Alexander; van Ginneken, Ewout; Ashton, Toni; Saunes, Ingrid Sperre; Anell, Anders; Quentin, Wilm; Saltman, Richard; Culler, Steven; Barnes, Andrew; Palm, Willy; Nolte, Ellen

2016-04-01

This article maps current approaches to public reporting on waiting times, patient experience and aggregate measures of quality and safety in 11 high-income countries (Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States). Using a questionnaire-based survey of key national informants, we found that the data most commonly made available to the public are on waiting times for hospital treatment, being reported for major hospitals in seven countries. Information on patient experience at hospital level is also made available in many countries, but it is not generally available in respect of primary care services. Only one of the 11 countries (England) publishes composite measures of overall quality and safety of care that allow the ranking of providers of hospital care. Similarly, the publication of information on outcomes of individual physicians remains rare. We conclude that public reporting of aggregate measures of quality and safety, as well as of outcomes of individual physicians, remain relatively uncommon. This is likely to be due to both unresolved methodological and ethical problems and concerns that public reporting may lead to unintended consequences. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Developing the Next Generation of Responsible Professionals: Wisdom and Ethics Trump Knowledge and IQ

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sternberg, Robert J.

2017-01-01

In this article, I describe the ACCEL (active concerned citizenship and ethical leadership) model for university education. I then apply it to the teaching of psychology. The goal of the model is to develop university students who are active concerned citizens and ethical leaders, where leaders are viewed as people who make a positive, meaningful,…

Reflexive Research Ethics for Environmental Health and Justice: Academics and Movement-Building

PubMed Central

Cordner, Alissa; Ciplet, David; Brown, Phil; Morello-Frosch, Rachel

2012-01-01

Community-engaged research on environmental problems has reshaped researcher-participant relationships, academic-community interaction, and the role of community partners in human subjects protection and ethical oversight. We draw on our own and others’ research collaborations with environmental health and justice social movement organizations to discuss the ethical concerns that emerge in community-engaged research. In this paper we introduce the concept of reflexive research ethics: ethical guidelines and decision-making principles that depend on continual reflexivity concerning the relationships between researchers and participants. Seeing ethics in this way can help scientists conduct research that simultaneously achieves a high level of professional conduct and protects the rights, well-being, and autonomy of both researchers and the multiple publics affected by research. We highlight our research with community-based organizations in Massachusetts, California, and Alaska, and discuss the potential impacts of the community or social movement on the research process and the potential impacts of research on community or social movement goals. We conclude by discussing ways in which the ethical concerns that surface in community-engaged research have led to advances in ethical research practices. This type of work raises ethical questions whose answers are broadly relevant for social movement, environmental, and public health scholars. PMID:22690133

Predictors of nurse practitioners' autonomy: effects of organizational, ethical, and market characteristics.

PubMed

Ulrich, Connie; Soeken, Karen; Miller, Nancy

2003-07-01

To identify the predictors of autonomy of nurse practitioners (NPs) affiliated directly and/or indirectly with managed-care systems (e.g., HMOs). A mailed survey sent to a stratified random sample of 254 NPs certified and licensed to practice in the state of Maryland. The measures consisted of selected organizational characteristics; market factors of HMO penetration and percentage of client population enrolled in managed care; and factors of ethical concern, such as ethical ideology, ethics education, and autonomy. The County Surveyor Database was used to assess market penetration in the state. Although NPs were ethically concerned about their autonomy in a managed-care environment (70.2%), actual autonomy scores were high. The higher the percentage of HMO penetration, percentage of client population enrolled in managed care, and perceived ethical concern, the lower the perceived autonomy of NPs. Findings may be used for future research to address the complexity of variables that influence the autonomous practice of NPs.

Defining and addressing moral distress: tools for critical care nursing leaders.

PubMed

Rushton, Cynda Hylton

2006-01-01

Nurse clinicians may experience moral distress when they are unable to translate their moral choices into moral action. The costs of unrelieved moral distress are high; ultimately, as with all unresolved professional conflicts, the quality of patient care suffers. As a systematic process for change, this article offers the AACN's Model to Rise Above Moral Distress, describing four A's: ask, affirm, assess, and act. To help critical care nurses working to address moral distress, the article identifies 11 action steps they can take to develop an ethical practice environment.

Ethical Concerns About Human Genetic Enhancement in the Malay Science Fiction Novels.

PubMed

Isa, Noor Munirah; Hj Safian Shuri, Muhammad Fakhruddin

2018-02-01

Advancements in science and technology have not only brought hope to humankind to produce disease-free offspring, but also offer possibilities to genetically enhance the next generation's traits and capacities. Human genetic enhancement, however, raises complex ethical questions, such as to what extent should it be allowed? It has been a great challenge for humankind to develop robust ethical guidelines for human genetic enhancement that address both public concerns and needs. We believe that research about public concerns is necessary prior to developing such guidelines, yet the issues have not been thoroughly investigated in many countries, including Malaysia. Since the novel often functions as a medium for the public to express their concerns, this paper explores ethical concerns about human genetic enhancement expressed in four Malay science fiction novels namely Klon, Leksikon Ledang, Transgenesis Bisikan Rimba and Transgenik Sifar. Religion has a strong influence on the worldview of the Malays therefore some concerns such as playing God are obviously religious. Association of the negative image of scientists as well as the private research companies with the research on human genetic enhancement reflects the authors' concerns about the main motivations for conducting such research and the extent to which such research will benefit society.

Surgical ethics and the challenge of surgical innovation.

PubMed

Angelos, Peter

2014-12-01

Surgical ethics as a specific discipline is relatively new to many. Surgical ethics focuses on the ethical issues that are particularly important to the care of surgical patients. Informed consent for surgical procedures, the level of responsibility that surgeons feel for their patients' outcomes, and the management of surgical innovation are specific issues that are important in surgical ethics and are different from other areas of medicine. The future of surgical progress is dependent on surgical innovation, yet the nature of surgical innovation raises specific concerns that challenge the professionalism of surgeons. These concerns will be considered in the following pages. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Bridge Back to the Future: Public Health Ethics, Bioethics, and Environmental Ethics.

PubMed

Lee, Lisa M

2017-09-01

Contemporary biomedical ethics and environmental ethics share a common ancestry in Aldo Leopold's and Van Rensselaer Potter's initial broad visions of a connected biosphere. Over the past five decades, the two fields have become strangers. Public health ethics, a new subfield of bioethics, emerged from the belly of contemporary biomedical ethics and has evolved over the past 25 years. It has moved from its traditional concern with the tension between individual autonomy and community health to a wider focus on social justice and solidarity. Public health has a broad focus that includes individual, community, and environmental health. Public health ethics attends to these broad commitments reflected in the increasing concern with the connectedness of health of individuals to the health of populations, to the health of animals, to the health of the environment; it is well situated to reconnect all three "fields" of ethics to promote a healthier planet.

The ethical implications and religious significance of organ transplantation payment systems.

PubMed

Smith, Hunter Jackson

2016-03-01

One of the more polarizing policies proposed to alleviate the organ shortage is financial payment of donors in return for organs. A priori and empirical investigation concludes that such systems are ethically inadequate. A new methodological approach towards policy formation and implementation is proposed which places ethical concerns at its core. From a hypothetical secular origin, the optimal ethical policy structure concerning organ donation is derived. However, when applied universally, it does not yield ideal results for every culture and society due to region-specific variation. Since religion holds significant influence in the organ donation debate, three religions-Catholicism, Islam, and Shinto-were examined in order to illustrate this variation. Although secular ethical concerns should rest at the core of policy construction, certain region-specific contexts require cultural and religious competence and necessitate the adjustment of the optimal template policy accordingly to yield the best moral and practical results.

METHODS OF ANALYSIS FOR WASTE LOAD ALLOCATION

EPA Science Inventory

This research has addressed several unresolved questions concerning the allocation of allowable waste loads among multiple wastewater dischargers within a water quality limited stream segment. First, the traditional assumptions about critical design conditions for waste load allo...

There's More to Ethics than Justice and Harm: Teaching a Broader Understanding of Journalism Ethics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knowlton, Steven; McKinley, J. Christopher

2016-01-01

Most applied ethics training in journalism in the West follows Enlightenment-era, reason-based ethical principles: Justice is intrinsically better than injustice (Kant), and the best choice is achieving the best outcome for all concerned (Mill). Recent scholarship in ethics suggests that ethics is much broader than this. This article examines a…

Ethical Implications of Technological Advances on Business Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herschel, Richard T.; Andrews, Patricia Hayes

1997-01-01

Explores ethical issues heightened by use of technology, and examines a means for managing these ethical concerns. Argues that ethical problems are not inherent in technological advances, but rather it is how human beings choose to use these new tools that may lead to ethical dilemmas in business contexts. (SR)

Ethical conflict in nurse practitioners and physician assistants in managed care.

PubMed

Ulrich, Connie M; Danis, Marion; Ratcliffe, Sarah J; Garrett-Mayer, Elizabeth; Koziol, Deloris; Soeken, Karen L; Grady, Christine

2006-01-01

More patients are receiving healthcare services from nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs). These providers are likely to be confronted with a variety of ethical issues as they balance quality care with their patients' rising cost concerns. However, very little is known about the ethical conflicts and causes of these conflicts experienced by these clinicians in their daily practice. To identify ethical concerns and conflicts NPs and PAs encounter related to managed care in the delivery of primary care to patients and the factors that influence ethical conflict. A cross-sectional self-administered mailed questionnaire was sent to 3,900 NPs and PAs randomly selected from primary care and primary care subspecialties in the United States (adjusted response rate, 50.6%). Respondents were surveyed on ethical issues and concerns, ethics preparedness, and ethical conflict. Bivariate and multiple linear regression analyses were used to evaluate predictors of ethical conflict. Insurance constraints were reported to have interfered with the ability to provide quality patient care by 72% of respondents, with 55.3% reporting daily to weekly interferences. Nearly half of respondents (47%) have been asked by a patient to mislead insurers to assist them in receiving care. A perceived obligation to advocate for patients, even if it means exaggerating the severity of a patient's condition, was the single most significant predictor of ethical conflict, explaining 25% of the variance. NPs and PAs are experiencing ethical conflict often associated with their perceived professional obligations to advocate for patients. Being well-prepared in ethics and having sufficient professional independence help clinicians balance the ethical complexities and demands of meeting patients' needs within a constrained healthcare system.

An ethical assessment model for digital disease detection technologies.

PubMed

Denecke, Kerstin

2017-09-20

Digital epidemiology, also referred to as digital disease detection (DDD), successfully provided methods and strategies for using information technology to support infectious disease monitoring and surveillance or understand attitudes and concerns about infectious diseases. However, Internet-based research and social media usage in epidemiology and healthcare pose new technical, functional and formal challenges. The focus of this paper is on the ethical issues to be considered when integrating digital epidemiology with existing practices. Taking existing ethical guidelines and the results from the EU project M-Eco and SORMAS as starting point, we develop an ethical assessment model aiming at providing support in identifying relevant ethical concerns in future DDD projects. The assessment model has four dimensions: user, application area, data source and methodology. The model supports in becoming aware, identifying and describing the ethical dimensions of DDD technology or use case and in identifying the ethical issues on the technology use from different perspectives. It can be applied in an interdisciplinary meeting to collect different viewpoints on a DDD system even before the implementation starts and aims at triggering discussions and finding solutions for risks that might not be acceptable even in the development phase. From the answers, ethical issues concerning confidence, privacy, data and patient security or justice may be judged and weighted.

Nursing's Code of Ethics, Social Ethics, and Social Policy.

PubMed

Fowler, Marsha D

2016-09-01

Modern American nursing arose during the Civil War and subsequently adopted the Nightingale educational model in the 1870s. By 1889, the journal Trained Nurse and Hospital Review had been established. It published a six-part series on ethics in nursing. With the establishment of the American Nurses Association in 1893, the articles of incorporation gave the organization its first charge: "to establish and maintain a code of ethics." While the rich and enduring tradition of nursing's ethics has been concerned about individual patients and their relational nexus, nursing ethics has from the beginning been a social ethics, intimately concerned both for the shape of society and for social change. This concern has been for health, conceived broadly and not focused specifically on disease and its treatment, but including the social causes of disease. Nightingale herself was an ardent social reformer, instituting a wide range of types of army sanitation reform, sanitation reform in India, and hospital and nursing reform. Despite her gender, her wealth and privilege granted her access to men in power who furthered her policy and reform agenda. From the start, then, modern nursing was imbued with a social reformist bias. © 2016 The Hastings Center.

Familiar ethical issues amplified: how members of research ethics committees describe ethical distinctions between disaster and non-disaster research.

PubMed

Tansey, Catherine M; Anderson, James; Boulanger, Renaud F; Eckenwiler, Lisa; Pringle, John; Schwartz, Lisa; Hunt, Matthew

2017-06-28

The conduct of research in settings affected by disasters such as hurricanes, floods and earthquakes is challenging, particularly when infrastructures and resources were already limited pre-disaster. However, since post-disaster research is essential to the improvement of the humanitarian response, it is important that adequate research ethics oversight be available. We aim to answer the following questions: 1) what do research ethics committee (REC) members who have reviewed research protocols to be conducted following disasters in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) perceive as the key ethical concerns associated with disaster research?, and 2) in what ways do REC members understand these concerns to be distinct from those arising in research conducted in non-crisis situations? This qualitative study was developed using interpretative description methodology; 15 interviews were conducted with REC members. Four key ethical issues were identified as presenting distinctive considerations for disaster research to be implemented in LMICs, and were described by participants as familiar research ethics issues that were amplified in these contexts. First, REC members viewed disaster research as having strong social value due to its potential for improving disaster response, but also as requiring a higher level of justification compared to other research settings. Second, they identified vulnerability as an overarching concern for disaster research ethics, and a feature that required careful and critical appraisal when assessing protocols. They noted that research participants' vulnerabilities frequently change in the aftermath of a disaster and often in unpredictable ways. Third, they identified concerns related to promoting and maintaining safety, confidentiality and data security in insecure or austere environments. Lastly, though REC members endorsed the need and usefulness of community engagement, they noted that there are significant challenges in a disaster setting over and above those typically encountered in global health research to achieve meaningful community engagement. Disaster research presents distinctive ethical considerations that require attention to ensure that participants are protected. As RECs review disaster research protocols, they should address these concerns and consider how justification, vulnerability, security and confidentially, and community engagement are shaped by the realities of conducting research in a disaster.

76 FR 60837 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Information Collection; Contractor Business Ethics Compliance...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-30

...; Information Collection; Contractor Business Ethics Compliance Program and Disclosure Requirements AGENCIES... concerning contractor business ethics compliance program and disclosure requirements. Public comments are... Collection 9000- 0164, Contractor Business Ethics Compliance Program and Disclosure Requirements, by any of...

Continuum and line spectra of degenerate dwarf X-ray sources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lamb, D. Q.

1981-01-01

Recent observations of X-ray sources are summarized. Unresolved issues concerning these sources are discussed and an outline of the kinds of X-ray observations that would best advance the understanding of these sources is presented.

Health concerns and ethical considerations regarding international surrogacy.

PubMed

Knoche, Jonathan W

2014-08-01

Since the advent of IVF, various arrangements for child bearing and rearing have developed. With the confluence of advanced medical technology, reproductive choice, and globalization, a market in international surrogacy has flourished. However, myriad health, social, and ethical concerns abound regarding the well-being of gestational carriers and children, the infringement of autonomy and free choice, and threats to human dignity. The present paper examines the scope, health risks, and ethical concerns of cross-border surrogacy, arguing that the risks may not exceed the benefits. Copyright © 2014 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Workplace distress and ethical dilemmas in neuroscience nursing.

PubMed

Silén, Marit; Tang, Ping Fen; Wadensten, Barbro; Ahlström, Gerd

2008-08-01

This study concerns Swedish nurses' experiences of workplace stress and the occurrence of ethical dilemmas in a neurological setting. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 21 nurses. The interview results were subjected to qualitative latent content analysis and sorted into 4 content areas: workplace distress, ethical dilemmas, managing distress and ethical dilemmas, and quality of nursing. Common workplace stressors were high workload and lack of influence. These were perceived to have negative consequences for the quality of nursing. Ethical dilemmas mainly concerned decision making on initiation or withdrawal of treatment, which was experienced as a troublesome situation where conflicts could arise. The nurses managed the distress and ethical dilemmas by accepting and adjusting to the situation and seeking support from colleagues. They also endeavored to gain new strength in their private lives.

The challenges facing midwifery educators in sustaining a future education workforce.

PubMed

Albarran, John W; Rosser, Elizabeth A

2014-08-01

national and international trends have identified concerns over the ability of health and social care workforces in meeting the needs of service users. Attention has increasingly been drawn to problems of recruiting and retaining professionals within higher education; however data in relation to the midwifery profession is scant. to examine the perceptions and experiences of midwifery educators, in south-west England, about the challenges facing them sustaining the education workforce of the future. a mixed methodology approach was adopted involving heads of midwifery education and midwife educators. midwifery participants were recruited from three higher education institutions in south west England. Data collection comprised of self-administered questionnaires plus individual qualitative interviews with heads of midwifery education (n=3), and tape recorded focus groups with midwife academics (n=19). Numerical data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Textual data were analysed for themes that represented the experiences and perspectives of participants. Ethics approval was granted by one University Ethics committee. demographic data suggests that within south-west England, there is a clear ageing population and few in possession of a doctorate within midwifery. The six identified sub-themes represented in the data describe challenges and tensions that midwifery academics experienced in their efforts to attract new recruits and retain those in post in a highly changing educational environment which demands more from a contracting workforce. there remain some serious challenges facing midwifery educators in sustaining the future education workforce, which if unresolved may jeopardise standards of education and quality of care women receive. Active succession planning and more radical approaches that embrace flexible careers will enable educational workforce to be sustained and by a clinically credible and scholarly orientated midwifery workforce. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ethical issues for otolaryngology and surgery in the elderly.

PubMed

Seidman, M D; Shapiro, D P; Shirwany, N A

1999-06-01

Clinical ethics is an intrinsic aspect of medical practice. Concerns for ethical conduct arise in the management of medical benefits, patient preferences, quality of life, and the relationship between patient care and its attendant familial, social, economic, and legal circumstances. Ethical concerns in surgical practice are central to the essence of the Hippocratic doctrine, "First do no harm." In caring for our patients, particularly in light of the modern practice of medicine, we often use the risk-benefit calculus. The range of ethical concerns for the otolaryngologist who deals with the elderly and infirm covers many diverse situations. Superimposed over this spectrum is the idea of patient autonomy, which is considered to be a cardinal issue in any ethical discussion. Furthermore, increasing medical care costs have created a debate regarding the rationing of healthcare. Ethicists continue the discussion as to whether age should be a decisive factor in the rationing of this care. Definitions of "heroic" and "extraordinary" assume greater significance, and controversies of language become pivotal when the comprehension and cognitive orientation of the patient are compromised by disease and senescence.

Philosophical Perspectives on Values and Ethics in Speech Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Becker, Carl B.

There are three very different concerns of communication ethics: (1) applied speech ethics, (2) ethical rules or standards, and (3) metaethical issues. In the area of applied speech ethics, communications theorists attempt to determine whether a speech act is moral or immoral by focusing on the content and effects of specific speech acts. Specific…

[Attachment Representation and Emotion Regulation in Patients with Burnout Syndrome].

PubMed

Söllner, Wolfgang; Behringer, Johanna; Böhme, Stephanie; Stein, Barbara; Reiner, Iris; Spangler, Gottfried

2016-06-01

Burnout describes a syndrome of exhaustion resulting from insufficient coping with work-related distress. We investigated if patients that are being clinically treated for burnout show insecure and unresolved attachment representation more often compared with healthy controls. 50 out of 60 consecutive burnout patients participated in the study. Mental representation of attachment was measured by using the Adult Attachment Interview. Additionally, we administered the Self Report Questionnaire to Assess Emotional Experience and Emotion Regulation and several burnout specific questionnaires. A population sample was used as control group. Burnout patients were classified as insecurely attached significantly more often than controls. Unresolved attachment status concerning loss or trauma was found significantly more often within the burnout sample. Patients with insecure attachment representation reported a lower subjective significance of work. Patients with avoidant insecure attachment showed more depersonalisation. Patients with unresolved loss/trauma reported less social support. They showed more passive-negative emotion experience and emotion regulation characterized by externalization. The results of the study suggest that an insecure or unresolved attachment representation might constitute an intrapersonal risk factor for the development of burnout syndrome. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Participatory action research: considerations for ethical review.

PubMed

Khanlou, N; Peter, E

2005-05-01

This paper addresses the distinctive nature of participatory action research (PAR) in relation to ethical review requirements. As a framework for conducting research and reducing health disparities, PAR is gaining increased attention in community and public health research. As a result, PAR researchers and members of Research Ethics Boards could benefit from an increased understanding of the array of ethical concerns that can arise. We discuss these concerns in light of commonly held ethical requirements for clinical research (social or scientific value, scientific validity, fair subject/participant selection, favourable risk-benefit ratio, independent review, informed consent, and respect for potential and enrolled participants) and refer to guidelines specifically developed for participatory research in health promotion. We draw from our community-based experiences in mental health promotion research with immigrant and culturally diverse youth to illustrate the ethical advantages and challenges of applying a PAR approach. We conclude with process suggestions for Research Ethics Boards.

Ethical concerns and career satisfaction in obstetrics and gynecology: a review of recent findings from the Collaborative Ambulatory Research Network.

PubMed

Farrow, Victoria A; Leddy, Meaghan A; Lawrence, Hal; Schulkin, Jay

2011-09-01

Obstetricians-gynecologists (ob-gyns) are frequently confronted with situations that have ethical implications (e.g., whether to accept gifts or samples from drug companies or disclosing medical errors to patients). Additionally, various factors, including specific job-related tasks, costs, and benefits, may impact ob-gyns' career satisfaction. Ethical concerns and career satisfaction can play a role in the quality of women's health care. This article summarizes the studies published between 2005 and 2009 by the Research Department of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which encompass ethical concerns regarding interactions with pharmaceutical representatives and patient safety/medical error reporting, as well as ob-gyn career satisfaction. Additionally, a brief discussion regarding ethical concerns in the ob-gyn field, in general, highlights key topics for the last 30 years. Ethical dilemmas continue to be of concern for ob-gyns. Familiarity with guidelines on appropriate interactions with industry is associated with lower percentages of potentially problematic relationships with pharmaceutical industries. Physicians report that the expense of patient safety initiatives is one of the top barriers for improving patient safety, followed by fear of liability. Overall, respondents reported being satisfied with their careers. However, half of the respondents reported that they were extremely concerned about the impact of professional liability costs on the duration of their careers. Increased familiarity with guidelines may lead to a decreased ob-gyn reliance on pharmaceutical representatives and free samples, whereas specific and practical tools may help them implement patient safety techniques. The easing of malpractice insurance and threat of litigation may enhance career satisfaction among ob-gyns. This article will discuss related findings in recent years. Obstetricians & Gynecologists and Family Physicians. After the completing the CME activity, physicians should be better able to analyze how interactions with pharmaceutical industry may pose ethical dilemmas, examine current barriers to implementing patient safety initiatives, and evaluate the factors that influence career satisfaction among obstetrician-gynecologists.

Everyday Ethics: Reflections on Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rossman, Gretchen B.; Rallis, Sharon F.

2010-01-01

This introductory article frames the contributions for this issue on everyday ethics--moments that demand moral considerations and ethical choices that researchers encounter. We discuss concerns raised within the research community about the tendency to observe merely obligatory ethical procedures as outlined in Human Subjects Review regulations.…

When to stop? Decision-making when children’s cancer treatment is no longer curative: a mixed-method systematic review

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Children with cancer, parents, and clinicians, face difficult decisions when cure is no longer possible. Little is known about decision-making processes, how agreement is reached, or perspectives of different actors. Professionals voice concerns about managing parental expectations and beliefs, which can be contrary to their own and may change over time. We conducted the first systematic review to determine what constitutes best medico-legal practice for children under 19 years as context to exploring the perspectives of actors who make judgements and decisions when cancer treatment is no longer curative. Methods Theory-informed mixed-method thematic systematic review with theory development. Results Eight legal/ethical guidelines and 18 studies were included. Whilst there were no unresolved dilemmas, actors had different perspectives and motives. In line with guidelines, the best interests of the individual child informed decisions, although how different actors conceptualized ‘best interests’ when treatment was no longer curative varied. Respect for autonomy was understood as following child/parent preferences, which varied from case to case. Doctors generally shared information so that parents alone could make an informed decision. When parents received reliable information, and personalized interest in their child, they were more likely to achieve shared trust and clearer transition to palliation. Although under-represented in research studies, young people’s perspectives showed some differences to those of parents and professionals. For example, young people preferred to be informed even when prognosis was poor, and they had an altruistic desire to help others by participating in research. Conclusion There needs to be fresh impetus to more effectively and universally implement the ethics of professionalism into daily clinical practice in order to reinforce humanitarian attitudes. Ethical guidelines and regulations attempt to bring professionals together by articulating shared values. While important, ethics training must be supported by institutions/organizations to assist doctors to maintain good professional standards. Findings will hopefully stimulate further normative and descriptive lines of research in this complex under-researched field. Future research needs to be undertaken through a more deliberative cultural lens that includes children’s and multi-disciplinary team members’ perspectives to more fully characterize and understand the dynamics of the decision-making process in this specific end-of life context. PMID:24884514

Compassion and Vigilance: Investigators' Strategies To Manage Ethical Concerns in Palliative and End-of-Life Research

PubMed Central

Cartwright, Juliana C.; Nelson, Christine A.; Knafl, Kathleen

2012-01-01

Abstract Background Ethical concerns were identified as a potential barrier to advancing palliative and end-of-life science at the 2004 National Institutes of Health State of the Science Meeting. However, data are lacking about the nature of ethical concerns and strategies for balancing the need to advance science with human subjects protections. Methods A qualitative case-study design was used to follow 43 end-of-life studies from proposal development through the review process and implementation. Investigators participated in semi-structured telephone interviews and provided document data regarding their experiences with grant and IRB reviews. Using constant comparative analysis within and across cases, the investigators identified commonly encountered and unique concerns and strategies for managing these concerns. Findings Investigator strategies fell into two broad categories: 1) Recruitment and consent strategies related to subject identification and enrollment; and 2) Protocol-related strategies related to the process of data collection. These strategies shared the overarching meta-themes of compassion, as evidenced by a heightened sensitivity to the needs of the population, coupled with vigilance, as evidenced by close attention to the possible effects of study participation on the participants' well-being, clinical care, and the needs of research staff. Conclusions Ethical concerns have led to the development of compassionate and vigilant strategies designed to balance the potential for risk of harm with the need to advance the science of palliative and end-of-life care. These strategies can be used by investigators to address ethical concerns and minimize barriers to the development of palliative and end-of-life care science. PMID:22731516

Compassion and vigilance: investigators' strategies to manage ethical concerns in palliative and end-of-life research.

PubMed

Hickman, Susan E; Cartwright, Juliana C; Nelson, Christine A; Knafl, Kathleen

2012-08-01

Ethical concerns were identified as a potential barrier to advancing palliative and end-of-life science at the 2004 National Institutes of Health State of the Science Meeting. However, data are lacking about the nature of ethical concerns and strategies for balancing the need to advance science with human subjects protections. A qualitative case-study design was used to follow 43 end-of-life studies from proposal development through the review process and implementation. Investigators participated in semi-structured telephone interviews and provided document data regarding their experiences with grant and IRB reviews. Using constant comparative analysis within and across cases, the investigators identified commonly encountered and unique concerns and strategies for managing these concerns. Investigator strategies fell into two broad categories: 1) Recruitment and consent strategies related to subject identification and enrollment; and 2) Protocol-related strategies related to the process of data collection. These strategies shared the overarching meta-themes of compassion, as evidenced by a heightened sensitivity to the needs of the population, coupled with vigilance, as evidenced by close attention to the possible effects of study participation on the participants' well-being, clinical care, and the needs of research staff. Ethical concerns have led to the development of compassionate and vigilant strategies designed to balance the potential for risk of harm with the need to advance the science of palliative and end-of-life care. These strategies can be used by investigators to address ethical concerns and minimize barriers to the development of palliative and end-of-life care science.

Commodification and privacy: a Lockean perspective.

PubMed

Volkman, Richard

2010-09-01

This paper defends the thesis that privacy as a right is derived from fundamental rights to life, liberty, and property and does not permit restricting the commodification of bodily material; however, privacy as life, liberty, property does require conventions that ensure a robust and just market in bodily material. The analysis proceeds by defending a general commitment to liberty and markets, but not in the manner one might expect from a 'doctrinaire' libertarian. Ethical concerns about commodification are legitimate in the context of new medical and information technologies, but these concerns are not sufficiently well defined to justify political conclusions, since not every ethical concern is in itself a political concern, and the best way to resolve certain ethical difficulties is to draw up political boundaries that facilitate the discovery and testing of various solutions to our ethical puzzles. To illustrate the point, I will indicate how privacy as life, liberty, property defines such a dynamic solution to the problems of commodification of human bodily material and slippery information in insurance markets.

Swedish healthcare providers' perceptions of preconception expanded carrier screening (ECS)-a qualitative study.

PubMed

Matar, A; Kihlbom, U; Höglund, A T

2016-07-01

Reproductive autonomy, medicalization, and discrimination against disabled and parental responsibility are the main ongoing ethical debates concerning reproductive genetic screening. To examine Swedish healthcare professionals' views on preconception expanded carrier screening (ECS), a qualitative study involving academic and clinical institutions in Sweden was conducted in September 2014 to February 2015. Eleven healthcare professionals including clinicians, geneticists, a midwife, and a genetic counselor were interviewed in depth using a semi-structured interview guide. The questionnaire was constructed after reviewing the main literature and meetings with relevant healthcare providers. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and content analyzed for categories and subcategories. Participants nurtured many ethical and non-ethical concerns regarding preconception ECS. Among the ethical concerns were the potential for discrimination, medicalization, concerns with prioritization of healthcare resources, and effects on reproductive freedom. The effects of implementation of preconception ECS, its stakeholders, regulations, and motivation are some of non-ethical concerns. These concerns, if not addressed, may affect the uptake and usage of carrier screening within Swedish healthcare system. As this is a qualitative study with a small non-random sample size, the findings cannot be generalized. The participants had little to no working experience with expanded screening panels. Moreover, the interviews were conducted in English, a second language for the participants, which might have limited the expression of their views. However, the authors claim that the findings may be pertinent to similar settings in other Scandinavian countries.

Humankind Takes up Environmental Ethics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huiying, Xu

2004-01-01

Environmental ethics examines the relationship between human beings and nature from the moral perspective. It is also a kind of ethics arising from a concern with an earth which is on the verge of losing balance. Environmental ethics originated at the end of the 1940s. Since the 1970s, great progress has been made in environmental ethics. This…

An Ethics Study: Implications of Knowledge for School Counselor Candidates, School Counseling Supervisors, Practicing School Counselors and Training Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boes, Susan R.; Chibbaro, Julia S.; Bingeman, Brittany A.

2006-01-01

This paper addresses a survey conducted to examine knowledge of ethics in school counselor candidates. Students in school counseling practicum and internship classes indicated their familiarity with ethical codes and ethical decision making-models and responded to items pertaining to ethical dilemmas. Areas of concern to counselor educators…

The Role of Intent in Ethical Decision Making: The Ethical Choice Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

King, Christine; Powell, Toni

2007-01-01

This paper reviews the major theories, studies and models concerning ethical decision making in organizations. The authors drew upon Jones' Model (1991) as the foundation for their Ethical Choice Model, which is designed to further clarify the ethical decision making process as it relates to the construct of intentionality. The model, illustrated…

Managing for Organizational Integrity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paine, Lynn Sharp

1994-01-01

Compliance-based ethics programs focus on prevention, detection, and punishment. Companies should adopt an integrity-based approach to ethics management that combines a concern for the law with an emphasis on managerial responsibility for ethical behavior. (JOW)

Curbside consultation re-imagined: Borrowing from the conflict management toolkit.

PubMed

Edelstein, Lauren M; Lynch, John J; Mokwunye, Nneka O; DeRenzo, Evan G

2010-03-01

Curbside ethics consultations occur when an ethics consultant provides guidance to a party who seeks assistance over ethical concerns in a case, without the consultant involving other stakeholders, conducting his or her own comprehensive review of the case, or writing a chart note. Some have argued that curbside consultation is problematic because the consultant, in focusing on a single narrative offered by the party seeking advice, necessarily fails to account for the full range of moral perspectives. Their concern is that any guidance offered by the ethics consultant will privilege and empower one party's viewpoint over-and to the exclusion of-other stakeholders. This could lead to serious harms, such as the ethicist being reduced to a means to an end for a clinician seeking to achieve his or her own preferred outcome, the ethicist denying the broader array of stakeholders input in the process, or the ethicist providing wrongheaded or biased advice, posing dangers to the ethical quality of decision-making. Although these concerns are important and must be addressed, we suggest that they are manageable. This paper proposes using conflict coaching, a practice developed within the discipline of conflict management, to mitigate the risks posed by curbside consultation, and thereby create new "spaces" for moral discourse in the care of patients. Thinking of curbside consultations as an opportunity for "clinical ethics conflict coaching" can more fully integrate ethics committee members into the daily ethics of patient care and reduce the frequency of ethically harmful outcomes.

Genetically Modified (GM) Foods and Ethical Eating.

PubMed

Dizon, Francis; Costa, Sarah; Rock, Cheryl; Harris, Amanda; Husk, Cierra; Mei, Jenny

2016-02-01

The ability to manipulate and customize the genetic code of living organisms has brought forth the production of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and consumption of genetically modified (GM) foods. The potential for GM foods to improve the efficiency of food production, increase customer satisfaction, and provide potential health benefits has contributed to the rapid incorporation of GM foods into the American diet. However, GM foods and GMOs are also a topic of ethical debate. The use of GM foods and GM technology is surrounded by ethical concerns and situational judgment, and should ideally adhere to the ethical standards placed upon food and nutrition professionals, such as: beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice and autonomy. The future of GM foods involves many aspects and trends, including enhanced nutritional value in foods, strict labeling laws, and potential beneficial economic conditions in developing nations. This paper briefly reviews the origin and background of GM foods, while delving thoroughly into 3 areas: (1) GMO labeling, (2) ethical concerns, and (3) health and industry applications. This paper also examines the relationship between the various applications of GM foods and their corresponding ethical issues. Ethical concerns were evaluated in the context of the code of ethics developed by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) that govern the work of food and nutrition professionals. Overall, there is a need to stay vigilant about the many ethical implications of producing and consuming GM foods and GMOs. © 2015 Institute of Food Technologists®

Engaging science in a climate of values: tools for animal scientists tasked with addressing ethical problems.

PubMed

Croney, C C; Anthony, R

2010-04-01

In the United States, escalating concerns about current farm animal science and production methods have resulted not only in increased food animal protection policies, but also in animal welfare legislation. Animal scientists and industry leaders are apprehensive that such policies may be driven primarily by emotion and a lack of scientific understanding, and thus may have unforeseen consequences. However, decisions about animal care, and particularly animal welfare, cannot be made solely on the basis of science because the potential effects on producers, animals, and concerned citizens and the implications for the environment and on food prices must also be considered. Balancing the interests and values of all stakeholders in regard to animal welfare problems has presented a considerable challenge. Ethical accounting processes, such as the Ethical Matrix and the ethics assessment process by Campbell, offer models to combine socioethical concerns with relevant factual information, thereby facilitating decision making that is ethically responsible and that offers viable solutions. A case study is used to illustrate application of the ethics assessment process by Campbell that includes identification of the ethical problems, the embedded values, the relevant facts, and moral tests that can be applied. Awareness of these emerging ways of examining ethics that offer real solutions to conflicts of interests and not merely "one size fits all" answers should be an asset to animal and poultry scientists.

Health educators' perceptions of ethics in professional preparation and practice.

PubMed

Shive, Steven E; Marks, Ray

2008-07-01

This commentary reflects health educators' views concerning perceptions of the need for increased awareness of the Code of Ethics for the Health Education Profession, improvement in professionals' ability to engage in ethical reflection, and the need for incorporation of ethical considerations into health education practice.

From Theory to Practice: Faculty Training in Business Ethics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boatright, John R.

1991-01-01

Claims that training business faculty in ethics is a critical component of including ethics in the business curriculum. Includes suggestions concerning what business faculty should know about ethical theory, how to include theory, and curricular and teaching issues. Describes research projects, publications, and workshops. (DK)

Ethical issues regarding human cloning: a nursing perspective.

PubMed

Dinç, Leyla

2003-05-01

Advances in cloning technology and successful cloning experiments in animals raised concerns about the possibility of human cloning in recent years. Despite many objections, this is not only a possibility but also a reality. Human cloning is a scientific revolution. However, it also introduces the potential for physical and psychosocial harm to human beings. From this point of view, it raises profound ethical, social and health related concerns. Human cloning would have an impact on the practice of nursing because it could result in the creation of new physiological and psychosocial conditions that would require nursing care. The nursing profession must therefore evaluate the ethics of human cloning, in particular the potential role of nurses. This article reviews the ethical considerations of reproductive human cloning, discusses the main reasons for concern, and reflects a nursing perspective regarding this issue.

Ethics in health sciences librarianship.

PubMed Central

Hurych, J M; Glenn, A C

1987-01-01

Against a background of discussion about drafting of an ethical code for librarians and a review of articles confronting ethical issues in librarianship, the authors surveyed the 150 institutional members of the Health Science Librarians of Illinois (HSLI) regarding their perceptions of ethical concerns. Among the issues addressed in the survey are library organization, personnel policies, and professional competency, along with the traditional concerns of professional versus personal values, privacy and confidentiality, access to materials, and materials selection criteria in a health sciences context. Based on a 60% response rate, survey results indicate widespread agreement on some issues and a conspicuous lack of consensus on others. Further research is suggested in order to assess the need for a separate ethical code for health sciences librarians. PMID:3450346

Nontechnical issues in waste management: ethical, institutional, and political concerns

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hebert, J.A.; Rankin, W.L.; Brown, P.G.

1978-05-01

The report consists of a presentation and distillation of major nontechnical issues surrounding commercial waste management, followed by ethical, institutional, and political analyses of these issues. The ethical analysis consists of a discusson of what is meant by ''ethics'' and ''morality'' in the waste management context and an illustrative attempt at an ethical analysis of the commercial nuclear waste problem. Two institutional analyses are presented: one is an analysis of the possible problems of long-term human institutions in waste management; the other is a presentation of institutional arrangements for the short term. A final chapter discusses issues and concerns involvingmore » intergovernmental relations--that is, local, state, and federal interface problems in waste management.« less

Ethical Considerations of Patient-Funded Research for Multiple Sclerosis Therapeutics.

PubMed

Amezcua, Lilyana; Nelson, Flavia

2017-10-01

Patient-funded research has started to emerge in multiple sclerosis studies, such as low-dose naltrexone and stem-cell therapy. While these represent greater opportunities for the physician, scientist, and patient, ethical concerns concerning protocol review, conflict of interests, and protection of subjects are reviewed.

Lifestyle, health and the ethics of good living. Health behaviour counselling in general practice.

PubMed

Walseth, Liv Tveit; Abildsnes, Eirik; Schei, Edvin

2011-05-01

To present theory that illustrates the relevance of ethics for lifestyle counselling in patient-centred general practice, and to illustrate the theory by a qualitative study exploring how doctors may obstruct or enhance the possibilities for ethical dialogue. The theoretical part is based on theory of common morality and Habermas' communication theory. The empirical study consists of 12 consultations concerning lifestyle changes, followed by interviews of doctors and patients. Identification of two contrasting consultations holding much and little ethical dialogue, "translation" into speech acts, and interpretation of speech acts and interviews guided by theory. General advice obstructed possibilities for ethical clarification and patient-centredness. Ethical clarification was asked for, and was enhanced by the doctor using communication techniques such as interpretation, summarization, and exploration of the objective, subjective and social dimensions of the patients' lifeworlds. However, to produce concrete good decisions an additional reflection over possibilities and obstacles in the patient's lifeworld is necessary. Consultations concerning lifestyle changes hold opportunities for ethical clarification and reflection which may create decisions rooted in the patient's everyday life. The study suggests that GPs should encourage active reflection and deliberation on values and norms in consultations concerning lifestyle changes. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stakeholder perspectives on ethical challenges in HIV vaccine trials in South Africa.

PubMed

Essack, Zaynab; Koen, Jennifer; Barsdorf, Nicola; Slack, Catherine; Quayle, Michael; Milford, Cedilia; Lindegger, Graham; Ranchod, Chitra; Mukuka, Richard

2010-04-01

There is little published literature on the ethical concerns of stakeholders in HIV vaccine trials. This study explored the ethical challenges identified by various stakeholders, through an open-ended, in-depth approach. While the few previous studies have been largely quantitative, respondents in this study had the opportunity to spontaneously identify the issues that they perceived to be of priority concern in the South African context. Stakeholders spontaneously identified the following as ethical priorities: informed consent, social harms, collaborative relationships between research stakeholders, the participation of children and adolescents, access to treatment for participants who become infected with HIV, physical harms, fair participant and community selection, confidentiality, benefits, and payment. While there is some speculation that research in developing countries poses special ethical challenges, overall no issues were identified that have not been anticipated in international guidance, literature and popular frameworks. However, the South African context affords a distinctive gloss to these expected issues; for example, respondents were concerned that the predominant selection of black participants may perpetuate racist practices of apartheid. Stakeholders should be aware of contextual factors impacting on the implementation of ethical principles. We make a series of recommendations for South African trials, including amendments to the ethical-legal framework and research policies, and, for further research.

Institutional Ethical Review and Ethnographic Research Involving Injection Drug Users: A Case Study

PubMed Central

Small, Will; Maher, Lisa; Kerr, Thomas

2014-01-01

Ethnographic research among people who inject drugs (PWID) involves complex ethical issues. While ethical review frameworks have been critiqued by social scientists, there is a lack of social science research examining institutional ethical review processes, particularly in relation to ethnographic work. This case study describes the institutional ethical review of an ethnographic research project using observational fieldwork and in-depth interviews to examine injection drug use. The review process and the salient concerns of the review committee are recounted, and the investigators’ responses to the committee’s concerns and requests are described to illustrate how key issues were resolved. The review committee expressed concerns regarding researcher safety when conducting fieldwork and the investigators were asked to liaise with the police regarding the proposed research. An ongoing dialogue with the institutional review committee regarding researcher safety and autonomy from police involvement, as well as formal consultation with a local drug user group and solicitation of opinions from external experts, helped to resolve these issues. This case study suggests that ethical review processes can be particularly challenging for ethnographic projects focused on illegal behaviours, and that while some challenges could be mediated by modifying existing ethical review procedures, there is a need for legislation that provides legal protection of research data and participant confidentiality. PMID:24581074

Beyond demarcation: Care ethics as an interdisciplinary field of inquiry.

PubMed

Leget, Carlo; van Nistelrooij, Inge; Visse, Merel

2017-01-01

For many years the body of literature known as 'care ethics' or 'ethics of care' has been discussed as regards its status and nature. There is much confusion and little structured discussion. The paper of Klaver et al. (2014) was written as a discussion article to which we respond. We aim to contribute to the ongoing discussion about the status and nature of care ethics. Responding to 'Demarcation of the ethics of care as a discipline' by Klaver et al. (2014) and 'Three versions of an ethics of care' by Edwards (2009), we identified shared concerns and formulated criticisms of both texts in order to develop an alternative view. Participants and research context: This paper has been written from the academic context of a master in care ethics an policy. Ethical considerations: We have tried to be fair and respectful to the authors discussed. Both Klaver et al. (2014) and Edwards (2009) raise important concerns about the question if care ethics can be considered an academic discipline, and to what extend it can be seen as a moral theory. Despite shared concerns, their arguments fail to convince us in all respects. We propose to conceive care ethics as an interdisciplinary field of inquiry, incorporating a dialectical relation between empirical research and theoretical reflection. Departing from the notion of caring as a practice of contributing to a life-sustaining web, we argue that care ethics can only profit from a loosely organized academic profile that allows for flexibility and critical attitude that brings us close to the good emerging in specific practices. This asks for ways of searching for a common focus and interest that is inherently democratic and dialogical and thus beyond demarcation.

Ethical Issues in School Health: A Survey.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richardson, Glenn E.; Jose, Nancy

1983-01-01

The need for a code of ethics for health educators is discussed, and results of a survey of school health educators' opinions on curriculum-related ethical issses are reported. Ethical issues of concern include use of scare tactics, efforts to change behavior and attitudes, and appropriate subject matter. (PP)

There Is More to Ethics than Principles.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kitchener, Karen Strohm

1996-01-01

In response to Meara et al.'s (1996) article concerning virtue ethics, asserts that moral virtues are not synonymous with moral ideals. Additionally, because virtue ethics can be community specific, they are also in danger of becoming ethnocentric. Suggests that the promotion of virtue ethics itself poses important unanswered question for the…

The Ethics of Evaluation in Museums

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heimlich, Joe E.

2015-01-01

Ethics in research and evaluation has a long standing history, one steeped with legal and moral implications. This article addresses the technicalities of ethics in evaluation as well as highlights the importance for museum educators to prioritize adopting such practices. While understanding the myriad of ethical concerns and best practices can be…

Teaching Ethics in International Business Courses: The Impacts of Religions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruhe, John; Lee, Monle

2008-01-01

Implicit in most comparative ethical studies is the assumption that cultural and religious differences between countries are the major reasons behind the variations in ethical beliefs and business practice across nations. This article examines research on the international ethical issues and the common moral concerns that permeate differing…

Management Communication Ethics Research: Finding the Bull's-Eye.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reinsch, N. Lamar, Jr.

1996-01-01

Argues that scholars who wish to produce substantive research in management communication ethics would be helped by a clear vision of what the term designates. States that management communication ethics should designate concerns that lie at the intersection of management, communication, and ethics. Concludes that this approach could help to…

Some Ethical-Moral Concerns in Administration.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Enns, Frederick

1981-01-01

Presents and analyzes moral-ethical issues that arise in administration and concludes that past descriptive, objective, and scientific approaches to administration have failed to take full account of the moral-ethical dimension of human existence. (Author/WD)

Ethics for Management.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jaques, Elliott

2003-01-01

Notes that it is essential that business organizations establish organizational systems that require satisfactory ethical business behaviors from everyone concerned, regardless of differences in personal outlooks. Outlines what needs to be done in order to effectively teach business ethics. (SG)

Teaching medical ethics and law.

PubMed

Parker, Malcolm

2012-03-01

The teaching of medical ethics is not yet characterised by recognised, standard requirements for formal qualifications, training and experience; this is not surprising as the field is still relatively young and maturing. Under the broad issue of the requirements for teaching medical ethics are numerous more specific questions, one of which concerns whether medical ethics can be taught in isolation from considerations of the law, and vice versa. Ethics and law are cognate, though distinguishable, disciplines. In a practical, professional enterprise such as medicine, they cannot and should not be taught as separate subjects. One way of introducing students to the links and tensions between medical ethics and law is to consider the history of law via its natural and positive traditions. This encourages understanding of how medical practice is placed within the contexts of ethics and law in the pluralist societies in which most students will practise. Four examples of topics from medical ethics teaching are described to support this claim. Australasian medical ethics teachers have paid less attention to the role of law in their curricula than their United Kingdom counterparts. Questions like the one addressed here will help inform future deliberations concerning minimal requirements for teaching medical ethics.

The Space Shuttle Disaster: Ethical Issues in Organizational Decision-Making.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kramer, Ronald C.; Jaksa, James A.

Arguing that the issue of organizational decision making and bureaucratic responsibility in the use of technologies with potential for creating social harm should concern everyone, this paper explores the ethical issues raised by organizational decisions concerning the launch of the space shuttle "Challenger." The paper first describes a…

Counselor Educator Ego Development and Ethical Decision-Making Post Graduation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rashid, George J.

2016-01-01

Counselor Educators are interested in assessing and promoting the professional and personal development of those in the counseling profession, including their ego and ethical development. While there has been much research concerning such development, there is insufficient research concerning the level of personal development of Counselor…

Similarities and Dissimilarities of Ethical Issues in Applied Psychology Disciplines.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lowman, Rodney L.

Although all practicing psychologists share common ethical concerns, the industrial/organizational (I/O) psychologist has additional concerns which are unique to his discipline. The institutional setting of his practice both isolates him from role models and professional colleagues and threatens his identity as a psychologist. In the organization,…

Could the ethics of institutionalized health care be anything but Kantian? Collecting building blocks for a unifying metaethics.

PubMed

Kaldis, Byron

2005-01-01

Is a Health Care Ethics possible? Against sceptical and relativist doubts Kantian deontology may advance a challenging alternative affirming the possibility of such an ethics on the condition that deontology be adopted as a total programme or complete vision. Kantian deontology is enlisted to move us from an ethics of two-person informal care to one of institutions. It justifies this affirmative answer by occupying a commanding meta-ethical stand. Such a total programme comprises, on the one hand, a dual-aspect strategy incorporating the macro- (institutional) and micro- (person-to-person) levels while, on the other, it integrates consistently within moral epistemology a meta-ethics with lower-ground moral theories. The article describes the issues to be dealt with and the problems which have to be solved on the way to a unifying theory of that kind (Sections I-III) and indicates elements of Kantian moral philosophy which may serve as building blocks (Section IV). Among these are not only Kant's ideas concerning the moral acting of persons and his ideas concerning civil society and state but also his ideas concerning morality, schematism and religion.

A meaty matter. Pet diet and the vegetarian's dilemma.

PubMed

Rothgerber, Hank

2013-09-01

The present research examined pet ownership, current pet diet, and guilt associated with pet diet among a fairly large sample of non-meat-eaters (n=515). It specifically focused on the conflict that pits feeding one's pet an animal-based diet that may be perceived as best promoting their well-being with concerns over animal welfare and environmental degradation threatened by such diets, here labeled the vegetarian's dilemma. Questionnaire responses indicated that ethically motivated meat abstainers were more likely to own pets and owned more of them than those motivated by health concerns or a combination of ethical and health concerns. Vegans and those resisting meat on ethical grounds were more likely to feed their pet a vegetarian diet and expressed the greatest concerns over feeding their pet an animal-based diet. For vegans and ethical meat abstainers, it is suggested that questions concerning what to feed their pet approaches a tragic tradeoff contrasting two sacred values: protecting the well-being of their pets and protecting the well-being of other animals and the environment. For meat abstainers motivated by health concerns, this constitutes a relatively easy moral problem because the primary concern for such individuals is the health of their pet with less or no regard for other ramifications of the decision, i.e., harming other animals or the environment. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Psychologists abandon the Nuremberg ethic: concerns for detainee interrogations.

PubMed

Pope, Kenneth S; Gutheil, Thomas G

2009-01-01

In the aftermath of 9-11, the American Psychological Association, one of the largest U.S. health professions, changed its ethics code so that it now runs counter to the Nuremberg Ethic. This historic post-9-11 change allows psychologists to set aside their ethical responsibilities whenever they are in irreconcilable conflict with military orders, governmental regulations, national and local laws, and other forms of governing legal authority. This article discusses the history, wording, rationale, and implications of the ethical standard that U.S. psychologists adopted 7 years ago, particularly in light of concerns over health care professionals' involvement in detainee interrogations and the controversy over psychologists' prominent involvement in settings like the Guantánamo Bay Detainment Camp and the Abu Ghraib prison. It discusses possible approaches to the complex dilemmas arising when ethical responsibilities conflict with laws, regulations, or other governing legal authority.

Beyond a code of ethics: phenomenological ethics for everyday practice.

PubMed

Greenfield, Bruce; Jensen, Gail M

2010-06-01

Physical therapy, like all health-care professions, governs itself through a code of ethics that defines its obligations of professional behaviours. The code of ethics provides professions with a consistent and common moral language and principled guidelines for ethical actions. Yet, and as argued in this paper, professional codes of ethics have limits applied to ethical decision-making in the presence of ethical dilemmas. Part of the limitations of the codes of ethics is that there is no particular hierarchy of principles that govern in all situations. Instead, the exigencies of clinical practice, the particularities of individual patient's illness experiences and the transformative nature of chronic illnesses and disabilities often obscure the ethical concerns and issues embedded in concrete situations. Consistent with models of expert practice, and with contemporary models of patient-centred care, we advocate and describe in this paper a type of interpretative and narrative approach to moral practice and ethical decision-making based on phenomenology. The tools of phenomenology that are well defined in research are applied and examined in a case that illustrates their use in uncovering the values and ethical concerns of a patient. Based on the deconstruction of this case on a phenomenologist approach, we illustrate how such approaches for ethical understanding can help assist clinicians and educators in applying principles within the context and needs of each patient. (c) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The ethics of drug development and promotion: the need for a wider view.

PubMed

Brody, Howard

2012-11-01

Ethical issues at the interface between the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry have generally been approached from the vantage point of medical professionalism, with a focus on conflict of interest as the key ethical concern. Although conflicts of interest remain important, other ethical issues may be obscured unless a wider perspective is adopted. Besides medical professionalism, the ethics of the clinical therapeutic relationship, ethics of public health, and business ethics all provide additional insights.

Scientific rationality, uncertainty and the governance of human genetics: an interview study with researchers at deCODE genetics.

PubMed

Hjörleifsson, Stefán; Schei, Edvin

2006-07-01

Technology development in human genetics is fraught with uncertainty, controversy and unresolved moral issues, and industry scientists are sometimes accused of neglecting the implications of their work. The present study was carried out to elicit industry scientists' reflections on the relationship between commercial, scientific and ethical dimensions of present day genetics and the resources needed for robust governance of new technologies. Interviewing scientists of the company deCODE genetics in Iceland, we found that in spite of optimism, the informants revealed ambiguity and uncertainty concerning the use of human genetic technologies for the prevention of common diseases. They concurred that uncritical marketing of scientific success might cause exaggerated public expectations of health benefits from genetics, with the risk of backfiring and causing resistance to genetics in the population. On the other hand, the scientists did not address dilemmas arising from the commercial nature of their own employer. Although the scientists tended to describe public fear as irrational, they identified issues where scepticism might be well founded and explored examples where they, despite expert knowledge, held ambiguous or tentative personal views on the use of predictive genetic technologies. The rationality of science was not seen as sufficient to ensure beneficial governance of new technologies. The reflexivity and suspension of judgement demonstrated in the interviews exemplify productive features of moral deliberation in complex situations. Scientists should take part in dialogues concerning the governance of genetic technologies, acknowledge any vested interests, and use their expertise to highlight, not conceal the technical and moral complexity involved.

The Role of Ethics in Reducing and Improving the Quality of Coercion in Mental Health Care.

PubMed

Norvoll, Reidun; Hem, Marit Helene; Pedersen, Reidar

2017-03-01

Coercion in mental health care gives rise to many ethical challenges. Many countries have recently implemented state policy programs or development projects aiming to reduce coercive practices and improve their quality. Few studies have explored the possible role of ethics (i.e., ethical theory, moral deliberation and clinical ethics support) in such initiatives. This study adds to this subject by exploring health professionals' descriptions of their ethical challenges and strategies in everyday life to ensure morally justified coercion and best practices. Seven semi-structured telephone interviews were carried out in 2012 with key informants in charge of central development projects and quality-assurance work in mental health services in Norway. No facilities used formal clinical ethics support. However, the informants described five areas in which ethics was of importance: moral concerns as implicit parts of local quality improvement initiatives; moral uneasiness and idealism as a motivational source of change; creating a normative basis for development work; value-based leadership; and increased staff reflexivity on coercive practices. The study shows that coercion entails both individual and institutional ethical aspects. Thus, various kinds of moral deliberation and ethics support could contribute to addressing coercion challenges by offering more systematic ways of dealing with moral concerns. However, more strategic use of implicit and institutional ethics is also needed.

Ethical Perspectives on Evaluating Community College Faculty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stumpf, Dan; King, Stephanie; Blendinger, Jack; Davis, Ed

2013-01-01

Because the process of faculty evaluation in the community college gives rise to ethical concerns about what is evaluated, who is involved in the process, and how data are collected and used, the purpose of this paper is to provide a meaningful ethical perspective for conducting faculty evaluation. The authors discuss ethical issues that arise in…

The Hidden Curriculum, Ethics Teaching, and the Structure of Medical Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hafferty, Frederic W.; Franks, Ronald

1994-01-01

Issues concerning inclusion of ethics instruction in the medical school curriculum are discussed, including whether ethics should be presented as a body of knowledge or matter of professional identity and the "hidden curriculum" of medicine as a form of socialization. Recommendations for the structuring of an ethics curriculum are…

Active Ethical Leadership, Giftedness, and Creativity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Runco, Mark A.

2017-01-01

This commentary is focused on Robert Sternberg's new Active Concerned Citizenship and Ethical Leadership (ACCEL) model. The new model is well conceived and goes far beyond existing models. It is especially attractive in that the emphasis is on ethics. Now more than ever before there is a clear need for education to support ethical reasoning and…

Will Virtue Ethics Improve Ethical Conduct in Multicultural Settings and Interactions?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vasquez, Melba J. T.

1996-01-01

Responds to Meara et al.'s (1996) article concerning virtue ethics on the issue of applying ethical standards as a means of responding sensitively to minority groups. Questions the definition of community and reliance on community values as a guiding principle, and suggests that psychologists generally choose theoretical orientations based on…

Research Ethics and Ethical Research: Some Observations from the Global South

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, J. J.

2017-01-01

This paper aims to achieve two objectives. Firstly, it elicits some of the concerns for universal research ethics. It is argued that ethical codes are never universal; they are geographically sensitive. As such, it is important to "develop authentic individual responses to potentially unique circumstances". Secondly, in going beyond a…

A Feminine and Poststructural Extension of Cosmopolitan Ethics in Music Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richerme, Lauren Kapalka

2017-01-01

The interconnected nature of 21st-century life demands that music educators and students consider those beyond their immediate communities in their ethical deliberations. While Appiah's cosmopolitan ethical principles of universal concern and respect for legitimate difference may serve as a starting point for global ethical considerations in music…

Communicating Effectively to Resolve Ethical Concerns: The Role of School Psychology Supervisors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olley, Rivka I.

2010-01-01

It is incumbent upon each school psychologist to engage in ethical behavior based on current ethical codes guiding school psychology. The school psychologist is often the team member most knowledgeable regarding federal and state laws mandating educational services. Sometimes ethical dilemmas that school psychologists face are the result of a…

Neurogenethics: An emerging discipline at the intersection of ethics, neuroscience, and genomics.

PubMed

Canli, Turhan

2015-06-01

The analysis of ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) associated with genetics ("genethics") has focused on traditional concerns in bioethics, such as privacy and informed consent. The analysis of ELSI associated with neuroscience ("neuroethics") has focused on concerns related to personhood, such as free will or cognitive enhancement. With neurogenomics coming of age, this is an appropriate time to attend to the set of novel concerns that arises when we consider the confluence of these two lines of research. I call this area of ethics inquiry "neurogenethics", map out the problem space, and highlight future areas of inquiry related to genome editing and gene therapy, optogenetics and memory manipulation, and genomic identity and online communities.

An overview on ethical issues about sperm donation.

PubMed

Gong, Dan; Liu, Yu-Lin; Zheng, Zhong; Tian, Yi-Fei; Li, Zheng

2009-11-01

Beyond the scientific progress in assisted reproductive technologies (ART), it is necessary to discuss the ethical considerations behind these advances. Ethical issues concerning sperm donation have been considered and discussed by government and non-governmental agencies, the public, media and academic institutions in many countries. Recommendations and guidelines concerning sperm donation issues vary from country to country and between professional groups within countries. This paper attempts to present an overview of findings and reports from various agencies concerning the ethics of sperm donation. The following topics are considered: limiting the number of donor offspring; minimizing risk of infection and genetics from sperm donors; age requirements for sperm donors; and anonymity versus non-anonymity of sperm donors. The diversity of policies shows that each country has its unique set of guidelines tailored toward its own specific needs. Similarly, countries designing their own procedures and guidelines concerning reproductive medicine must tailor them toward their own needs and practical considerations. In Mainland China, the anonymous policy for sperm donation should still be carried out, and the number of donor offspring should be revaluated. ART procedures must be conducted in a way that is respectful of those involved. Ethical principles must respect the interests and welfare of persons who will be born as well as the health and psychosocial welfare of all participants, including sperm donors.

Informed consent in psychiatry clinical research: A conceptual review of issues, challenges, and recommendations

PubMed Central

Gupta, Umesh Chandra; Kharawala, Saifuddin

2012-01-01

Obtaining informed consent in psychiatry clinical research involving subjects with diminished mental abilities and impaired consent capacity has been a challenge for researchers, posing many ethical concerns and procedural hurdles due to participants’ cognitive deficits and impaired ability to judge reality. Regulations seem inadequate and provide limited guidance, not sufficient to address all the ethical issues inherent in different situations related to obtaining consent from decisionally impaired persons. Researchers are struggling to find a balance between risk-benefit ratio, research advancement, and autonomy of study subjects. Inspired to improve the consent process in psychiatry clinical research, many studies have been conducted focusing on various informed consent-related ethical concerns, with the aim of developing appropriate strategies and optimizing the informed consent procedure in psychiatry clinical research, overcoming the ethical concerns. This article critically reviews the various ethical issues and consent challenges, their underlying reasons, and investigates the appropriate strategies and practices needed to be adopted while obtaining informed consent from subjects with impaired consent capacity, participating in psychiatry clinical research. PMID:22347696

Ethical dilemmas among nurses as they transition to hospital case management: implications for organizational ethics, part I.

PubMed

O'Donnell, Lolita T

2007-01-01

To describe the experiences of ethical concerns by clinical nurses as they transitioned into their new role in hospital case management. Through this study, an attempt was made to explore experiences of ethical concerns and identify the implications for organizational ethics. In this study, nurse case managers practicing in the acute hospital setting, military, not-for-profit community, and teaching hospitals were interviewed. The majority of the nurse case manager participants were engaged in hospital discharge planning and utilization review activities. An interpretive phenomenological approach was used to identify the themes inherent in ethical concerns and articulate them within the context of hospital nurse case management. Fifteen participants were interviewed to obtain a qualitative description of the nurse case managers' lived experiences of ethical dilemmas and how they were resolved. Nurse case managers' perceptions of solutions/options to resolve such ethical dilemmas were explored. As nurses transition into the expanded role of case management in the present healthcare delivery system, they frequently face situations demanding ethical choices and judgments to accommodate diverse patient interests and needs. These ethical decisions required in daily practice in case management represent ethical dilemmas to nurses. The insights derived from the analysis of the interviews have implications for nursing practice, education, policy, ethics, and research; recommendations for organizations employing nurse case managers in terms of recruitment, orientation, training, and continued need for educational support are identified. 1. The clinical decisions required in daily practice of case management represented challenges to the nurses. This highlights the critical role of adequate educational orientation to case management for beginning case managers. 2. Nurse case managers should be cognizant of the "disconnect" that could occur between their obligations to the organizations that employ them and the healthcare needs of the patients that they advocate for. 3. Aside from the importance of linking patient care outcomes with accountability, nurse case managers may need to advocate for policy change and system reform.

The Epistemological Bias of Ethics Review: Constraining Mental Health Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holland, Kate

2007-01-01

This article investigates the concerns of a university research ethics committee in rejecting an application to interview people diagnosed with a mental illness. The committee's concerns included the safety of participants and the author as the researcher, the author's lack of training and clinical expertise, her disclosure of a past diagnosis of…

Ethical guidance in the era of managed care: an analysis of the American College of Healthcare Executives' Code of Ethics.

PubMed

Higgins, W

2000-01-01

Market competition and the rise of managed care are transforming the healthcare system from a physician-dominated cottage industry into a manager-dominated corporate enterprise. The managed care revolution is also undermining the safe-guards offered by medical ethics and raising serious public concerns. These trends highlight the growing importance of ethical standards for managers. The most comprehensive ethical guidance for health service managers is contained in the American College of Healthcare Executives' (ACHE) Code of Ethics. An analysis of the ACHE Code suggests that it does not adequately address several ethical concerns associated with managed care. The ACHE may wish to develop a supplemental statement regarding ethical issues in managed care. A supplemental statement that provides more specific guidance in the areas of financial incentives to reduce utilization, social mission, consumer/patient information, and the health service manager's responsibility to patients could be extremely valuable in today's complex and rapidly changing environment. More specific ethical guidelines would not ensure individual or organizational compliance. However, they would provide professional standards that could guide decision making and help managers evaluate performance in managed care settings.

MOMENTS OF UNCERTAINTY: ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND EMERGING CONTAMINANTS

PubMed Central

Cordner, Alissa; Brown, Phil

2013-01-01

Science on emerging environmental health threats involves numerous ethical concerns related to scientific uncertainty about conducting, interpreting, communicating, and acting upon research findings, but the connections between ethical decision making and scientific uncertainty are under-studied in sociology. Under conditions of scientific uncertainty, researcher conduct is not fully prescribed by formal ethical codes of conduct, increasing the importance of ethical reflection by researchers, conflicts over research conduct, and reliance on informal ethical standards. This paper draws on in-depth interviews with scientists, regulators, activists, industry representatives, and fire safety experts to explore ethical considerations of moments of uncertainty using a case study of flame retardants, chemicals widely used in consumer products with potential negative health and environmental impacts. We focus on the uncertainty that arises in measuring people’s exposure to these chemicals through testing of their personal environments or bodies. We identify four sources of ethical concerns relevant to scientific uncertainty: 1) choosing research questions or methods, 2) interpreting scientific results, 3) communicating results to multiple publics, and 4) applying results for policy-making. This research offers lessons about professional conduct under conditions of uncertainty, ethical research practice, democratization of scientific knowledge, and science’s impact on policy. PMID:24249964

Ethical considerations: care of the critically ill and injured during pandemics and disasters: CHEST consensus statement.

PubMed

Biddison, Lee Daugherty; Berkowitz, Kenneth A; Courtney, Brooke; De Jong, Col Marla J; Devereaux, Asha V; Kissoon, Niranjan; Roxland, Beth E; Sprung, Charles L; Dichter, Jeffrey R; Christian, Michael D; Powell, Tia

2014-10-01

Mass critical care entails time-sensitive decisions and changes in the standard of care that it is possible to deliver. These circumstances increase provider uncertainty as well as patients' vulnerability and may, therefore, jeopardize disciplined, ethical decision-making. Planning for pandemics and disasters should incorporate ethics guidance to support providers who may otherwise make ad hoc patient care decisions that overstep ethical boundaries. This article provides consensus-developed suggestions about ethical challenges in caring for the critically ill or injured during pandemics or disasters. The suggestions in this article are important for all of those involved in any pandemic or disaster with multiple critically ill or injured patients, including front-line clinicians, hospital administrators, and public health or government officials. We adapted the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) Guidelines Oversight Committee's methodology to develop suggestions. Twenty-four key questions were developed, and literature searches were conducted to identify evidence for suggestions. The detailed literature reviews produced 144 articles. Based on their expertise within this domain, panel members also supplemented the literature search with governmental publications, interdisciplinary workgroup consensus documents, and other information not retrieved through PubMed. The literature in this field is not suitable to support evidence-based recommendations. Therefore, the panel developed expert opinion-based suggestions using a modified Delphi process. We report the suggestions that focus on five essential domains: triage and allocation, ethical concerns of patients and families, ethical responsibilities to providers, conduct of research, and international concerns. Ethics issues permeate virtually all aspects of pandemic and disaster response. We have addressed some of the most pressing issues, focusing on five essential domains: triage and allocation, ethical concerns of patients and families, ethical responsibilities to providers, conduct of research, and international concerns. Our suggestions reflect the consensus of the Task Force. We recognize, however, that some suggestions, including those related to end-of-life care, may be controversial. We highlight the need for additional research and dialogue in articulating values to guide health-care decisions during disasters.

Institutional ethical review and ethnographic research involving injection drug users: a case study.

PubMed

Small, Will; Maher, Lisa; Kerr, Thomas

2014-03-01

Ethnographic research among people who inject drugs (PWID) involves complex ethical issues. While ethical review frameworks have been critiqued by social scientists, there is a lack of social science research examining institutional ethical review processes, particularly in relation to ethnographic work. This case study describes the institutional ethical review of an ethnographic research project using observational fieldwork and in-depth interviews to examine injection drug use. The review process and the salient concerns of the review committee are recounted, and the investigators' responses to the committee's concerns and requests are described to illustrate how key issues were resolved. The review committee expressed concerns regarding researcher safety when conducting fieldwork, and the investigators were asked to liaise with the police regarding the proposed research. An ongoing dialogue with the institutional review committee regarding researcher safety and autonomy from police involvement, as well as formal consultation with a local drug user group and solicitation of opinions from external experts, helped to resolve these issues. This case study suggests that ethical review processes can be particularly challenging for ethnographic projects focused on illegal behaviours, and that while some challenges could be mediated by modifying existing ethical review procedures, there is a need for legislation that provides legal protection of research data and participant confidentiality. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

5 CFR 2635.606 - Disqualification based on an arrangement concerning prospective employment or otherwise after...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Personnel OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS GOVERNMENT ETHICS STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE... consideration of all the relevant factors, including those listed in § 2635.502(d), and a determination that the...

Cautionary Tales: Ethics and Case Studies in Science

PubMed Central

Herreid, Clyde Freeman

2014-01-01

Ethical concerns are normally avoided in science classrooms in spite of the fact that many of our discoveries impinge directly on personal and societal values. We should not leave the ethical problems for another day, but deal with them using realistic case studies that challenge students at their ethical core. In this article we illustrate how case studies can be used to teach STEM students principles of ethics. PMID:25574280

Commentary: The forensic report--an inevitable nexus for resolving ethics dilemmas.

PubMed

Weinstock, Robert

2013-01-01

Ethics-related dilemmas arise in forensic psychiatry as in all psychiatric practice. Although most can be resolved by following the AAPL Ethics Guidelines and the AAPL Ethics Questions and Answers, the more complex ones inevitably have no easy solutions. Ethics-based duties can conflict without clear guidance on prioritization. Weighing competing factors necessitates more than merely following a rule, since there are potentially conflicting rules, and ethical practitioners may prioritize them differently. Concerns pertaining to the death penalty and defendants who are victims of discrimination are especially difficult. Such considerations usually are in the realm of aspirational ethics, with conclusions open to debate. They need consideration by most practitioners concerned with determining the most ethical course of action. Much as it is insufficient for an ethical citizen merely to avoid breaking the law, it is not enough to avoid violating any one guideline while remaining blind to context. Most such dilemmas need resolution long before testimony and arise first in the way the forensic assessment is conducted and in decisions on the data to be included in a report and how they are presented. Although there can be legitimate differences of opinion about how to weigh and resolve conflicting considerations, ethics-related dilemmas should not be sidestepped.

Research on Evaluation Ethics: What Have We Learned and Why Is It Important?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Michael

1999-01-01

Findings from empirical research on evaluation ethics indicate an apparent lack of consensus within the field concerning what constitutes an ethical issue, the frequent occurrence of problems in the later stages of evaluation projects, and the perceived ethical significance of the tendency of evaluators to be more responsive to some stakeholders…

Contributions of Ethics and Philosophy to Reading Instruction and Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berger, Allen

Ethics in education is a neglected area, yet everything that is good in education springs from ethics while everything that is bad reflects the lack of them. When confronted with ethical questions concerning their administrators, colleagues, or students, educators often adopt the stance that "it is never too wise to be too honest."…

Ethics and the Early Childhood Teacher Educator: A Proposed Addendum to the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freeman, Nancy; Feeney, Stephanie; Moravcik, Eva

2003-01-01

Proposes an addendum to the National Association for the Education of Young Children's Code of Ethical Conduct concerning the unique ethical challenges facing teacher educators. Presents a conception of professional responsibility in six areas: children and families, adult students, programs hosting practicum students and programs' staffs and…

Using Audience Response Systems to Encourage Student Engagement and Reflection on Ethical Orientation and Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Micheletto, Melinda J.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to use an audience response system (ARS) to engage students in classroom discussions concerning sensitive and controversial topics (e.g., business ethics), assess student's ethical orientation and conduct in unethical behaviors, and encourage reflection on their personal level of ethicality. Students used ARS devices…

Journalism Ethics: There Is a Difference between Law and Ethics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hossom, Kathy

1998-01-01

Covers a session from the recent meetings of the Indiana High School Press Association (IHSPA). States that students discussed ethical decisions they face in their yearbooks and newspapers, such as handling death. Finds the biggest concern is "really covering the good and bad things in the school." Gives IHSPA's 10-point Code of Ethics.…

Ethical Issues in Internet Research: International Good Practice and Irish Research Ethics Documents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Felzmann, Heike

2013-01-01

This chapter discusses the main research ethical concerns that arise in internet research and reviews existing research ethical guidance in the Irish context in relation to its application to internet research. The chapter begins with a brief outline of high profile cases in the early history of the internet that highlighted specific emerging…

Ethic's Askew: A Case Study of Ethics in an Educational Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shurden, Susan; Santandreu, Juan; Shurden, Mike

2010-01-01

For a formal definition of ethics, Webster's New World Dictionary (1995) defines the term as "the study of standards of conduct and moral judgment". Ethics is important to individuals because we are concerned with what leaders do and who they are--their conduct and character. "Conduct" is a word that implies behavior. Behavior…

Ethics in Higher Education. The Third Earl V. Pullias Lecture in Higher and Postsecondary Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hadley, Paul E.

Issues of ethics in higher education, along with a broad overview on the field of ethics, are considered. Ethical concerns include: charges of unfair practices in the recruitment of college students, especially minority athletes; reducing admission requirements to the extent that classroom and even graduation standards may deteriorate; grade…

Promoting social responsibility amongst health care users: medical tourists' perspectives on an information sheet regarding ethical concerns in medical tourism.

PubMed

Adams, Krystyna; Snyder, Jeremy; Crooks, Valorie A; Johnston, Rory

2013-12-06

Medical tourists, persons that travel across international borders with the intention to access non-emergency medical care, may not be adequately informed of safety and ethical concerns related to the practice of medical tourism. Researchers indicate that the sources of information frequently used by medical tourists during their decision-making process may be biased and/or lack comprehensive information regarding individual safety and treatment outcomes, as well as potential impacts of the medical tourism industry on third parties. This paper explores the feedback from former Canadian medical tourists regarding the use of an information sheet to address this knowledge gap and raise awareness of the safety and ethical concerns related to medical tourism. According to feedback provided in interviews with former Canadian medical tourists, the majority of participants responded positively to the information sheet and indicated that this document prompted them to engage in further consideration of these issues. Participants indicated some frustration after reading the information sheet regarding a lack of know-how in terms of learning more about the concerns discussed in the document and changing their decision-making. This frustration was due to participants' desperation for medical care, a topic which participants frequently discussed regarding ethical concerns related to health care provision. The overall perceptions of former medical tourists indicate that an information sheet may promote further consideration of ethical concerns of medical tourism. However, given that these interviews were performed with former medical tourists, it remains unknown whether such a document might impact upon the decision-making of prospective medical tourists. Furthermore, participants indicated a need for an additional tool such as a website for continued discussion about these concerns. As such, along with dissemination of the information sheet, future research implications should include the development of a website for ongoing discussion that could contribute to a raised awareness of these concerns and potentially increase social responsibility in the medical tourism industry.

Promoting social responsibility amongst health care users: medical tourists’ perspectives on an information sheet regarding ethical concerns in medical tourism

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Medical tourists, persons that travel across international borders with the intention to access non-emergency medical care, may not be adequately informed of safety and ethical concerns related to the practice of medical tourism. Researchers indicate that the sources of information frequently used by medical tourists during their decision-making process may be biased and/or lack comprehensive information regarding individual safety and treatment outcomes, as well as potential impacts of the medical tourism industry on third parties. This paper explores the feedback from former Canadian medical tourists regarding the use of an information sheet to address this knowledge gap and raise awareness of the safety and ethical concerns related to medical tourism. Results According to feedback provided in interviews with former Canadian medical tourists, the majority of participants responded positively to the information sheet and indicated that this document prompted them to engage in further consideration of these issues. Participants indicated some frustration after reading the information sheet regarding a lack of know-how in terms of learning more about the concerns discussed in the document and changing their decision-making. This frustration was due to participants’ desperation for medical care, a topic which participants frequently discussed regarding ethical concerns related to health care provision. Conclusions The overall perceptions of former medical tourists indicate that an information sheet may promote further consideration of ethical concerns of medical tourism. However, given that these interviews were performed with former medical tourists, it remains unknown whether such a document might impact upon the decision-making of prospective medical tourists. Furthermore, participants indicated a need for an additional tool such as a website for continued discussion about these concerns. As such, along with dissemination of the information sheet, future research implications should include the development of a website for ongoing discussion that could contribute to a raised awareness of these concerns and potentially increase social responsibility in the medical tourism industry. PMID:24314027

A new experience: the course of ethics in engineering in the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Granada.

PubMed

Gil-Martín, Luisa María; Hernández-Montes, Enrique; Segura-Naya, Armando

2010-06-01

A course in professional ethics for civil engineers was taught for the first time in Spain during the academic year 2007/08. In this paper a survey on the satisfaction and expectation of the course is presented. Surprisingly the students sought moral and ethical principles for their own ordinary lives as well as for their profession. Students were concerned about the law, but in their actions they were more concerned with their conscience, aware that it can be separate from the law.

In the market for ethics. Marketing begins with values.

PubMed

Schick, I C; Schick, T A

1989-10-01

High-quality care and concern for the poor are among the core values that all Catholic healthcare facilities share. And marketing is a proven tool for extending those values. In times past, healthcare providers, including Catholic facilities, were concerned about whether healthcare marketing was ethical. Much of the concern focused on advertising and promotion. A number of ethical violations do appear in hospital advertising. But government and professional organizations have established guidelines for ethics in advertising. Hospitals should encourage their marketing professionals to personally adhere to these codes. To ensure marketing activities are conducted ethically, a hospital must clearly articulate its commitment to ethical marketing; ensure that marketing professionals adhere to this commitment; and monitor activity. These steps should extend to a hospital's strategic plan, particularly its mission statement. Although strategic planning has many critical elements, the heart of the plan and the process is the mission statement, the expression of an organization's distinctiveness. For a Catholic hospital, this distinctiveness is found in two tiers of value: the core Catholic values, as articulated by its religious sponsors, and the institution's specific values flowing from its history, location, and services. If a religious healthcare provider is really committed to its values, it will actively affirm them in its marketing.

Implications of organizational ethics to healthcare.

PubMed

Ells, Carolyn; MacDonald, Chris

2002-01-01

Organizational ethics is an emerging field concerned with the study and practice of the ethical behaviour of organizations. For effective application to healthcare settings, we argue that organizational ethics requires attention to organizations' special characteristics combined with tools borrowed from the fields of business ethics and bioethics. We identify and discuss several implications of this burgeoning field to healthcare organizations, showing how organizational ethics can facilitate policy making, accountability, self-evaluation, and patient and business perspectives. In our conclusion, we suggest an action plan for healthcare organizations to help them respond appropriately to their ethical responsibilities.

A call for responsibility in ethical issues for IS professionals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Palmiter, C.W.

1994-12-31

In recent years there has been increased interest in the ethical values, beliefs and behavior of persons in the business world. Public abhorrence of questionable behavior of politicians, the savings and loan scandal and insider trading violations are just a few examples of many problems in business and professional life. A 1992 study by the Josephson Institute of Ethics involving 9,000 young people and adults revealed alarmingly low ethical characteristics in American institutions. Ferrell and Fraedrick have concluded that {open_quotes}business ethics is one of the most important concerns in today`s business world.{close_quote} A few professional organizations have tried to comprehendmore » the ethical values, beliefs and behavior of their constituents. Vittrell has studied the frequency of ethical behavior for management information specialists. Martin and Peterson have examined the ethical issues of insider trading. Fimbel and Burstein have investigated the ethical values of technology professionals. Thornburg made use of a survey concerning the ethical beliefs and practices of human resources professionals. On a preliminary basis, these studies indicate the various ethical issues and uncertainties which are problematic for members of the various professions. Most business people are ethical segregationists, that is they tend to segregate their ethical values into one type of behavior for business and another type of behavior away from business. Managers accused of unethical behavior respond with, III am not that type of person. I am active in my church, in community affairs, a good family man, and so on.« less

5 CFR 2634.503 - Determinations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS GOVERNMENT ETHICS EXECUTIVE BRANCH FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE... findings and a recommendation concerning final action to the Director of the Office of Government Ethics... may present evidence and submit statements on any matter in issue within ten business days of the...

Reflections on Ways Forward for Addressing Ethical Concerns in Mobile Learning Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wishart, Jocelyn

2016-01-01

This paper reflects on a decade of discussions about the range of ethical issues arising in mobile learning research. Research into the educational potential of mobile, handheld technologies to enhance teaching and learning has been regularly frustrated by lecturers' and teachers' concerns about how their students might use such devices. At other…

5 CFR 2641.203 - One-year restriction on any former employee's representations, aid, or advice concerning ongoing...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false One-year restriction on any former employee's representations, aid, or advice concerning ongoing trade or treaty negotiation. 2641.203 Section 2641.203 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS GOVERNMENT ETHICS POST-EMPLOYMENT CONFLICT OF INTEREST RESTRICTIONS Prohibitions §...

5 CFR 2641.203 - One-year restriction on any former employee's representations, aid, or advice concerning ongoing...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false One-year restriction on any former employee's representations, aid, or advice concerning ongoing trade or treaty negotiation. 2641.203 Section 2641.203 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS GOVERNMENT ETHICS POST-EMPLOYMENT CONFLICT OF INTEREST RESTRICTIONS Prohibitions §...

5 CFR 2641.203 - One-year restriction on any former employee's representations, aid, or advice concerning ongoing...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false One-year restriction on any former employee's representations, aid, or advice concerning ongoing trade or treaty negotiation. 2641.203 Section 2641.203 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS GOVERNMENT ETHICS POST-EMPLOYMENT CONFLICT OF INTEREST RESTRICTIONS Prohibitions §...

Developing an informational tool for ethical engagement in medical tourism.

PubMed

Adams, Krystyna; Snyder, Jeremy; Crooks, Valorie A; Johnston, Rory

2017-08-25

Medical tourism, the practice of persons intentionally travelling across international boundaries to access medical care, has drawn increasing attention from researchers, particularly in relation to potential ethical concerns of this practice. Researchers have expressed concern for potential negative impacts to individual safety, public health within both countries of origin for medical tourists and destination countries, and global health equity. However, these ethical concerns are not discussed within the sources of information commonly provided to medical tourists, and as such, medical tourists may not be aware of these concerns when engaging in medical tourism. This paper describes the methodology utilized to develop an information sheet intended to be disseminated to Canadian medical tourists to encourage contemplation and further public discussion of the ethical concerns in medical tourism. The methodology for developing the information sheet drew on an iterative process to consider stakeholder feedback on the content and use of the information sheet as it might inform prospective medical tourists' decision making. This methodology includes a literature review as well as formative research with Canadian public health professionals and former medical tourists. The final information sheet underwent numerous revisions throughout the formative research process according to feedback from medical tourism stakeholders. These revisions focused primarily on making the information sheet concise with points that encourage individuals considering travelling for medical tourism to do further research regarding their safety both within the destination country, while travelling, and once returning to Canada, and the potential impacts of their trip on third parties. This methodology may be replicated for the development of information sheets intending to communicate ethical concerns of other practices to providers or consumers of a certain service.

Ethical concerns of nursing reviewers: an international survey.

PubMed

Broome, Marion; Dougherty, Molly C; Freda, Margaret C; Kearney, Margaret H; Baggs, Judith G

2010-11-01

Editors of scientific literature rely heavily on peer reviewers to evaluate the integrity of research conduct and validity of findings in manuscript submissions. The purpose of this study was to describe the ethical concerns of reviewers of nursing journals. This descriptive cross-sectional study was an anonymous online survey. The findings reported here were part of a larger investigation of experiences of reviewers. Fifty-two editors of nursing journals (six outside the USA) agreed to invite their review panels to participate. A 69-item forced-choice and open-ended survey developed by the authors based on the literature was pilot tested with 18 reviewers before being entered into SurveyMonkey(TM). A total of 1675 reviewers responded with useable surveys. Six questions elicited responses about ethical issues, such as conflict of interest, protection of human research participants, plagiarism, duplicate publication, misrepresentation of data and 'other'. The reviewers indicated whether they had experienced such a concern and notified the editor, and how satisfied they were with the outcome. They provided specific examples. Approximately 20% of the reviewers had experienced various ethical dilemmas. Although the majority reported their concerns to the editor, not all did so, and not all were satisfied with the outcomes. The most commonly reported concern perceived was inadequate protection of human participants. The least common was plagiarism, but this was most often reported to the editor and least often led to a satisfactory outcome. Qualitative responses at the end of the survey indicate this lack of satisfaction was most commonly related to feedback provided on resolution by the editor. The findings from this study suggest several areas that editors should note, including follow up with reviewers when they identify ethical concerns about a manuscript.

Should nutritional supplements and sports drinks companies sponsor sport? A short review of the ethical concerns.

PubMed

Outram, Simon M; Stewart, Bob

2015-06-01

This paper proposes that the sponsorship of sport by nutritional supplements and sport drinks companies should be re-examined in the light of ethical concerns about the closeness of this relationship. A short overview is provided of the sponsorship of sport, arguing that ethical concerns about its appropriateness remain despite the imposition of severe restrictions on tobacco sponsorship. Further, the paper examines the main concerns about supplement use and sports drinks with respect to efficacy, health and the risks of doping. Particular consideration is given to the health implications of these concerns. It is suggested that they, of themselves, do not warrant the restriction of sponsorship by companies producing supplements and sports drinks. Nevertheless, it is argued that sports sponsorship does warrant further ethical examination--above and beyond that afforded to other sponsors of sport--as sport sponsorship is integral to the perceived need for such products. In conclusion, it is argued that sport may have found itself lending unwarranted credibility to products which would otherwise not necessarily be seen as beneficial for participation in sports and exercise or as inherently healthy products. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Determination of Passing Scores on Certification Examinations: An Unresolved Issue.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karni, Karen R.; Lofsness, Karen G.

1985-01-01

This study examined the results obtained from certification applicants and practitioners on a national certification examination for clinical laboratory scientists (medical technologists), using a modified Angoff procedure to establish the cut-off score. The major question of the investigation concerned whether the cut-off score was appropriate.…

Inclusion and Comprehensive School Reform: Lessons from the Field

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bain, Alan; Lancaster, Julie

2006-01-01

Sustaining comprehensive secondary school reform (CSR) represents an immensely difficult and unresolved challenge for the field. The problems associated with CSR are of significant concern to proponents of inclusion given that more responsive schools and classrooms are connected to, if not dependent upon, the success of broader school reform…

Public trust and 'ethics review' as a commodity: the case of Genomics England Limited and the UK's 100,000 genomes project.

PubMed

Samuel, Gabrielle Natalie; Farsides, Bobbie

2018-06-01

The UK Chief Medical Officer's 2016 Annual Report, Generation Genome, focused on a vision to fully integrate genomics into all aspects of the UK's National Health Service (NHS). This process of integration, which has now already begun, raises a wide range of social and ethical concerns, many of which were discussed in the final Chapter of the report. This paper explores how the UK's 100,000 Genomes Project (100 kGP)-the catalyst for Generation Genome, and for bringing genomics into the NHS-is negotiating these ethical concerns. The UK's 100 kGP, promoted and delivered by Genomics England Limited (GEL), is an innovative venture aiming to sequence 100,000 genomes from NHS patients who have a rare disease, cancer, or an infectious disease. GEL has emphasised the importance of ethical governance and decision-making. However, some sociological critique argues that biomedical/technological organisations presenting themselves as 'ethical' entities do not necessarily reflect a space within which moral thinking occurs. Rather, the 'ethical work' conducted (and displayed) by organisations is more strategic, relating to the politics of the organisation and the need to build public confidence. We set out to explore whether GEL's ethical framework was reflective of this critique, and what this tells us more broadly about how genomics is being integrated into the NHS in response to the ethical and social concerns raised in Generation Genome. We do this by drawing on a series of 20 interviews with individuals associated with or working at GEL.

Ethical perspectives in neuroscience nursing practice.

PubMed

Murphy, W J; Olsen, B J

1999-09-01

The role of neuroscience nurses in relation to ethical issues has become increasingly complex. Knowledge of ethical principles and theories assists the nurse in the development of a theoretical basis for resolution of ethical issues or concerns. Additionally, the nurse must possess information regarding practice codes or standards as well as legislative requirements. The nurse must act as an advocate for the patient and society through active participation in institutional ethics committees and legislative forums.

Ethical reflection and psychotherapy.

PubMed

Vyskocilová, Jana; Prasko, Jan

2013-01-01

Theories of ethics and ethical reflection may be applied to both theory and practice in psychotherapy. There is a natural affinity between ethics and psychotherapy. Psychotherapy practice is concerned with human problems, dilemmas and emotions related to both one's own and other people's values. Ethics is also concerned with dilemmas in human thinking and with how these dilemmas reflect other individuals' values. Philosophical reflection itself is not a sufficient basis for the ethics of psychotherapy but it may aid in exploring attitudes related to psychotherapy, psychiatry and health care. PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases were searched for articles containing the keywords "psychotherapy", "ethics", "therapeutic relationship" and "supervision". The search was conducted by repeating the terms in various combinations without language or time restrictions. Also included were data from monographs cited in reviews. The resulting text is a review with conclusions concerning ethical aspects of psychotherapy. The ability to behave altruistically, sense for justice and reciprocity and mutual help are likely to be genetically determined as dispositions to be later developed by upbringing or to be formed or deformed by upbringing. Early experiences lead to formation of ethical attitudes which are internalized and then applied to both one's own and other people's behavior. Altruistic behavior has a strong impact on an individual's health and its acceptance may positively influence the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying numerous diseases. Ethical theory and reflection, however, may be applied to both theory and practice of psychotherapy in a conscious, targeted and thoughtful manner. In everyday practice, psychotherapists and organizations must necessarily deal with conscious conflicts between therapeutic possibilities, clients' wishes, their own as well as clients' ideas and the real world. Understanding one's own motives in therapy is one of the aims of a psychotherapist's personal therapy and a frequent goal of supervision interventions. It is a psychotherapist's ethical obligation to do no harm, maintain clear therapeutic borders, not abuse patients, undertake supervision and learn good self-reflection. Knowledge of ethical questions and related issues as well as continuous ethical self-reflection are essential components of high-quality psychotherapeutic management. This requires both good psychotherapy training and systematic supervision.

Ethical Issues in Social Media Research for Public Health.

PubMed

Hunter, Ruth F; Gough, Aisling; O'Kane, Niamh; McKeown, Gary; Fitzpatrick, Aine; Walker, Tom; McKinley, Michelle; Lee, Mandy; Kee, Frank

2018-03-01

Social media (SM) offer huge potential for public health research, serving as a vehicle for surveillance, delivery of health interventions, recruitment to trials, collection of data, and dissemination. However, the networked nature of the data means they are riddled with ethical challenges, and no clear consensus has emerged as to the ethical handling of such data. This article outlines the key ethical concerns for public health researchers using SM and discusses how these concerns might best be addressed. Key issues discussed include privacy; anonymity and confidentiality; authenticity; the rapidly changing SM environment; informed consent; recruitment, voluntary participation, and sampling; minimizing harm; and data security and management. Despite the obvious need, producing a set of prescriptive guidelines for researchers using SM is difficult because the field is evolving quickly. What is clear, however, is that the ethical issues connected to SM-related public health research are also growing. Most importantly, public health researchers must work within the ethical principles set out by the Declaration of Helsinki that protect individual users first and foremost.

Ethical aspects of clinical research with minors.

PubMed

Bos, Wendy; Tromp, Krista; Tibboel, Dick; Pinxten, Wim

2013-07-01

Over the past decades, clinical research has increasingly been subjected to ethical requirements and legal regulation. The specific focus of ethical and legal frameworks on competent adults (which serve as the paradigmatic research subject), however, has created an ambivalent attitude towards pediatric clinical research. On one hand, minors are regarded as a vulnerable population that deserves additional protection against the risks and burdens involved in clinical research. On the other hand, the population of minors should not be denied (or not get timely) access to the benefits of clinical research. In this paper, we will explore the legal regulation and ethical guidance that currently governs pediatric clinical research in the European Union and discuss the future challenges in this field. In addition, we will discuss major ethical concerns in pediatric clinical research, with a focus on the acceptability of research risks and the informed consent process. In the discussion, we will address key concerns in both regulating pediatric clinical research and implementing ethical and legal requirement in the actual pediatric research conduct.

The Aesthetics of Ethical Virtues and the Ethical Virtues of Aesthetics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garrison, James W.

2004-01-01

My paper concentrates on that small part of Dewey's ethical theory that deals with the personal virtues of character. Even more narrowly, I focus on a single section of Dewey's "Ethics" titled "The Conception of Virtue in Reflective Morality." I do so because my primary concern here is not so much with the virtues Dewey discusses, important as…

Foundations for Ethical Standards and Codes: The Role of Moral Philosophy and Theory in Ethics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freeman, Stephen J.; Engels, Dennis W.; Altekruse, Michael K.

2004-01-01

Ethical practice is a concern for all who practice in the psychological, social, and behavioral sciences. A central problem is discerning what action is ethically correct in a particular situation. It has been said that there is nothing so practical as good theory, because theory can help counselors organize and integrate knowledge. It seems,…

Creating Caring and Ethical Communities in Rural, Small Schools. Rural, Small Schools Network Information Exchange: Number 18, Spring 1995.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement of the Northeast & Islands, Andover, MA.

This packet includes reprints of articles concerning the development of a caring and ethical rural school community. The four sections of the packet overview theories and rationale for developing a caring classroom, successful programs in ethical schools and classrooms, leadership and decision making for building a caring and ethical school…

Going beyond Procedure: Engaging with the Ethical Complexities of Being an Embedded Researcher

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rowley, Harriet

2014-01-01

This article is a reflection upon the ethical dimension of my work and practice as an embedded researcher during my doctorate. To begin with, I describe my experiences of gaining ethical approval from The University of Manchester while also highlighting some of the concerns that were raised by the ethics board. This leads me to recognise how the…

Addressing Ethics and Technology in Business: Preparing Today's Students for the Ethical Challenges Presented by Technology in the Workplace

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks, Rochelle

2008-01-01

The ethical development of information systems is but one of those sensitive scenarios associated with computer technology that has a tremendous impact on individuals and social life. The significance of these issues of concern cannot be overstated. However, since computer ethics is meant to be everybody's responsibility, the result can often be…

Beyond procedural ethics: foregrounding questions of justice in global health research ethics training for students.

PubMed

Hunt, Matthew R; Godard, Beatrice

2013-07-01

Interest in global health is growing among students across many disciplines and fields of study. In response, an increasing number of academic programmes integrate and promote opportunities for international research, service or clinical placements. These activities raise a range of ethical issues and are associated with important training needs for those who participate. In this paper, we focus on research fieldwork conducted in lower income nations by students from more affluent countries and the ethics preparation they would benefit from receiving prior to embarking on these projects. Global health research is closely associated with questions of justice and equity that extend beyond concerns of procedural ethics. Research takes place in and is shaped by matrices of political, social and cultural contexts and concerns. These realities warrant analysis and discussion during research ethics training. Training activities present an opportunity to encourage students to link global health research to questions of global justice, account for issues of justice in planning their own research, and prepare for 'ethics-in-practice' issues when conducting research in contexts of widespread inequality. Sustained engagement with questions of justice and equity during research ethics training will help support students for involvement in global health research.

Science and ethics: Some issues for education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrew, Jennifer; Robottom, Ian

2001-11-01

Ethical issues concerning pain and suffering of animals are necessarily a consideration when it comes to killing pest or feral species in Australia. Within a continent where there are no large predators, many introduced animal species such as rabbits, foxes, horses, donkeys, camels, goats, and mice have been able to thrive, competing with the interests of farmers and graziers, and livestock and food production. These species, thus, gain the label of pest. Many methods now exist to kill these species and, consequently, ethical issues arise concerning the possible pain and suffering caused as a direct result of these methods. Yet within government and scientific communities, ethical issues are reduced to a secondary consideration without serious debate or contention. Ethical issues appear to be at odds with scientific agendas. How can environmental ethics be incorporated as part of science-based decision making that appeals to objectivity and scientific evidence? Within educational institutions as well, the same dilemma exists: How can ethical issues be addressed within the science curriculum and in the classroom? A greater understanding of various perspectives on the subject of environmental ethics and the value positions advocated by proponents of these perspectives may help teachers consider ways of handling such issues in the science classroom.

The Case against Preadoption Genetic Testing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freundlich, Madelyn D.

1998-01-01

Examines the medical, psychosocial, and ethical considerations concerning presymptomatic genetic testing in evaluating children for adoption. Offers an ethical framework for rejecting such a practice. (JPB)

What Ethics for Bioart?

PubMed

Vaage, Nora S

Living artworks created with biotechnology raise a range of ethical questions, some of which are unprecedented, others well known from other contexts. These questions are often discussed within the framework of bioethics, the ethics of the life sciences. The basic concern of institutionalised bioethics is to develop and implement ethical guidelines for ethically responsible handling of living material in technological and scientific contexts. Notably, discussions of ethical issues in bioart do not refer to existing discourses on art and morality from the field of aesthetics. The latter framework is primarily concerned with how the moral value of an artwork affects its artistic value. The author argues that a successful integration of these two frameworks will make possible an ethics of bioart that is adequate to its subject matter and relevant for practice. Such an integrated approach can give increased depth to understandings of ethical issues in bioart, inspire new ways of thinking about ethics in relation to art in general and give novel impulses to bioethics and technology assessment. Artworks by the Tissue Culture and Art Project and their reception serve as the empirical starting point for connecting perspectives in art with those of bioethics, developing an ethics for bioart. The author suggests that consideration of the effect of these artworks is vital in validating ethically problematical applications of biotechnology for art. It is argued that the affective, visceral qualities of living artworks may spur the audience to adjust, revise or develop their personal ethical framework.

Genomics and the Public Health Code of Ethics

PubMed Central

Thomas, James C.; Irwin, Debra E.; Zuiker, Erin Shaugnessy; Millikan, Robert C.

2005-01-01

We consider the public health applications of genomic technologies as viewed through the lens of the public health code of ethics. We note, for example, the potential for genomics to increase our appreciation for the public health value of interdependence, the potential for some genomic tools to exacerbate health disparities because of their inaccessibility by the poor and the way in which genomics forces public health to refine its notions of prevention. The public health code of ethics sheds light on concerns raised by commercial genomic products that are not discussed in detail by more clinically oriented perspectives. In addition, the concerns raised by genomics highlight areas of our understanding of the ethical principles of public health in which further refinement may be necessary. PMID:16257942

Ethics and Childhood Vaccination Policy in the United States

PubMed Central

Sturm, Lynne A.; Zimet, Gregory D.; Meslin, Eric M.

2016-01-01

Childhood immunization involves a balance between parents’ autonomy in deciding whether to immunize their children and the benefits to public health from mandating vaccines. Ethical concerns about pediatric vaccination span several public health domains, including those of policymakers, clinicians, and other professionals. In light of ongoing developments and debates, we discuss several key ethical issues concerning childhood immunization in the United States and describe how they affect policy development and clinical practice. We focus on ethical considerations pertaining to herd immunity as a community good, vaccine communication, dismissal of vaccine-refusing families from practice, and vaccine mandates. Clinicians and policymakers need to consider the nature and timing of vaccine-related discussions and invoke deliberative approaches to policymaking. PMID:26691123

What Is the (ethical) Role of Scientists?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oreskes, N.

2014-12-01

Many scientists are reluctant to speak out on issues of broad societal importance for fear that doing so crosses into territory that is not the scientists' domain. Others fear that scientists lose credibility when they address ethical and moral issues. A related concern is that discussing social or ethical questions runs the risk of politicizing science. Yet history shows that in the past, scientists often have spoken out on broad issues of societal concern, often (although not always) effectively. This paper explores the conditions under which scientists may be effective spokesmen and women on ethical and moral choices, and suggests some criteria by which scientists might decide when and whether it is appropriate for them to speak out beyond the circles of other technical experts.

Emerging ethical issues in instructions to authors of high-impact biomedical journals

PubMed Central

Atlas, Michel C.

2003-01-01

Public interest in issues concerning the maintenance of high ethical standards in the conduct of scientific research and its publication has been increasing. Some of the developments in these issues as reflected in the publication of the medical literature are traced here. This paper attempts to determine whether public interest is reflected in the specific requirements for authors for manuscript preparation as stated in the “Instructions to Authors” for articles being prepared for submission to 124 “high- impact” journals. The instructions to authors of these journals were read on the Web for references to ethical standards or requirements. The ethical issues that the instructions most often covered were specifically related to the individual journal's publication requirements. The results suggest that while the editors and publishers of the biomedical literature are concerned with promoting and protecting the rights of the subjects of the experiments in the articles they publish, and while these concerns are not yet paramount, they are evolving and growing. PMID:14566375

Psychiatric research: what ethical concerns do LRECs encounter? A postal survey. Local research ethics committees.

PubMed

Osborn, D P J; Fulford, K W M

2003-02-01

Psychiatric research can occasionally present particular ethical dilemmas, but it is not clear what kind of problems local research ethics committees (LRECs) actually experience in this field. We aimed to assess the type of problems that committees encounter with psychiatric research, using a postal survey of 211 LRECs. One hundred and seven (51%) of those written to replied within the time limit. Twenty eight (26%) experienced few problems with psychiatric applications. Twenty six (24%) emphasised the value of a psychiatric expert on the committee. The most common issues raised were informed consent (n=64, 60%) and confidentiality (n=17, 16%). The use of placebos (and washout periods) (n=18, 17%), the validity of psychiatric questionnaires (n=16, 15%) and overuse of psychiatric "jargon" (n=14, 13%) in psychiatric applications also raised concern. Our results suggest that LRECs have specific concerns regarding methodology, consent, and confidentiality in psychiatric research, and that they find psychiatric input invaluable.

Substance use disorder genetic research: investigators and participants grapple with the ethical issues.

PubMed

Coors, Marilyn E; Raymond, Kristen M

2009-04-01

This qualitative research examined the ethical concerns regarding the psychosocial issues, research design and implementation, and application of psychiatric genetic research on substance use disorders (SUD) from multiple perspectives. A literature review of the bioethics literature related to psychiatric genetics and focus groups explored the ethical implications of SUD genetic research. Twenty-six National Institute on Drug Abuse funded principal investigators in the field of psychiatric genetic research, nine adolescent patients in residential SUD treatment, and 10 relatives of patients participated in focus groups (held separately). The focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and the content was analyzed. The themes that emerged from the literature and the focus group transcripts were organized by using NVIVO7, a software package designed to manage, analyze, and compare narrative data. Investigators and the literature expressed similar concerns regarding the ethical concerns associated with psychiatric genetic research including violation of privacy, misunderstanding about psychiatric genetics, stigmatization, commercialization, discrimination, eugenics, consequences of research on illegal behavior, unforeseen consequences, altered notion of individual responsibility, and others. Patients and their relatives showed little familiarity with the ethical issues as identified by professionals and little concern regarding most of the potential risks. The exception was apprehension associated with potential criminal justice uses of stored genetic information, in particular enforced therapy and stigmatization, which elicited some concern from all perspectives. The challenge for further research is to identify risks and benefits of SUD research that are germane in a behaviorally disinhibited population and devise effective tools to communicate information to participants through an improved informed consent process.

Substance Use Disorder Genetic Research: Investigators and Participants Grapple with the Ethical Issues

PubMed Central

Raymond, Kristen M.

2009-01-01

Objective This qualitative research examined the ethical concerns regarding the psychosocial issues, research design and implementation, and application of psychiatric genetic research on substance use disorders (SUD) from multiple perspectives. Method A literature review of the bioethics literature related to psychiatric genetics and focus groups explored the ethical implications of SUD genetic research. Twenty-six National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded principal investigators in the field of psychiatric genetic research, 9 adolescent patients in residential SUD treatment, and 10 relatives of patients participated in focus groups (held separately). The focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and the content was analyzed. The themes that emerged from the literature and the focus group transcripts were organized using NVIVO7, a software package designed to manage, analyze and compare narrative data. Results Investigators and the literature expressed similar concerns regarding the ethical concerns associated with psychiatric genetic research including violation of privacy, misunderstanding about psychiatric genetics, stigmatization, commercialization, discrimination, eugenics, consequences of research on illegal behavior, unforeseen consequences, altered notion of individual responsibility, and others. Patients and their relatives demonstrated little familiarity with the ethical issues as identified by professionals and little concern regarding most of the potential risks. The exception was apprehension associated with potential criminal justice uses of stored genetic information and enforced therapy, which elicited some concern from all perspectives. Conclusions The challenge for further research is to identify risks and benefits of SUD research that are germane in a behaviorally disinhibited population and devise effective tools to communicate information to participants through an improved informed consent process. PMID:19668113

Ethical issues in neonatal intensive care units.

PubMed

Liu, Jing; Chen, Xin-Xin; Wang, Xin-Ling

2016-01-01

On one hand, advances in neonatal care and rescue technology allow for the healthy survival or prolonged survival time of critically ill newborns who, in the past, would have been non-viable. On the other hand, many of the surviving critically ill infants have serious long-term disabilities. If an infant eventually cannot survive or is likely to suffer severe disability after surviving, ethical issues in the treatment process are inevitable, and this problem arises not only in developed countries but is also becoming increasingly prominent in developing countries. In addition, ethical concerns cannot be avoided in medical research. This review article introduces basic ethical guidelines that should be followed in clinical practice, including respecting the autonomy of the parents, giving priority to the best interests of the infant, the principle of doing no harm, and consent and the right to be informed. Furthermore, the major ethical concerns in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in China are briefly introduced.

Social and ethical aspects of forensic genetics: A critical review.

PubMed

Williams, R; Wienroth, M

2017-07-01

This review describes the social and ethical responses to the history of innovations in forensic genetics and their application to criminal investigations. Following an outline of the three recurrent social perspectives that have informed these responses (crime management, due process, and genetic surveillance), it goes on to introduce the repertoire of ethical considerations by describing a series of key reports that have shaped subsequent commentaries on forensic DNA profiling and databasing. Four major ethical concerns form the focus of the remainder of the paper (dignity, privacy, justice, and social solidarity), and key features of forensic genetic practice are examined in the light of these concerns. The paper concludes with a discussion of the concept of "proportionality" as a resource for balancing the social and ethical risks and benefits of the use of forensic genetics in support of criminal justice. Copyright © 2017 Central Police University.

Does the "new philosophy" in predictive, preventive and personalised medicine require new ethics?

PubMed

Gefenas, Eugenijus; Cekanauskaite, Asta; Tuzaite, Egle; Dranseika, Vilius; Characiejus, Dainius

2011-06-01

This paper maps the ethical issues that arise in the context of personalised medicine. First, it highlights the ethical problems related to increased predictive power of modern diagnostic interventions. Such problems emerge because the ability to identify individuals or groups of individuals that can potentially benefit from a particular therapeutic intervention also raises a question of personal responsibility for health-related behaviour and lifestyle. The second major area of ethical concern is related to health prevention and distributive justice. The paper discusses the ethical challenges brought by the personalised medicine in the context of the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine concerning Genetic Testing for Health Purposes. Finally, it notes that the issue of consent in the context of biobanks, the need to rethink the prevalent models of research designs and to communicate relevant findings to the donors of biological materials deserve further discussion.

Ethics and the electronic health record in dental school clinics.

PubMed

Cederberg, Robert A; Valenza, John A

2012-05-01

Electronic health records (EHRs) are a major development in the practice of dentistry, and dental schools and dental curricula have benefitted from this technology. Patient data entry, storage, retrieval, transmission, and archiving have been streamlined, and the potential for teledentistry and improvement in epidemiological research is beginning to be realized. However, maintaining patient health information in an electronic form has also changed the environment in dental education, setting up potential ethical dilemmas for students and faculty members. The purpose of this article is to explore some of the ethical issues related to EHRs, the advantages and concerns related to the use of computers in the dental operatory, the impact of the EHR on the doctor-patient relationship, the introduction of web-based EHRs, the link between technology and ethics, and potential solutions for the management of ethical concerns related to EHRs in dental schools.

Ethics of medical records and professional communications.

PubMed

Recupero, Patricia R

2008-01-01

In child and adolescent psychiatry, medical records and professional communications raise important ethical concerns for the treating or consulting clinician. Although a distinction may be drawn between internal records (eg, medical records and psychotherapy notes) and external communications (eg, consultation reports and correspondence with pediatricians), several ethical principles apply to both types of documentation; however, specific considerations may vary, depending upon the context in which the records or communications were produced. Special care is due with regard to thoroughness and honesty, collaboration and cooperation, autonomy and dignity of the patient, confidentiality of the patient and family members, maintaining objectivity and neutrality, electronic communications media, and professional activities (eg, political advocacy). This article reviews relevant ethical concerns for child and adolescent psychiatrists with respect to medical records and professional communications, drawing heavily from forensic and legal sources, and offers additional recommendations for further reading for clarification and direction on ethical dilemmas.

Ethics Issues for the College/University Lawyer.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Connell, Mary Ann

This paper addresses recurring ethical questions faced by college and university attorneys concerning who is the client, representation of individual and institutional defendants, and the witness-advocate rule. It also provides an overview of ethical considerations which can arise when the college/university attorney participates in the…

5 CFR 2634.701 - Failure to file or falsifying reports.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

.... 2634.701 Section 2634.701 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS GOVERNMENT ETHICS... Secretary concerned, or the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, as appropriate, shall refer to the... may also be prosecuted under criminal statutes for supplying false information on any financial...

An Approach to Ethical Practice in Management and Trainer Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnston, Rita

1992-01-01

Concern with ethics has given rise to two educational approaches, one derived from philosophical principles of social ethics, the other based on case studies of practical issues. A combination of these is necessary to ensure situational applicability and to avoid moral relativism and expediency. (SK)

17 CFR 200.735-3 - General provisions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...; CONDUCT AND ETHICS; AND INFORMATION AND REQUESTS Regulation Concerning Conduct of Members and Employees... Ethics. Should such additional regulations be imposed, all employees affected must be notified ten days... 11, 1975, sent by the Office of the General Counsel to David Reich, Ethics Counselor at the Civil...

Teaching Ethically: Challenges and Opportunities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Landrum, R. Eric, Ed.; McCarthy, Maureen A., Ed.

2012-01-01

Educators work within a fluid academic and social landscape that requires frequent examination and re-examination of what constitutes ethical practice. In this book, editors R. Eric Landrum and Maureen McCarthy identify four broad areas of concern in the ethical teaching of undergraduate psychology: pedagogy, student behavior, faculty behavior…

A Response to Sam McKegney's "Strategies for Ethical Engagement: An Open Letter Concerning Non-Native Scholars of Native Literatures"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Appleford, Rob

2009-01-01

This article presents the author's response to Sam McKegney's "Strategies for Ethical Engagement: An Open Letter Concerning Non-Native Scholars of Native Literatures." In his response to Sam's diagnosis of the malaise currently afflicting non-Aboriginal critics of this literature, the author attempts to consider the "cure" Sam offers (albeit…

Bioethical Issues in Providing Financial Incentives to Research Participants

PubMed Central

Resnik, David B.

2015-01-01

Offering research subjects financial incentives for their participation is a common practice that boosts recruitment but also raises ethical concerns, such as undue inducement, exploitation, and biased enrollment. This article reviews the arguments for providing participants with financial incentives, ethical concerns about payment, and approaches to establishing appropriate compensation levels. It also makes recommendations for investigators, institutions, and oversight committees. PMID:26807399

Ethical issues in bipolar disorders pedigree research: privacy concerns, informed consent, and grounds for waiver.

PubMed

Parker, Lisa S

2002-02-01

Focusing on bipolar disorders research, this article considers ethical issues of informed consent and privacy arising in genetic pedigree research at two stages: the construction of tentative pedigrees to determine family eligibility for study and, subsequently, the enrollment of subjects in and conduct of the family study. Increasing concern to protect the privacy of family members of primary subjects or probands, following ethical controversy over a survey study at Virginia Commonwealth University, has led some researchers and Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) to apply informed consent requirements to those represented on a tentative pedigree at the initial stage of research. This article analyzes the possible benefits, risks, and burdens to prospective subjects of seeking prospective consent for pedigree construction at this initial stage. It argues that the likely risk-benefit ratio favors granting a waiver of consent requirements for this stage of pedigree research and presents grounds for IRBs to grant such a waiver. The article closes by considering particular ethical concerns that should be addressed in the informed consent discussion when enrolling subjects in pedigree studies of bipolar disorder, including concerns about subjects' competence to consent, management of interim and incidental findings, and issues particular to psychiatric research.

The Ethics of Sharing Plastic Surgery Videos on Social Media: Systematic Literature Review, Ethical Analysis, and Proposed Guidelines.

PubMed

Dorfman, Robert G; Vaca, Elbert E; Fine, Neil A; Schierle, Clark F

2017-10-01

Recent videos shared by plastic surgeons on social media applications such as Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube, among others, have blurred the line between entertainment and patient care. This has left many in the plastic surgery community calling for the development of more structured oversight and guidance regarding video sharing on social media. To date, no official guidelines exist for plastic surgeons to follow. Little is known about the ethical implications of social media use by plastic surgeons, especially with regard to video sharing. A systematic review of the literature on social media use in plastic surgery was performed on October 31, 2016, with an emphasis on ethics and professionalism. An ethical analysis was conducted using the four principles of medical ethics. The initial search yielded 87 articles. Thirty-four articles were included for analyses that were found to be relevant to the use of social media in plastic surgery. No peer-reviewed articles were found that mentioned Snapchat or addressed the ethical implications of sharing live videos of plastic surgery on social media. Using the four principles of medical ethics, it was determined that significant ethical concerns exist with broadcasting these videos. This analysis fills an important gap in the plastic surgery literature by addressing the ethical issues concerning live surgery broadcasts on social media. Plastic surgeons may use the guidelines proposed here to avoid potential pitfalls.

The development of computer ethics: contributions from business ethics and medical ethics.

PubMed

Wong, K; Steinke, G

2000-04-01

In this essay, we demonstrate that the field of computer ethics shares many core similarities with two other areas of applied ethics. Academicians writing and teaching in the area of computer ethics, along with practitioners, must address ethical issues that are qualitatively similar in nature to those raised in medicine and business. In addition, as academic disciplines, these three fields also share some similar concerns. For example, all face the difficult challenge of maintaining a credible dialogue with diverse constituents such as academicians of various disciplines, professionals, policymakers, and the general public. Given these similarities, the fields of bioethics and business ethics can serve as useful models for the development of computer ethics.

Re-focusing the ethical discourse on personalized medicine: a qualitative interview study with stakeholders in the German healthcare system.

PubMed

Schleidgen, Sebastian; Marckmann, Georg

2013-05-24

In recent years, personalized medicine (PM) has become a highly regarded line of development in medicine. Yet, it is still a relatively new field. As a consequence, the discussion of its future developments, in particular of its ethical implications, in most cases can only be anticipative. Such anticipative discussions, however, pose several challenges. Nevertheless, they play a crucial role for shaping PM's further developments. Therefore, it is vital to understand how the ethical discourse on PM is conducted, i.e. on what - empirical and normative - assumptions ethical arguments are based regarding PM's current and future developments. To gather this information, we conducted a qualitative interview study with stakeholders in the German health care system. Our purposive sample included 17 representatives of basic research, clinical research, health economics, regulatory authorities, reimbursement institutions, pharmaceutical industry, patient organizations, as well as clinicians and legal experts involved in PM developments or policy making. We used an interview guide with open-ended questions and analyzed transcriptions of the interviews by means of qualitative content analysis. The respondents addressed a multitude of concerns in the context of research on as well as application of personalized preventive and therapeutic measures both on the individual and on the societal level. Interestingly, regarding future developments of PM the ethical evaluation seemed to follow the rule: the less likely its application, the more problematic a PM measure is assessed. The more likely its application, on the other hand, the less problematic it is evaluated. The results of our study suggest re-focusing the ethical discourse on PM in Germany towards a constructive ethical monitoring which ensures to include only, nevertheless all of the actual and/or potential concerns that are ethically relevant in order to allow balancing them against the actual and potential ethically relevant benefits of PM measures. To render this possible, we propose a strategy for evaluating ethical concerns in the context of PM.

Ethical issues faced by field primatologists: asking the relevant questions.

PubMed

Fedigan, Linda Marie

2010-09-01

Field primatologists face unusual ethical issues. We study animals rather than people and receive research approval from animal care rather than ethics committees. However, animal care evaluation forms are developed from concerns about laboratory animal research and are based on the "Three R's" for humane treatment of captive experimental subjects (replacement, reduction and refinement), which are only debatably relevant to field research. Scientists who study wild, free-ranging primates in host countries experience many ethical dilemmas seldom dealt with in animal care forms. This paper reviews the ethical issues many field primatologists say they face and how these might be better addressed by animal care forms. The ethical issues arising for field researchers are divided into three categories: "Presence, Protocols and People" and for each the most frequent issues are described. The most commonly mentioned ethical concern arising from our presence in the field is the possibility of disease transmission. Although most primate field studies employ only observational protocols, the practice of habituating our study animals to close human presence is an ethical concern for many since it can lessen the animals' fear of all humans, thereby facilitating undesirable behaviors (e.g., crop-raiding) and rendering them vulnerable to harm. Field primatologists who work in host countries must observe national laws and local traditions. As conservationists, primatologists must often negotiate between the resource needs and cultural practices of local people and the interests of the nonhuman primates. Many say they face more ethical dilemmas arising from human interactions than from research on the animals per se. This review concludes with suggestions for relevant questions to ask on animal care forms, and actions that field primatologists can take to better inform animal care committees about the common ethical issues we experience as well as how to develop guidelines for addressing them. (c) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Ethical dilemmas among nurses as they transition to hospital case management: implications for organizational ethics, part II.

PubMed

O'Donnell, Lolita T

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of ethical concerns by clinical nurses as they transitioned into their new role in hospital case management. Through this study, an attempt was made to explore experiences of ethical concerns and identify the implications for organizational ethics. In this study, nurse case managers practicing in the acute care setting, military, not-for-profit community, and teaching hospitals were interviewed. The majority of the nurse case manager participants were engaged in hospital discharge planning and utilization review activities. An interpretive phenomenological approach was used to identify the themes inherent in ethical concerns and articulate them within the context of hospital nurse case management. Fifteen participants were interviewed to obtain a qualitative description of the nurse case managers' lived experiences of ethical dilemmas and how they were resolved. Nurse case managers' perceptions of solutions/options to resolve such ethical dilemmas were explored. As nurses transition into the expanded role of case management in the present healthcare delivery system, they frequently face situations demanding ethical choices and judgments to accommodate diverse patient interests and needs. These ethical decisions required in daily practice of case management represent ethical dilemmas to nurses. The insights derived from the analysis of the interviews have implications for nursing practice, education, policy, ethics, and research; recommendations for organizations employing nurse case managers in terms of recruitment, orientation, training, and continued need for educational support are identified. 1. The clinical decisions required in daily practice of case management represented challenges to the nurses. This highlights the critical role of adequate educational orientation to case management for beginning case managers. 2. Nurse case managers should be cognizant of the "disconnect" that could occur between their obligations to the organizations that employ them and the healthcare needs of the patients that they advocate for. 3. Aside from the importance of linking patient care outcomes with accountability, nurse case managers may need to advocate for policy change and system reform.

Ethical Dilemmas for Academic Professionals.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Payne, Stephen L., Ed.; Charnov, Bruce H., Ed.

Ethical dilemmas faced by many academicians in the course of their work activities and role demands are described in eight articles and 24 case illustrations. Article titles and authors are as follows: "The Academician as Good Citizen" (Bruce H. Charnov); "Fundamental Means to Ethical Teaching" (Gordon A. Walter, Mary Ann Von Glinow); "Concern for…

Ethics of Information Supply.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oppenheim, Charles

This discussion of the ethics of the information process provides a brief review of the process of information supply and flow, primarily in science and technology; looks at various points in the flow of information; and highlights particular ethical concerns. Facets of the process discussed in more detail include ways in which some scientists…

Coaches' Perceptions of Conference Code of Ethics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jordan, Jeremy S.; Greenwell, T. Christopher; Geist, Alan L.; Pastore, Donna L.; Mahony, Daniel F.

2004-01-01

In society today, there is a greater concern about the moral and ethical conduct of those in leadership. In particular, rules violations within intercollegiate athletics have risen, which has lead to increased pressure on administrators to encourage positive ethical behavior within the realm of their influence. One result of this greater concern…

Euthanasia of Severely Handicapped Infants: Ethical Issues.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Libby

Ethical decisions are involved in life and death decisions for severely handicapped infants. Although it has become common practice for physicians not to treat severely handicapped infants, the ethical considerations involved in euthanasia are complex. A review of the literature reveals that concerns center around the quality of life of the…

Giving Voice to Values: A Pedagogy for Behavioral Ethics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gentile, Mary C.

2017-01-01

Management education has had a long and somewhat conflicted relationship with the integration of ethics and values-driven leadership into its curriculum. This essay presents some of the key challenges around pedagogy, curriculum design, as well as organizational and faculty concerns; and then outlines how behavioral ethics has triggered some…

Sage Series in Business Ethics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kanungo, Rabindra Nath; Mendonca, Manuel

This book argues that the literature on leadership, especially business leadership, has neglected ethical issues by focusing on approaches and strategies that emphasize individualistic concerns. The book calls for an end to the traditional separation of personal and public morality. It also argues that ethics of leadership is consistent with the…

Ethical Issues in Parent Training Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sapon-Shevin, Mara

1982-01-01

Four areas of ethical concern are voiced in the training of parents of handicapped children: (1) selection of program goals, (2) problems involved with both positive reinforcement and punishment, (3) conflicts between experimentation and therapeutic intervention, and (4) level of parent training. Consideration of ethical issues at each step of…

Legal and Ethical Issues Involved When Counseling Minors in Nonschool Settings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawrence, Gabrielle; Kurpius, Sharon E. Robinson

2000-01-01

It is essential for counselors to understand the legal and ethical issues relevant to working with minors. Article reviews major court cases and legislation concerning these areas. Discusses four ethical issues: counselor competence, client's rights to confidentiality, informed consent, and duties related to child abuse. Considers issues for…

Beyond the genome: The ethics of DNA testing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fackelmann, K.A.

1994-11-05

This article looks at the implications of identification of specific genes in the human genome. Ethical questions concerning inherited conditions include privacy, paternity, judgement, society versus individual.

Equity in Education: Opportunities and Challenges In A Changing Sri Lanka

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sedere, Upali M.

2010-01-01

Equity is a major concern for all development actors. Although Sri Lanka has successfully addressed equity issues in education sector there are unresolved factors and variables those perpetuate inequity. There are emerging new equity issues those that Sri Lanka needs to address. The changing population dynamics and the huge middle class population…

Human Communication, Semiotics, and General Systems: Personal and Social Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruben, Brent D.

Questions as to the nature of sign and symbol processes and the functions and behavioral consequences of human significant phenomena are of central concern in semiotics and communication. These matters continue to be of critical importance and are still largely unresolved. Scholars in both areas of inquiry have sought unification of scientific…

Ethical issues in the export, storage and reuse of human biological samples in biomedical research: perspectives of key stakeholders in Ghana and Kenya.

PubMed

Tindana, Paulina; Molyneux, Catherine S; Bull, Susan; Parker, Michael

2014-10-18

For many decades, access to human biological samples, such as cells, tissues, organs, blood, and sub-cellular materials such as DNA, for use in biomedical research, has been central in understanding the nature and transmission of diseases across the globe. However, the limitations of current ethical and regulatory frameworks in sub-Saharan Africa to govern the collection, export, storage and reuse of these samples have resulted in inconsistencies in practice and a number of ethical concerns for sample donors, researchers and research ethics committees. This paper examines stakeholders' perspectives of and responses to the ethical issues arising from these research practices. We employed a qualitative strategy of inquiry for this research including in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with key research stakeholders in Kenya (Nairobi and Kilifi), and Ghana (Accra and Navrongo). The stakeholders interviewed emphasised the compelling scientific importance of sample export, storage and reuse, and acknowledged the existence of some structures governing these research practices, but they also highlighted the pressing need for a number of practical ethical concerns to be addressed in order to ensure high standards of practice and to maintain public confidence in international research collaborations. These concerns relate to obtaining culturally appropriate consent for sample export and reuse, understanding cultural sensitivities around the use of blood samples, facilitating a degree of local control of samples and sustainable scientific capacity building. Drawing on these findings and existing literature, we argue that the ethical issues arising in practice need to be understood in the context of the interactions between host research institutions and local communities and between collaborating institutions. We propose a set of 'key points-to-consider' for research institutions, ethics committees and funding agencies to address these issues.

Implant ethics

PubMed Central

Hansson, S

2005-01-01

Implant ethics is defined here as the study of ethical aspects of the lasting introduction of technological devices into the human body. Whereas technological implants relieve us of some of the ethical problems connected with transplantation, other difficulties arise that are in need of careful analysis. A systematic approach to implant ethics is proposed. The major specific problems are identified as those concerning end of life issues (turning off devices), enhancement of human capabilities beyond normal levels, mental changes and personal identity, and cultural effects. PMID:16131553

32 CFR 776.8 - Professional Responsibility Committee.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Committee may also issue formal advisory opinions on ethical issues of importance to the DON legal community... provide ethics advice or opinions concerning professional responsibility matters (e.g., ineffective...

A software platform to analyse the ethical issues of electronic patient privacy policy: the S3P example.

PubMed

Mizani, M A; Baykal, N

2007-12-01

Paper-based privacy policies fail to resolve the new changes posed by electronic healthcare. Protecting patient privacy through electronic systems has become a serious concern and is the subject of several recent studies. The shift towards an electronic privacy policy introduces new ethical challenges that cannot be solved merely by technical measures. Structured Patient Privacy Policy (S3P) is a software tool assuming an automated electronic privacy policy in an electronic healthcare setting. It is designed to simulate different access levels and rights of various professionals involved in healthcare in order to assess the emerging ethical problems. The authors discuss ethical issues concerning electronic patient privacy policies that have become apparent during the development and application of S3P.

Ethical Issues Relating to Living Organ Donation in China.

PubMed

Wu, Y; Yang, T; Li, L; Ma, W

2016-01-01

Although great developments have been made in living organ donation, the ethical issues relating to living organ donation still face dilemmas in China. In this report, we discuss several ethical issues concerning living organ donation in China. It is argued that living organ donation in China could make further progress if the ethical issues proposed in this report are carefully considered. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Ethics of Quantification and Why It Doesn't Work; or Life among the Numerologists, Inumerates, and Qualitatives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sax, Gilbert

The paper states that quantification is neither ethical nor unethical, but is ethically neutral. It is the behavior or intent of the human being that is clearly a matter of ethical concern. Like numerology and the sects of inumerates and qualitatives, there is not so much an unethical practice that is supported as there is a lack of vision and…

Computers: from ethos and ethics to mythos and religion. Notes on the new frontier between computers and philosophy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mitcham, C.

This essay surveys recent studies concerning the social, cultural, ethical and religious dimensions of computers. The argument is that computers have certain cultural influences which call for ethical analysis. Further suggestions are that American culture is itself reflected in new ways in the high-technology computer milieu, and that ethical issues entail religious ones which are being largely ignored. 28 references.

Beyond procedural ethics: Foregrounding questions of justice in global health research ethics training for students

PubMed Central

Hunt, Matthew R.; Godard, Beatrice

2013-01-01

Interest in global health is growing among students across many disciplines and fields of study. In response, an increasing number of academic programmes integrate and promote opportunities for international research, service or clinical placements. These activities raise a range of ethical issues and are associated with important training needs for those who participate. In this paper, we focus on research fieldwork conducted in lower income nations by students from more affluent countries and the ethics preparation they would benefit from receiving prior to embarking on these projects. Global health research is closely associated with questions of justice and equity that extend beyond concerns of procedural ethics. Research takes place in and is shaped by matrices of political, social and cultural contexts and concerns. These realities warrant analysis and discussion during research ethics training. Training activities present an opportunity to encourage students to link global health research to questions of global justice, account for issues of justice in planning their own research, and prepare for ‘ethicsin-practice’ issues when conducting research in contexts of widespread inequality. Sustained engagement with questions of justice and equity during research ethics training will help support students for involvement in global health research. PMID:23706108

Physical therapists' perception of workplace ethics in an evolving health-care delivery environment: a cross-sectional survey.

PubMed

Cantu, Roberto

2018-03-30

Physical therapists are trained and obligated to deliver optimal health care and put patients first above all else. In the changing health-care environment, health-care organizations are grappling with controlling cost and increasing revenues. Moral distress may be created when physical therapists' desire to provide optimal care conflicts with their organization's goals to remain financially viable or profitable. Moral distress has been associated with low perception of ethical environment, professional burnout, and high turnover in organizations. This study identified groups who may be vulnerable to low perception of organizational ethical environment and identified self-reported strategies to remedy these perceptions. An ethics environment questionnaire was mailed to a random sample of 1200 physical therapists in Georgia. Respondents (n = 340) were analyzed by age, workplace setting, and position in organization. Therapists working in skilled nursing/assisted living environments scored the lowest on the questionnaire and voiced concerns regarding their ethical work environments. Owners and executives perceived their organizations to be more ethical than front-line clinicians. Respondent concerns included high productivity standards, aggressive coding/billing policies, decreased reimbursement, and increased insurance regulation. Possible solutions included more frequent communication between management and clinicians about ethics, greater professional autonomy, and increased training in business ethics and finance.

Real-time Responsiveness for Ethics Oversight During Disaster Research.

PubMed

Eckenwiler, Lisa; Pringle, John; Boulanger, Renaud; Hunt, Matthew

2015-11-01

Disaster research has grown in scope and frequency. Research in the wake of disasters and during humanitarian crises--particularly in resource-poor settings--is likely to raise profound and unique ethical challenges for local communities, crisis responders, researchers, and research ethics committees (RECs). Given the ethical challenges, many have questioned how best to provide research ethics review and oversight. We contribute to the conversation concerning how best to ensure appropriate ethical oversight in disaster research and argue that ethical disaster research requires of researchers and RECs a particular sort of ongoing, critical engagement which may not be warranted in less exceptional research. We present two cases that typify the concerns disaster researchers and RECs may confront, and elaborate upon what this ongoing engagement might look like--how it might be conceptualized and utilized--using the concept of real-time responsiveness (RTR). The central aim of RTR, understood here as both an ethical ideal and practice, is to lessen the potential for research conducted in the wake of disasters to create, perpetuate, or exacerbate vulnerabilities and contribute to injustices suffered by disaster-affected populations. Well cultivated and deployed, we believe that RTR may enhance the moral capacities of researchers and REC members, and RECs as institutions where moral agency is nurtured and sustained. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Institution animal care and use committees need greater ethical diversity.

PubMed

Hansen, Lawrence Arthur

2013-03-01

In response to public outrage stemming from exposés of animal abuse in research laboratories, the US Congress in 1985 mandated Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) to oversee animal use at institutions receiving federal grants. IACUCs were enjoined to respect public concern about the treatment of animals in research, but they were not specifically instructed whether or not to perform ethical cost-benefit analyses of animal research protocols that IACUCs have chosen, with approval contingent upon a balancing of animal pain and suffering against a reasonable expectation of resultant human benefit. IACUCs have chosen not to make such ethical judgments but, rather, restrict themselves to an advisory role, often tweaking the details of animal-use protocols, but eventually approving all of them. This disinclination by IACUCs to take a broader ethical view of their authority and responsibilities may reflect a membership composition highly skewed towards animal researchers themselves (67%) and institutional veterinarians (15%), both with vested interests in continuing animal research. The resultant ethical monoculture may impair IACUC's ability to meet public concern for laboratory animal welfare. Psychological research has established that unconscious bias affects us all, that deliberations among the like-minded lead to adapting extremist positions, and that groupthink blinds organisations to alternatives that might be obvious to outsiders. Taken together, skewed IACUC membership composition and psychological research insights into unconscious bias and groupthink suggest that an infusion of ethical diversity by increasing the percentage of institutionally unaffiliated members on IACUCs would broaden their ethical perspectives and enable them to better address public concerns about laboratory animal welfare.

Institution animal care and use committees need greater ethical diversity

PubMed Central

Hansen, Lawrence Arthur

2013-01-01

In response to public outrage stemming from exposés of animal abuse in research laboratories, the US Congress in 1985 mandated Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) to oversee animal use at institutions receiving federal grants. IACUCs were enjoined to respect public concern about the treatment of animals in research, but they were not specifically instructed whether or not to perform ethical cost-benefit analyses of animal research protocols that IACUCs have chosen, with approval contingent upon a balancing of animal pain and suffering against a reasonable expectation of resultant human benefit. IACUCs have chosen not to make such ethical judgments but, rather, restrict themselves to an advisory role, often tweaking the details of animal-use protocols, but eventually approving all of them. This disinclination by IACUCs to take a broader ethical view of their authority and responsibilities may reflect a membership composition highly skewed towards animal researchers themselves (67%) and institutional veterinarians (15%), both with vested interests in continuing animal research. The resultant ethical monoculture may impair IACUC's ability to meet public concern for laboratory animal welfare. Psychological research has established that unconscious bias affects us all, that deliberations among the like-minded lead to adapting extremist positions, and that groupthink blinds organisations to alternatives that might be obvious to outsiders. Taken together, skewed IACUC membership composition and psychological research insights into unconscious bias and groupthink suggest that an infusion of ethical diversity by increasing the percentage of institutionally unaffiliated members on IACUCs would broaden their ethical perspectives and enable them to better address public concerns about laboratory animal welfare. PMID:23131895

Fostering ethical willingness: integrating emotional and contextual awareness with rational analysis.

PubMed

Betan, E J; Stanton, A L

1999-06-01

Ethical dilemmas are inherently challenging. By definition, clinicians decide between conflicting principles of welfare and naturally confront competing pulls and inclinations. This investigation of students' responses to an ethical scenario highlights how emotions and concerns can interfere with willingness to implement ethical knowledge. Clear-cut rules are the exception in psychotherapy, and clinicians must judge ethical issues on the basis of the unique context of each case. As such, subjectivity and emotional involvement are essential tools for determining ethical action, but they must be integrated with rational analysis. Strategies for attending to influential emotions and contextual factors in order to mobilize ethical commitment are described.

Levinas, Ethics, Pedagogy, and the Face

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carriere, Peter M.

2007-01-01

Emmanuel Levinas is one of those thinkers whose ideas about ethics and morality have something to say about teaching. Concerned with ethics in a world that seemed devoid of morality, Levinas posited the ultimate responsibility of the I for the Face. The Face, or the Other, the not-me according to Levinas, requires and demands this responsibility…

Ethical Issues Concerning the Use of Videoconferencing To Supervise International Social Work Field Practicum Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Panos, Patrick T.; Panos, Angelea; Cox, Shirley E.; Roby, Jini L.; Matheson, Kenneth W.

2002-01-01

Examines current ethical guidelines affecting the use of videoconferencing in the supervision of social work students nationally and internationally. Suggests protocols to address ethical and professional practice issues that are likely to arise as a result of using videoconferencing to conduct supervision across international borders. (EV)

Digital Alteration of Photographs in Magazines: An Examination of the Ethics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reaves, Shiela

A study examined magazine editors' views of some of the ethical considerations posed by digital alteration of photographs. Subjects, 12 consumer news and specialty magazine editors, were interviewed by telephone and asked a series of questions concerning the ethics of digitally manipulating photographs. Results indicated that magazine editors were…

Ethical Issues for an Editorial Board: "Kairaranga"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, John

2008-01-01

With academic journals, we think of the ethical aspects of the research contained in the articles rather than with the journal itself. However, journal editing has its own set of ethical concerns, which this article addresses. One is ensuring that the anonymity of institutions and participants, in research and the reporting of practice, is…

Balancing the needs and preferences of humans against concerns for fishes: how to handle the emerging ethical discussions regarding capture fisheries?

PubMed

Sandøe, P; Gamborg, C; Kadri, S; Millar, K

2009-12-01

How can stakeholders within the fisheries community engage in constructive ethical discussions? Drawing on experiences from previous debates surrounding the human use of animals, this paper presents a proactive approach whereby stakeholders can create a framework for ethical discussion of capture fisheries.

Ethics and Ethos in Financial Reporting: Analyzing Persuasive Language in Earnings Calls

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crawford Camiciottoli, Belinda

2011-01-01

In response to ongoing concerns about financial ethics, this study analyzes the speech of company executives in quarterly earnings conference calls to understand strategic usage of ethics-related language. Against the backdrop of the recent global financial crisis, the Aristotelian concept of ethos provides a framework to investigate linguistic…

5 CFR 2640.302 - Waivers issued pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 208(b)(3).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

...(b)(3). 2640.302 Section 2640.302 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS GOVERNMENT ETHICS INTERPRETATION, EXEMPTIONS AND WAIVER GUIDANCE CONCERNING 18 U.S.C. 208 (ACTS AFFECTING A PERSONAL... report filed by the individual pursuant to the Ethics in Government Act of 1978; (3) The waiver must...

The Effect of Teachers' Spirituality and Ethical Ideology on Their Preference of Reporting Wrongdoings at Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toker Gokce, Asiye

2016-01-01

This paper aimed to examine whistleblowing in point of individual level. Three sets of hypotheses were developed concerning the relationships between (1) religiosity and ethical ideology, (2) ethical ideology and intentions to different modes of whistleblowing, and (3) religiosity and intentions to different modes of whistleblowing. Descriptive…

Marketing Higher Education: The Survival Value of Integrity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silber, John R.

2012-01-01

Academics are all used to the idea that they have special ethical obligations. They may also, as administrators, recognize special administrative ethical obligations. But they do not like to think of themselves as businessmen, concerned with selling, and few of them indeed have thought directly and hard about the ethical constraints on marketing…

Applying What Works: A Case for Deliberate Psychological Education in Undergraduate Business Ethics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmidt, Christopher Drees; Davidson, Kathleen M.; Adkins, Christopher

2013-01-01

The teaching of business ethics continues to be a topic of great concern as both businesses and business schools seek to develop effective approaches for fostering ethical behavior. Responses to this objective have been varied, and consistent empirical evidence for a particular approach has not emerged. One approach, deliberate psychological…

Training and Performance Improvement Professionals' Perspectives on Ethical Challenges during Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chyung, Seung Youn; Winiecki, Donald J.; Downing, Jessica L.

2010-01-01

Ethical concerns are rising in the business world. With this in mind, training and performance improvement practitioners, especially during evaluation projects, should be aware of principles and codes of ethics, and their behaviors and decisions should reflect the standards recognized by members of the professional society. A study was conducted…

Contributions of clinical disconnections and unresolved conflict to failures in intrapartum safety

PubMed Central

Lyndon, Audrey; Zlatnik, Marya G.; Maxfield, David G.; Lewis, Annie; McMillan, Chase; Kennedy, Holly Powell

2014-01-01

Objective To explore clinician perspectives on whether they experience difficulty resolving patient-related concerns or observe problems with the performance or behavior of colleagues involved in intrapartum care. Design Qualitative descriptive study of physician, nursing, and midwifery professional association members. Participants and Setting Participants (N=1932) were drawn from the membership lists of the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM), and Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM). Methods Email survey with multiple choice and free text responses. Descriptive statistics and inductive thematic analysis were used to characterize the data. Results Forty-seven percent of participants reported experiencing situations in which patients were put at risk due to failure of team members to listen or respond to a concern. Thirty-seven percent reported unresolved concerns regarding another clinician’s performance. The overarching theme was clinical disconnection, which included disconnections between clinicians about patient needs and plans of care and disconnections between clinicians and administration about the support required to provide safe and appropriate clinical care. Lack of responsiveness to concerns by colleagues and administration contributed to resignation and defeatism among participants who had experienced such situations. Conclusion Despite encouraging progress in developing cultures of safety in individual centers and systems, significant work is needed to improve collaboration and reverse historic normalization of both systemic disrespect and overt disruptive behaviors in intrapartum care. PMID:24354506

Food and agricultural biotechnology: a summary and analysis of ethical concerns.

PubMed

Thompson, Paul B; Hannah, William

2008-01-01

The range of social and ethical concerns that have been raised in connection with food and agricultural biotechnology is exceedingly broad. Many of these deal with risks and possible outcomes that are not unique to crops or animals developed using recombinant DNA. Food safety, animal welfare, socio-economic and environmental impacts, as well as shifts in power relations or access to technology raise concerns that might be generalized to many technologies. These aspects of the controversy over biotechnology are analyzed below as elements of general technological ethics, and key norms or values pertinent to each of these categories are specified in some detail. However, a number of special concerns unique to the use of rDNA in manipulating plant and animal genomes have been raised, and these are reviewed as well. The chapter concludes by reviewing two broad policy strategies for responding to the issues, one involving labels and consumer consent, the other applying the precautionary principle.

Exploring perceptions and experiences of Bolivian health researchers with research ethics.

PubMed

Sullivan, Sarah; Aalborg, Annette; Basagoitia, Armando; Cortes, Jacqueline; Lanza, Oscar; Schwind, Jessica S

2015-04-01

In Bolivia, there is increasing interest in incorporating research ethics into study procedures, but there have been inconsistent application of research ethics practices. Minimal data exist regarding the experiences of researchers concerning the ethical conduct of research. A cross-sectional study was administered to Bolivian health leaders with research experience (n = 82) to document their knowledge, perceptions, and experiences of research ethics committees and infrastructure support for research ethics. Results showed that 16% of respondents reported not using ethical guidelines to conduct their research and 66% indicated their institutions did not consistently require ethics approval for research. Barriers and facilitators to incorporate research ethics into practice were outlined. These findings will help inform a comprehensive rights-based research ethics education program in Bolivia. © The Author(s) 2015.

Organizational ethics in Catholic health care: honoring stewardship and the work environment.

PubMed

Magill, G

2001-04-01

Organizational ethics refers to the integration of values into decision making, policies, and behavior throughout the multi-disciplinary environment of a health care organization. Based upon Catholic social ethics, stewardship is at the heart of organizational ethics in health care in this sense: stewardship provides the hermeneutic filter that enables basic ethical principles to be realized practically, within the context of the Catholic theology of work, to concerns in health care. This general argument can shed light on the specific topic of non-executive compensation programs as an illustration of organizational ethics in health care.

Communicating in context: a priority for gene therapy researchers.

PubMed

Robillard, Julie M

2015-03-01

History shows that public opinion of emerging biotechnologies has the potential to impact the research process through mechanisms such as funding and advocacy. It is critical, therefore, to consider public attitudes towards modern biotechnology such as gene therapy and more specifically towards the ethics of gene therapy, alongside advances in basic and clinical research. Research conducted through social media recently assessed how online users view the ethics of gene therapy and showed that while acceptability is high, significant ethical concerns remain. To address these concerns, the development of effective and evidence-based communication strategies that engage a wide range of stakeholders should be a priority for researchers.

Facial transplantation: A concise update

PubMed Central

Barrera-Pulido, Fernando; Gomez-Cia, Tomas; Sicilia-Castro, Domingo; Garcia-Perla-Garcia, Alberto; Gacto-Sanchez, Purificacion; Hernandez-Guisado, Jose-Maria; Lagares-Borrego, Araceli; Narros-Gimenez, Rocio; Gonzalez-Padilla, Juan D.

2013-01-01

Objectives: Update on clinical results obtained by the first worldwide facial transplantation teams as well as review of the literature concerning the main surgical, immunological, ethical, and follow-up aspects described on facial transplanted patients. Study design: MEDLINE search of articles published on “face transplantation” until March 2012. Results: Eighteen clinical cases were studied. The mean patient age was 37.5 years, with a higher prevalence of men. Main surgical indication was gunshot injuries (6 patients). All patients had previously undergone multiple conventional surgical reconstructive procedures which had failed. Altogether 8 transplant teams belonging to 4 countries participated. Thirteen partial face transplantations and 5 full face transplantations have been performed. Allografts are varied according to face anatomical components and the amount of skin, muscle, bone, and other tissues included, though all were grafted successfully and remained viable without significant postoperative surgical complications. The patient with the longest follow-up was 5 years. Two patients died 2 and 27 months after transplantation. Conclusions: Clinical experience has demonstrated the feasibility of facial transplantation as a valuable reconstructive option, but it still remains considered as an experimental procedure with unresolved issues to settle down. Results show that from a clinical, technical, and immunological standpoint, facial transplantation has achieved functional, aesthetic, and social rehabilitation in severely facial disfigured patients. Key words:Face transplantation, composite tissue transplantation, face allograft, facial reconstruction, outcomes and complications of face transplantation. PMID:23229268

Organs and organisations: Situating ethics in organ donation after circulatory death in the UK.

PubMed

Cooper, Jessie

2018-05-25

Controlled organ donation after circulatory death (DCD) has recently been revived in the UK, as part of attempts to increase organ donation rates. The re-introduction of DCD has subsequently become the focus of bioethical controversy, since it necessitates intervening in the care of dying patients to obtain quality donor organs. Transplant policy responses to these concerns have generated new legal and ethical guidelines to address uncertainties around DCD, producing claims that the UK has overcome' the ethical challenge of DCD. In contrast, by drawing on Lynch's call to 'respecify' ethics, this paper argues that ethics in DCD cannot be reduced to abstract directives for practice, but, instead, are composed and dealt with as an organisational problem. To do this, I utilise data from an ethnographic study examining the production of the 'minority ethnic organ donor' within UK organ donation settings; in particular, the data pertains to a case hospital which was in the process of developing a DCD programme during the period of fieldwork. Findings show that the ethics of DCD are encountered as practical sets of problems, constructed in relation to particular institutional locales. I describe how these issues are worked-around by creating conditions to make DCD organisationally possible, and through the animation of standard procedures into acceptable forms of practice. I argue that ethics in DCD go far beyond normative bioethical principles, to encompass concerns around: the reputation of hospital Trusts, public perceptions of organ donation, the welfare of potential donor families, and challenges to the work of health professionals caring for dying patients. The paper enriches understanding of ethics in science and medicine by showing how ethics are assembled and negotiated as a practical-organisational concern, and calls for further examination of how DCD gets constructed as a potential problem and is made to happen in practice. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Legal & ethical compliance when sharing biospecimen.

PubMed

Klingstrom, Tomas; Bongcam-Rudloff, Erik; Reichel, Jane

2018-01-01

When obtaining samples from biobanks, resolving ethical and legal concerns is a time-consuming task where researchers need to balance the needs of privacy, trust and scientific progress. The Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure-Large Prospective Cohorts project has resolved numerous such issues through intense communication between involved researchers and experts in its mission to unite large prospective study sets in Europe. To facilitate efficient communication, it is useful for nonexperts to have an at least basic understanding of the regulatory system for managing biological samples.Laws regulating research oversight are based on national law and normally share core principles founded on international charters. In interview studies among donors, chief concerns are privacy, efficient sample utilization and access to information generated from their samples. Despite a lack of clear evidence regarding which concern takes precedence, scientific as well as public discourse has largely focused on privacy concerns and the right of donors to control the usage of their samples.It is therefore important to proactively deal with ethical and legal issues to avoid complications that delay or prevent samples from being accessed. To help biobank professionals avoid making unnecessary mistakes, we have developed this basic primer covering the relationship between ethics and law, the concept of informed consent and considerations for returning findings to donors. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Legal & ethical compliance when sharing biospecimen

PubMed Central

Klingstrom, Tomas; Bongcam-Rudloff, Erik; Reichel, Jane

2018-01-01

Abstract When obtaining samples from biobanks, resolving ethical and legal concerns is a time-consuming task where researchers need to balance the needs of privacy, trust and scientific progress. The Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure-Large Prospective Cohorts project has resolved numerous such issues through intense communication between involved researchers and experts in its mission to unite large prospective study sets in Europe. To facilitate efficient communication, it is useful for nonexperts to have an at least basic understanding of the regulatory system for managing biological samples. Laws regulating research oversight are based on national law and normally share core principles founded on international charters. In interview studies among donors, chief concerns are privacy, efficient sample utilization and access to information generated from their samples. Despite a lack of clear evidence regarding which concern takes precedence, scientific as well as public discourse has largely focused on privacy concerns and the right of donors to control the usage of their samples. It is therefore important to proactively deal with ethical and legal issues to avoid complications that delay or prevent samples from being accessed. To help biobank professionals avoid making unnecessary mistakes, we have developed this basic primer covering the relationship between ethics and law, the concept of informed consent and considerations for returning findings to donors. PMID:28460118

Rewards and challenges of providing HIV testing and counselling services: health worker perspectives from Burkina Faso, Kenya and Uganda.

PubMed

Bott, Sarah; Neuman, Melissa; Helleringer, Stephane; Desclaux, Alice; Asmar, Khalil El; Obermeyer, Carla Makhlouf

2015-10-01

The rapid scale-up of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing, counselling and treatment throughout sub-Saharan Africa has raised questions about how to protect patients' rights to consent, confidentiality, counselling and care in resource-constrained settings. The Multi-country African Testing and Counselling for HIV (MATCH) study investigated client and provider experiences with different modes of testing in sub-Saharan Africa. One component of that study was a survey of 275 HIV service providers in Burkina Faso, Kenya and Uganda that gathered quantifiable indicators and qualitative descriptions using a standardized instrument. This article presents provider perspectives on the challenges of obtaining consent, protecting confidentiality, providing counselling and helping clients manage disclosure. It also explores health workers' fear of infection within the workplace and their reports on discrimination against HIV clients within health facilities. HIV care providers in Burkina Faso, Kenya and Uganda experienced substantial rewards from their work, including satisfaction from saving lives and gaining professional skills. They also faced serious resource constraints, including staff shortages, high workloads, lack of supplies and inadequate infrastructure, and they expressed concerns about accidental exposure. Health workers described heavy emotional demands from observing clients suffer emotional, social and health consequences of being diagnosed with HIV, and also from difficult ethical dilemmas related to clients who do not disclose their HIV status to those around them, including partners. These findings suggest that providers of HIV testing and counselling need more resources and support, including better protections against HIV exposure in the workplace. The findings also suggest that health facilities could improve care by increasing attention to consent, privacy and confidentiality and that health policy makers and ethicists need to address some unresolved ethical dilemmas related to confidentiality and non-disclosure, and translate those discussions into better guidance for health workers. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2014; all rights reserved.

Rewards and challenges of providing HIV testing and counselling services: health worker perspectives from Burkina Faso, Kenya and Uganda

PubMed Central

Bott, Sarah; Neuman, Melissa; Helleringer, Stephane; Desclaux, Alice; Asmar, Khalil El; Obermeyer, Carla Makhlouf

2015-01-01

The rapid scale-up of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing, counselling and treatment throughout sub-Saharan Africa has raised questions about how to protect patients’ rights to consent, confidentiality, counselling and care in resource-constrained settings. The Multi-country African Testing and Counselling for HIV (MATCH) study investigated client and provider experiences with different modes of testing in sub-Saharan Africa. One component of that study was a survey of 275 HIV service providers in Burkina Faso, Kenya and Uganda that gathered quantifiable indicators and qualitative descriptions using a standardized instrument. This article presents provider perspectives on the challenges of obtaining consent, protecting confidentiality, providing counselling and helping clients manage disclosure. It also explores health workers’ fear of infection within the workplace and their reports on discrimination against HIV clients within health facilities. HIV care providers in Burkina Faso, Kenya and Uganda experienced substantial rewards from their work, including satisfaction from saving lives and gaining professional skills. They also faced serious resource constraints, including staff shortages, high workloads, lack of supplies and inadequate infrastructure, and they expressed concerns about accidental exposure. Health workers described heavy emotional demands from observing clients suffer emotional, social and health consequences of being diagnosed with HIV, and also from difficult ethical dilemmas related to clients who do not disclose their HIV status to those around them, including partners. These findings suggest that providers of HIV testing and counselling need more resources and support, including better protections against HIV exposure in the workplace. The findings also suggest that health facilities could improve care by increasing attention to consent, privacy and confidentiality and that health policy makers and ethicists need to address some unresolved ethical dilemmas related to confidentiality and non-disclosure, and translate those discussions into better guidance for health workers. PMID:25237134

Ethical challenges in everyday practice for healthcare lawyers.

PubMed

Taylor, L D; Pomerance, P L

2001-01-01

A lawyer representing healthcare clients confronts numerous ethical issues in day-to-day practice. The authors, practicing healthcare attorneys, first give a quick overview of the history of today's rules of legal ethics, and then turn to hypothetical (but realistic) scenarios to examine counsel's duties under various circumstances. The Article concludes with an examination of the overriding duties of confidentiality and privilege, which guide the analysis of ethical concerns in all areas.

Preparing Professionals to Face Ethical Challenges in Today's Workplace: Review of the Literature, Implications for PI, and a Proposed Research Agenda

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frisque, Deloise A.; Lin, Hong; Kolb, Judith A.

2004-01-01

Ethics is very much in the news today and on the minds of those who teach and/or train current and future professionals to work successfully in today's workplaces. While there seems to be agreement that organizations need to address the topic of ethics, there is also a concern about how best to proceed. Ethics and compliance offices, professional…

The ethics of social media in dental practice: ethical tools and professional responses.

PubMed

Peltier, Bruce; Curley, Arthur

2013-07-01

This article considers several important trends in dental practice that result from innovations in digital and social media. It provides ethical tools for analysis, Illuminates areas of ethical concern in the current practice environment and offers recommendations for future practice. A summary in the form of a checklist is posted at the end of this essay for dentists considering the use of social media in their practice.

The ethics of social media in dental practice: challenges.

PubMed

Peltier, Bruce; Curley, Arthur

2013-07-01

This is the first of two essays written to consider several important trends in dental practice that result from innovations in digital and social media. This essay reviews ethical and legal implications of the use of websites, Facebook, review sites, email and other digital innovations in dental practice. The second essay provides ethical tools for analysis, illuminates areas of ethical concern in today's practice environment and offers recommendations for future practice.

Payment of research participants: current practice and policies of Irish research ethics committees.

PubMed

Roche, Eric; King, Romaine; Mohan, Helen M; Gavin, Blanaid; McNicholas, Fiona

2013-09-01

Payment of research participants helps to increase recruitment for research studies, but can pose ethical dilemmas. Research ethics committees (RECs) have a centrally important role in guiding this practice, but standardisation of the ethical approval process in Ireland is lacking. Our aim was to examine REC policies, experiences and concerns with respect to the payment of participants in research projects in Ireland. Postal survey of all RECs in Ireland. Response rate was 62.5% (n=50). 80% of RECs reported not to have any established policy on the payment of research subjects while 20% had refused ethics approval to studies because the investigators proposed to pay research participants. The most commonly cited concerns were the potential for inducement and undermining of voluntary consent. There is considerable variability among RECs on the payment of research participants and a lack of clear consensus guidelines on the subject. The development of standardised guidelines on the payment of research subjects may enhance recruitment of research participants.

Economics of Ethics in the Business of Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Broglio, Lawrence

1992-01-01

Raises numerous questions concerning ethical dilemmas faced by theater educators from the point of view of higher education as big business. Presents four categories of questions: philosophy, pedagogy, production, and administration. (RS)

Ethical assessment of hepatitis C virus treatment: The lesson from first generation protease inhibitors.

PubMed

Sacchini, Dario; Craxì, Lucia; Refolo, Pietro; Minacori, Roberta; Cicchetti, Americo; Gasbarrini, Antonio; Cammà, Calogero; Spagnolo, Antonio G

2015-05-01

Since chronic hepatitis C has mostly become curable, issues concerning choice and allocation of treatment are of major concern. We assessed the foremost ethical issues in hepatitis C virus therapy with 1st generation protease inhibitors using the personalist ethical framework within the health technology assessment methodology. Our aim was to identify values at stake/in conflict and to support both the physicians' choices in hepatitis C therapy and social (macro-) allocation decision-making. The ethical assessment indicates that: (1) safety/effectiveness profile of treatment is guaranteed if its use is restricted to the patients subgroups who may benefit from it; (2) patients should be carefully informed, particularly on treatment deferral, and widespread information on these therapies should be implemented; (3) since treatment was proven to be cost-effective, its use is acceptable respecting resource macro-allocation. Concerning individual (micro-) location criteria: (a) criteria for eligibility to treatment should be clearly identified and updated periodically; (b) information on criteria for eligibility/deferral to treatment for specific patients' subgroups should be made widely known. Interferon-based regimens will disappear from use within the next year, with the introduction of highly effective/tolerable combination regimens of direct-acting antivirals, thus profoundly changing social choices. Nonetheless, our model could support future ethical assessment since the evaluation pertaining ethical domains remains generally applicable. Copyright © 2014 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ecological ethics in captivity: balancing values and responsibilities in zoo and aquarium research under rapid global change.

PubMed

Minteer, Ben A; Collins, James P

2013-01-01

Ethical obligations to animals in conservation research and management are manifold and often conflicting. Animal welfare concerns often clash with the ethical imperative to understand and conserve a population or ecosystem through research and management intervention. The accelerating pace and impact of global environmental change, especially climate change, complicates our understanding of these obligations. One example is the blurring of the distinction between ex situ (zoo- and aquarium-based) conservation and in situ (field-based) approaches as zoos and aquariums become more active in field conservation work and as researchers and managers consider more intensive interventions in wild populations and ecosystems to meet key conservation goals. These shifts, in turn, have consequences for our traditional understanding of the ethics of wildlife research and management, including our relative weighting of animal welfare and conservation commitments across rapidly evolving ex situ and in situ contexts. Although this changing landscape in many ways supports the increased use of captive wildlife in conservation-relevant research, it raises significant ethical concerns about human intervention in populations and ecosystems, including the proper role of zoos and aquariums as centers for animal research and conservation in the coming decades. Working through these concerns requires a pragmatic approach to ethical analysis, one that is able to make trade-offs among the many goods at stake (e.g., animal welfare, species viability, and ecological integrity) as we strive to protect species from further decline and extinction in this century.

Expanding Horizons and Unresolved Conundrums: Language Testing and Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leung, Constant; Lewkowicz, Jo

2006-01-01

Since the last "TESOL Quarterly" commemorative issue 15 years ago, there have been too many important developments in language testing and assessment for all of them to be discussed in a single article. Therefore, this article focuses on issues that we believe are integrally linked to pedagogic and curriculum concerns of English language teaching.…

Independent Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS): What Does CAS Measure?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kranzler, John H.; Keith, Timothy Z.

1999-01-01

Uses confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to address unresolved issues concerning the structure of the Cognitive Assessment System, a test of intelligence based upon the planning, attention, and simultaneous-successive (PASS) processes theory of human cognition. Results reveal that the CFA of the standardization data do not support use of the CAS…

Distractor Repetitions Retrieve Previous Responses and Previous Targets: Experimental Dissociations of Distractor-Response and Distractor-Target Bindings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giesen, Carina; Rothermund, Klaus

2014-01-01

Even an irrelevant distractor stimulus is integrated into event files. Subsequently repeating the distractor triggers retrieval of the event file; however, an unresolved issue concerns the question of "what" is retrieved by the distractor. While recent studies predominantly assume that the distractor retrieves the previous response, it…

Whistleblowing and organizational ethics.

PubMed

Ray, Susan L

2006-07-01

The purpose of this article is to discuss an external whistleblowing event that occurred after all internal whistleblowing through the hierarchy of the organization had failed. It is argued that an organization that does not support those that whistle blow because of violation of professional standards is indicative of a failure of organizational ethics. Several ways to build an ethics infrastructure that could reduce the need to resort to external whistleblowing are discussed. A relational ethics approach is presented as a way to eliminate the negative consequences of whistleblowing by fostering an interdependent moral community to address ethical concerns.

Revisiting Principles of Ethical Practice Using a Case Study Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Combes, Bertina H.; Peak, Pamela W.; Barrio, Brenda L.; Lindo, Endia J.; Hovey, Katrina A.; Lim, Okyoung; Peterson-Ahmad, Maria; Dorel, Theresa G.; Goran, Lisa

2016-01-01

A code of ethics serves as a compass, guiding professionals as they perform the roles associated with their profession. These codes are evidence to the public that professionals are concerned about the services they provide and the individuals to whom they are provided. Codes of ethics should be living documents, changing focus as the fields they…

Inscribing Ethics and Values in Designs for Learning: A Problematic

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gray, Colin M.; Boling, Elizabeth

2016-01-01

The exponential growth in technological capability has resulted in increased interest on the short- and long-term effects of designed artifacts, leading to a focus in many design fields on the ethics and values that are inscribed in the designs we create. While ethical awareness is a key concern in many engineering, technology, and design…

Ethics and Retail Management Professionals: An Examination of Age, Education, and Experience Variables

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mujtaba, Bahaudin G.; Cavico, Frank J.; McCartney, Timothy O.; DiPaolo, Peter T.

2009-01-01

Ethical maturity and behavior are of great concern to all educators, firms, and investors, and even more so in a recession. This research surveyed managers and employees in the retail environment to measure their Personal Business Ethics Scores (PBES) to see if age, education, and management experience makes a difference in making more ethical…

Land Ethics for Bureau of Land Management Employees

Treesearch

Duane DePaepe

1992-01-01

With increased public concern for public lands resource steward-ship, the Bureau of Land Management is more and more expected to make what is perceived as "right decisions." The ethical dimensions of often highly complex decision making processes have become more and more apparent. The baseline research presented here is designed to promote a land ethic...

The Ethical Dimension of Teacher Practical Knowledge: A Narrative Inquiry into Chinese Teachers' Thinking and Actions in Dilemmatic Spaces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Xiangming; Wei, Ge; Jiang, Shuling

2017-01-01

Previous research concerning teacher practical knowledge has revealed its epistemological foundations, content structure and research methodology, but little research examines its ethical dimension. Based on a four-year project in China, this study probes the ethical dimension of an experienced teacher's practical knowledge, explicated in a…

Including Ethics in Banking and Finance Programs: Teaching "We Shouldn't Win at Any Cost"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oates, Grainne; Dias, Roshanthi

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify whether ethics is incorporated into the curriculum in postgraduate banking and finance programmes. There is growing concern that moral failure preceded the global financial crisis with waves of ethical scandals overwhelming the global banking industry highlighting a lack of integrity. Consequently,…

Pedagogical Ethics: A Review of the Literature for Public Relations and Advertising.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrison, Stanley L.

Ethics is of increasing concern to United States colleges and universities, according to a survey of 183 institutions on this issue focusing on two areas--public relations and advertising. A 75% return from 134 institutions disclosed that some 25% offer an ethics course but less than half require one. Overwhelmingly (93%), most respondents…

Historical Roots and Future Perspectives Related to Nursing Ethics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freitas, Lorraine

1990-01-01

This article traces the evolution of the development and refinement of the professional code from concerns about the ethical conduct of nurses to its present state as a professional code for all nurses. The relationship of the Ethics Committee of the American Nurses' Association to the development of the code is also discussed. (Author/MLW)

Ethics and the Promotion of Inclusiveness within Qualitative Research: Case Examples from Asia and the Pacific

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Czymoniewicz-Klippel, Melina T.; Brijnath, Bianca; Crockett, Belinda

2010-01-01

Qualitative researchers are often confronted by ethical challenges when making research decisions because current guidelines and principles guiding research ethics do not wholly cover the concerns that can arise in complex social research situations. In this article, the authors explore this dilemma in relation to our experiences of conducting…

Human research ethics committees: examining their roles and practices.

PubMed

Guillemin, Marilys; Gillam, Lynn; Rosenthal, Doreen; Bolitho, Annie

2012-07-01

Considerable time and resources are invested in the ethics review process. We present qualitative data on how human research ethics committee members and health researchers perceive the role and function of the committee. The findings are based on interviews with 34 Australian ethics committee members and 54 health researchers. Although all participants agreed that the primary role of the ethics committee was to protect participants, there was disagreement regarding the additional roles undertaken by committees. Of particular concern were the perceptions from some ethics committee members and researchers that ethics committees were working to protect the institution's interests, as well as being overprotective toward research participants. This has the potential to lead to poor relations and mistrust between ethics committees and researchers.

Global mental health, autonomy and medical paternalism: reconstructing the 'French ethical tradition' in psychiatry.

PubMed

Pires Marques, Tiago

2017-09-01

In the last few decades, the definition of deontological ethics, a well-identified ethical territory in psychiatry, has been the object of increasing concerns. This has been the case in France, where claims of a specific ethical tradition in psychiatry have accompanied the institutionalization of psychiatric ethics and the perceived globalization of an Anglo-American model of mental health care. This study traces the history of the 'French ethical tradition in psychiatry' and its relationship with establishing institutional spaces for ethical decision-making. The 'ethical tradition' thus conceived proves to be functional in terms of preserving the threatened identity of French psychiatry. Nevertheless, this movement also pinpoints impasses that transcend the French context and may provide valuable resources for ethical reflections on mental health on a global scale.

What ethics for case managers? Literature review and discussion.

PubMed

Corvol, Aline; Moutel, Grégoire; Somme, Dominique

2016-11-01

Little is known about case managers' ethical issues and professional values. This article presents an overview of ethical issues in case managers' current practice. Findings are examined in the light of nursing ethics, social work ethics and principle-based biomedical ethics. A systematic literature review was performed to identify and analyse empirical studies concerning ethical issues in case management programmes. It was completed by systematic content analysis of case managers' national codes of ethics. Only nine empirical studies were identified, eight of them from North America. The main dilemmas were how to balance system goals against the client's interest and client protection against autonomy. Professional codes of ethics shared important similarities, but offered different responses to these two dilemmas. We discuss the respective roles of professional and organizational ethics. Further lines of research are suggested. © The Author(s) 2015.

Implementing a Course in Business Environment and Public Policy: A Case Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wooten, Bob E.; Snider, Walter D.

1982-01-01

Describes a course of study dealing with business values, ethics, and environment. The course focuses on issues concerning ethical and moral considerations that may be encountered in the marketplace. (JOW)

Ethics and animal issues in US medical education.

PubMed

Wiebers, D O; Barron, R A; Leaning, J; Ascione, F R

1994-11-01

Increasing public and regulatory agency concern about a variety of animal protection issues that affect the field of medicine have made these issues increasingly relevant to medical school curricula. The purpose of this study was to assess the availability and forms of medical school training relating to ethical, conceptual, and societal concerns in the use of animals within the field of medicine and the perceived need for such training. Questionnaire surveys were mailed to the Deans of the 125 accredited US medical schools, and completed by Deans or their designees within the same medical institution. Questionnaire recipients were informed that results would be compiled in a fashion that did not identify specific individuals or institutions. Survey responses were obtained from 84 medical institutions (67% response). Sixty respondents (71%) indicated that their medical school offered or sponsored some type of activity related to ethical and conceptual concerns in the use of animals in medical research and training. Most schools (43) offered informal discussions/seminars relating to these issues, but nine schools offered full formal courses with up to 15 lectures on these topics. Programme content and perceived need for additional instruction varied greatly amongst respondents. The results suggest a wide diversity amongst US medical schools in the availability and perceived importance of medical school training relating to ethical and conceptual concerns in the uses of animals in medicine. It is proposed that instruction in these areas be pursued with more concerted efforts to address the growing body of knowledge about non-human beings and the ethical implications of such knowledge.

Panglobalism and pandemics: ecological and ethical concerns.

PubMed

Rolston, Holmes

2005-10-01

A pandemic is a human medical problem but must be understood at multiple levels. Analysis of social and commercial forces is vital, and, more comprehensively, an ecological framework is necessary for an inclusive picture. Ecological health webworked with political and social determinants surrounds issues of human health. In this constellation of both natural and social factors, ethical concerns will arise at these multiple levels, from human health to the conservation and health of wild nature.

Biotechnology entrepreneurship and ethics: principles, paradigms, and products.

PubMed

Kuszler, Patricia C

2006-09-01

Biotechnology, whether in the context of new drugs derived from DNA and genetic technology, genetically modified food, or biologics making use of living cells, raises ethical concerns at a variety of different levels. At the research level, there is concern that the very nature of research is being subverted, rather than enhanced, by entrepreneurship. This area of ethical concern has intensified in the United States as a result of the conflicts of interests resulting from the growing alliance between University academia and private industry in the research enterprise. As we travel down the research path into development of a drug or technology, ethical questions arise with respect to protecting human subjects and society from danger and exploitation by researchers. As development gives way to marketing and dissemination of a new product, government regulators are pressed to get drugs and biologics through the regulatory pipeline into the market faster, walking an ethical tightrope between speed and safety. As new biotechnology products enter the market place, doctors and patients traverse yet another tightrope, that between unknown risk and the promise of benefit. And finally, patent protection is increasingly viewed as a unethical culprit in keeping prices high and depriving the global poor from lifesaving drugs and biologics. Bioethics has, to date, been largely a creation of Western research and medicine. As such it is wholly inadequate to respond to the cascade of ethical issues that flow from a vibrant biotechnology industry. And if biotechnology is in its infancy, as most believe, it is crucial that scientists, entrepreneurs and governments engage in dialogue about the ethical and societal questions raised on the road of scientific progress.

Patient informed governance of distributed research networks: results and discussion from six patient focus groups.

PubMed

Mamo, Laura A; Browe, Dennis K; Logan, Holly C; Kim, Katherine K

2013-01-01

Understanding how to govern emerging distributed research networks is essential to their success. Distributed research networks aggregate patient medical data from many institutions leaving data within the local provider security system. While much is known about patients' views on secondary medical research, little is known about their views on governance of research networks. We conducted six focus groups with patients from three medical centers across the U.S. to understand their perspectives on privacy, consent, and ethical concerns of sharing their data as part of research networks. Participants positively endorsed sharing their health data with these networks believing that doing so could advance healthcare knowledge. However, patients expressed several concerns regarding security and broader ethical issues such as commercialism, public benefit, and social responsibility. We suggest that network governance guidelines move beyond strict technical requirements and address wider socio-ethical concerns by fully including patients in governance processes.

Patient Informed Governance of Distributed Research Networks: Results and Discussion from Six Patient Focus Groups

PubMed Central

Mamo, Laura A.; Browe, Dennis K.; Logan, Holly C.; Kim, Katherine K.

2013-01-01

Understanding how to govern emerging distributed research networks is essential to their success. Distributed research networks aggregate patient medical data from many institutions leaving data within the local provider security system. While much is known about patients’ views on secondary medical research, little is known about their views on governance of research networks. We conducted six focus groups with patients from three medical centers across the U.S. to understand their perspectives on privacy, consent, and ethical concerns of sharing their data as part of research networks. Participants positively endorsed sharing their health data with these networks believing that doing so could advance healthcare knowledge. However, patients expressed several concerns regarding security and broader ethical issues such as commercialism, public benefit, and social responsibility. We suggest that network governance guidelines move beyond strict technical requirements and address wider socio-ethical concerns by fully including patients in governance processes. PMID:24551383

Sound Trust and the Ethics of Telecare.

PubMed

Voerman, Sander A; Nickel, Philip J

2017-02-01

The adoption of web-based telecare services has raised multifarious ethical concerns, but a traditional principle-based approach provides limited insight into how these concerns might be addressed and what, if anything, makes them problematic. We take an alternative approach, diagnosing some of the main concerns as arising from a core phenomenon of shifting trust relations that come about when the physician plays a less central role in the delivery of care, and new actors and entities are introduced. Correspondingly, we propose an applied ethics of trust based on the idea that patients should be provided with good reasons to trust telecare services, which we call sound trust. On the basis of this approach, we propose several concrete strategies for safeguarding sound trust in telecare. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Genetic counseling and the ethical issues around direct to consumer genetic testing.

PubMed

Hawkins, Alice K; Ho, Anita

2012-06-01

Over the last several years, direct to consumer(DTC) genetic testing has received increasing attention in the public, healthcare and academic realms. DTC genetic testing companies face considerable criticism and scepticism,particularly from the medical and genetic counseling community. This raises the question of what specific aspects of DTC genetic testing provoke concerns, and conversely,promises, for genetic counselors. This paper addresses this question by exploring DTC genetic testing through an ethic allens. By considering the fundamental ethical approaches influencing genetic counseling (the ethic of care and principle-based ethics) we highlight the specific ethical concerns raised by DTC genetic testing companies. Ultimately,when considering the ethics of DTC testing in a genetic counseling context, we should think of it as a balancing act. We need careful and detailed consideration of the risks and troubling aspects of such testing, as well as the potentially beneficial direct and indirect impacts of the increased availability of DTC genetic testing. As a result it is essential that genetic counselors stay informed and involved in the ongoing debate about DTC genetic testing and DTC companies. Doing so will ensure that the ethical theories and principles fundamental to the profession of genetic counseling are promoted not just in traditional counseling sessions,but also on a broader level. Ultimately this will help ensure that the public enjoys the benefits of an increasingly genetic based healthcare system.

An investigation of how university sports team athletic therapists and physical therapists experience ethical issues.

PubMed

Riendeau, Catherine; Parent-Houle, Valérie; Lebel-Gabriel, Marie Eve; Gauvin, Patrick; Liu, Le Yu; Pearson, Isabelle; Hunt, Matthew R

2015-03-01

Qualitative study using interpretive description methodology. The purpose of this study was to better understand how ethical issues are experienced by university sports team athletic therapists and physical therapists. In clinical practice, sports teams are associated with a range of ethical issues. Issues commonly reported in the literature include confidentiality, return-to-play decisions, conflicts of interest, advertising, doping, and use of local anesthetic. To date, there has been limited examination of how athletic therapists and physical therapists involved with sports teams experience these ethical issues, and limited exploration of how these ethical issues, when encountered, are shaped by therapists' professional roles and responsibilities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 athletic or physical therapists working with sports teams in 5 Canadian provinces. The data were analyzed inductively, using a recursive approach and constant comparative techniques. Four key themes were developed relating to the participants' experiences of ethical issues: establishing and maintaining professional boundaries, striving for respectful and effective collaboration, seeking answers to ethical concerns, and living with the repercussions of challenging decisions. While many ethical issues reported by participants resemble those faced by sports medicine physicians, they are experienced in distinctive ways, due to differences in professional roles and identities. Issues concerning professional boundaries were also more prominent for the study participants than the literature has reported them to be for sports medicine physicians. Effective communication and enhanced collaboration appear to be key elements in managing these ethical challenges.

Overview on health research ethics in Egypt and North Africa.

PubMed

Marzouk, Diaa; Abd El Aal, Wafaa; Saleh, Azza; Sleem, Hany; Khyatti, Meriem; Mazini, Loubna; Hemminki, Kari; Anwar, Wagida A

2014-08-01

Developing countries, including Egypt and North African countries, need to improve their quality of research by enhancing international cooperation and exchanges of scientific information, as well as competing for obtaining international funds to support research activities. Research must comply with laws and other requirements for research that involves human subjects. The purpose of this article is to overview the status of health research ethics in Egypt and North African countries, with reference to other Middle Eastern countries. The EU and North African Migrants: Health and Health Systems project (EUNAM) has supported the revision of the status of health research ethics in Egypt and North African countries, by holding meetings and discussions to collect information about research ethics committees in Egypt, and revising the structure and guidelines of the committees, as well as reviewing the literature concerning ethics activities in the concerned countries. This overview has revealed that noticeable efforts have been made to regulate research ethics in certain countries in the Middle East. This can be seen in the new regulations, which contain the majority of protections mentioned in the international guidelines related to research ethics. For most of the internationally registered research ethics committees in North African countries, the composition and functionality reflect the international guidelines. There is growing awareness of research ethics in these countries, which extends to teaching efforts to undergraduate and postgraduate medical students. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Barriers to Considering Ethical and Societal Implications of Research: Perceptions of Life Scientists.

PubMed

McCormick, Jennifer Blair; Boyce, Angie M; Ladd, Jennifer M; Cho, Mildred

2012-01-01

BACKGROUND: As part of an empirical study investigating how life scientists think about ethical and societal implications of their work, and about life science research in general, we sought to elucidate barriers that scientists might face in considering such implications. METHOD: Between 2005 and 2007, we conducted a study consisting of phone interviews, focus groups, and a national survey of life scientists at biomedical research institutions. The study population included graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, clinical instructors, and research staff. We analyzed data through qualitative and quantitative methods. RESULTS: In analyzing the data, we found that life scientists do, in fact, face barriers to considering ethical and societal implications of research. We categorized these barriers as falling into four broad domains: (1) lack of awareness of ethical and societal implications; (2) lack of relevance of such concerns to their specific research; (3) self-confidence in their ability to resolve such concerns; and (4) aspects of the daily practice of science itself. CONCLUSIONS: Life science researchers experience elements inherent in their training and in the conduct of science as barriers to thinking about ethical and societal implications related to their work. These findings suggest areas in which research ethics educators, bioethicists, and the scientific community can focus their efforts to improve social and ethical accountability in research.

Examining regional variability in work ethic within Mexico: Individual difference or shared value.

PubMed

Arciniega, Luis M; Woehr, David J; Del Rincón, Germán A

2018-02-19

Despite the acceptance of work ethic as an important individual difference, little research has examined the extent to which work ethic may reflect shared environmental or socio-economic factors. This research addresses this concern by examining the influence of geographic proximity on the work ethic experienced by 254 employees from Mexico, working in 11 different cities in the Northern, Central and Southern regions of the country. Using a sequence of complementary analyses to assess the main source of variance on seven dimensions of work ethic, our results indicate that work ethic is most appropriately considered at the individual level. © 2018 International Union of Psychological Science.

Ethical muscle and scientific interests: a role for philosophy in scientific research.

PubMed

Kaposy, Chris

2008-03-01

Ethics, a branch of philosophy, has a place in the regulatory framework of human subjects research. Sometimes, however, ethical concepts and arguments play a more central role in scientific activity. This can happen, for example, when violations of research norms are also ethical violations. In such a situation, ethical arguments can be marshaled to improve the quality of the scientific research. I explore two different examples in which philosophers and scientists have used ethical arguments to plead for epistemological improvements in the conduct of research. The first example deals with research dishonesty in pharmaceutical development. The second example is concerned with neuropsychological research using fMRI technology.

Getting personal: ethics and identity in global health research.

PubMed

Simon, Christian; Mosavel, Maghboeba

2011-08-01

'Researcher identity' affects global health research in profound and complex ways. Anthropologists in particular have led the way in portraying the multiple, and sometimes tension-generating, identities that researchers ascribe to themselves, or have ascribed to them, in their places of research. However, the central importance of researcher identity in the ethical conduct of global health research has yet to be fully appreciated. The capacity of researchers to respond effectively to the ethical tensions surrounding their identities is hampered by lack of conceptual clarity, as to the nature and scope of the issues involved. This paper strives to provide some clarification of these ethical tensions by considering researcher identity from the perspective of (1) Guillemin and Heggen's (2009) key distinction between procedural ethics and ethics in practice, and (2) our own distinction between perceptions of identity that are either symmetrical or asymmetrical, with the potential to shift research relationships toward greater or lesser ethical harmony. Discussion of these concepts is supported with ethnographic examples from relevant literature and from our own (United States (US) Government-funded) research in South Africa. A preliminary set of recommendations is provided in an effort to equip researchers with a greater sense of organization and control over the ethics of researcher identity. The paper concludes that the complex construction of researcher identity needs to be central among the ethical concerns of global health researchers, and that the conceptual tools discussed in the paper are a useful starting point for better organizing and acting on these ethical concerns. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

GETTING PERSONAL: ETHICS AND IDENTITY IN GLOBAL HEALTH RESEARCH

PubMed Central

Simon, Christian; Mosavel, Maghboeba

2011-01-01

‘Researcher identity’ affects global health research in profound and complex ways. Anthropologists in particular have led the way in portraying the multiple, and sometimes tension-generating, identities that researchers ascribe to themselves, or have ascribed to them, in their places of research. However, the central importance of researcher identity in the ethical conduct of global health research has yet to be fully appreciated. The capacity of researchers to respond effectively to the ethical tensions surrounding their identities is hampered by lack of conceptual clarity, as to the nature and scope of the issues involved. This paper strives to provide some clarification of these ethical tensions by considering researcher identity from the perspective of (1) Guillemin and Heggen’s (2009) key distinction between procedural ethics and ethics in practice, and (2) our own distinction between perceptions of identity that are either symmetrical or asymmetrical, with the potential to shift research relationships toward greater or lesser ethical harmony. Discussion of these concepts is supported with ethnographic examples from relevant literature and from our own (United States (US) Government-funded) research in South Africa. A preliminary set of recommendations is provided in an effort to equip researchers with a greater sense of organization and control over the ethics of researcher identity. The paper concludes that the complex construction of researcher identity needs to be central among the ethical concerns of global health researchers, and that the conceptual tools discussed in the paper are a useful starting point for better organizing and acting on these ethical concerns. PMID:21426482

Contrasting the ethical perspectives of biospecimen research among individuals with familial risk for hereditary cancer and biomedical researchers: implications for researcher training.

PubMed

Quinn, Gwendolyn P; Koskan, Alexis; Sehovic, Ivana; Pal, Tuya; Meade, Cathy; Gwede, Clement K

2014-07-01

While ethical concerns about participating in biospecimen research have been previously identified, few studies have reported the concerns among individuals with familial risk for hereditary cancer (IFRs). At the same time, biomedical researchers often lack training in discussing such concerns to potential donors. This study explores IFRs' and biomedical researchers' perceptions of ethical concerns about participating in biobanking research. In separate focus groups, IFRs and biomedical researchers participated in 90-min telephone focus groups. Focus group questions centered on knowledge about laws that protect the confidentiality of biospecimen donors, understanding of informed consent and study procedures, and preferences for being recontacted about potential incidental discovery and also study results. A total of 40 IFRs and 32 biomedical researchers participated in the focus groups. Results demonstrated discrepancies between the perceptions of IFRs and researchers. IFRs' concerns centered on health information protection; potential discrimination by insurers and employers; and preferences for being recontacted upon discovery of gene mutations or to communicate study results. Researchers perceived that participants understood laws protecting donors' privacy and (detailed study information outlined in the informed consent process), study outcomes were used to create a training tool kit to increase researchers' understanding of IFRs' concerns about biobanking.

Contrasting the Ethical Perspectives of Biospecimen Research Among Individuals with Familial Risk for Hereditary Cancer and Biomedical Researchers: Implications for Researcher Training

PubMed Central

Koskan, Alexis; Sehovic, Ivana; Pal, Tuya; Meade, Cathy; Gwede, Clement K.

2014-01-01

While ethical concerns about participating in biospecimen research have been previously identified, few studies have reported the concerns among individuals with familial risk for hereditary cancer (IFRs). At the same time, biomedical researchers often lack training in discussing such concerns to potential donors. This study explores IFRs' and biomedical researchers' perceptions of ethical concerns about participating in biobanking research. In separate focus groups, IFRs and biomedical researchers participated in 90-min telephone focus groups. Focus group questions centered on knowledge about laws that protect the confidentiality of biospecimen donors, understanding of informed consent and study procedures, and preferences for being recontacted about potential incidental discovery and also study results. A total of 40 IFRs and 32 biomedical researchers participated in the focus groups. Results demonstrated discrepancies between the perceptions of IFRs and researchers. IFRs' concerns centered on health information protection; potential discrimination by insurers and employers; and preferences for being recontacted upon discovery of gene mutations or to communicate study results. Researchers perceived that participants understood laws protecting donors' privacy and (detailed study information outlined in the informed consent process), study outcomes were used to create a training tool kit to increase researchers' understanding of IFRs' concerns about biobanking. PMID:24786355

Some Ethical Concerns About Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.

PubMed

Zheng, Yue Liang

2016-10-01

Human induced pluripotent stem cells can be obtained from somatic cells, and their derivation does not require destruction of embryos, thus avoiding ethical problems arising from the destruction of human embryos. This type of stem cell may provide an important tool for stem cell therapy, but it also results in some ethical concerns. It is likely that abnormal reprogramming occurs in the induction of human induced pluripotent stem cells, and that the stem cells generate tumors in the process of stem cell therapy. Human induced pluripotent stem cells should not be used to clone human beings, to produce human germ cells, nor to make human embryos. Informed consent should be obtained from patients in stem cell therapy.

An overview on ethical considerations in stem cell research in Iran and ethical recommendations: A review.

PubMed

Farajkhoda, Tahmineh

2017-02-01

Conducting research on the stem cell lines might bring some worthy good to public. Human Stem Cells (hSCs) research has provided opportunities for scientific progresses and new therapies, but some complex ethical matters should be noticed to ensure that stem cell research is carried out in an ethically appropriate manner. The aim of this review article is to discuss the importance of stem cell research, code of ethics for stem cell research in Iran and ethical recommendation. Generation of stem cells for research from human embryo or adult stem cells, saving, maintenance and using of them are the main ethical, legal and jurisprudence concerns in Iran. Concerns regarding human reproduction or human cloning, breach of human dignity, genetic manipulation and probability of tumorogenisity are observed in adult/somatic stem cells. Destruction of embryo to generate stem cell is an important matter in Iran. In this regards, obtaining stem cell from donated frozen embryos through infertility treatment that would be discarded is an acceptable solution in Iran for generation of embryo for research. Ethical, legal, and jurisprudence strategies for using adult/somatic stem cells are determination of ownership of stem cells, trade prohibition of human body, supervision on bio banks and information of Oversight Committee on Stem Cell Research. Recommendations to handle ethical issues for conducting stem cell research are well-designed studies, compliance codes of ethics in biomedical research (specifically codes of ethics on stem cell research, codes of ethics on clinical trials studies and codes of ethics on animals studies), appropriate collaboration with ethics committees and respecting of rights of participants (including both of human and animal rights) in research. In addition, there is a necessity for extending global networks of bioethics for strengthening communications within organizations at both the regional and international level, strengthening legislation systems, designing and establishing convenient collaborative educational courses at different levels.

An overview on ethical considerations in stem cell research in Iran and ethical recommendations: A review

PubMed Central

Farajkhoda, Tahmineh

2017-01-01

Conducting research on the stem cell lines might bring some worthy good to public. Human Stem Cells (hSCs) research has provided opportunities for scientific progresses and new therapies, but some complex ethical matters should be noticed to ensure that stem cell research is carried out in an ethically appropriate manner. The aim of this review article is to discuss the importance of stem cell research, code of ethics for stem cell research in Iran and ethical recommendation. Generation of stem cells for research from human embryo or adult stem cells, saving, maintenance and using of them are the main ethical, legal and jurisprudence concerns in Iran. Concerns regarding human reproduction or human cloning, breach of human dignity, genetic manipulation and probability of tumorogenisity are observed in adult/somatic stem cells. Destruction of embryo to generate stem cell is an important matter in Iran. In this regards, obtaining stem cell from donated frozen embryos through infertility treatment that would be discarded is an acceptable solution in Iran for generation of embryo for research. Ethical, legal, and jurisprudence strategies for using adult/somatic stem cells are determination of ownership of stem cells, trade prohibition of human body, supervision on bio banks and information of Oversight Committee on Stem Cell Research. Recommendations to handle ethical issues for conducting stem cell research are well-designed studies, compliance codes of ethics in biomedical research (specifically codes of ethics on stem cell research, codes of ethics on clinical trials studies and codes of ethics on animals studies), appropriate collaboration with ethics committees and respecting of rights of participants (including both of human and animal rights) in research. In addition, there is a necessity for extending global networks of bioethics for strengthening communications within organizations at both the regional and international level, strengthening legislation systems, designing and establishing convenient collaborative educational courses at different levels. PMID:28462397

Speaking Up: Veterinary Ethical Responsibilities and Animal Welfare Issues in Everyday Practice

PubMed Central

Hernandez, Elein; Fawcett, Anne; Brouwer, Emily; Rau, Jeff

2018-01-01

Simple Summary Veterinarians have an ethical obligation to provide good care for the animals that they see in practice. However, at times, there may be conflicts between the interests of animal caregivers or owners, the interests of veterinarians and the interests of animals. We provide an overview of why and how veterinary ethics is taught to veterinary students, as well as providing a context for thinking about veterinary ethical challenges and animal welfare issues. We argue that veterinarians are ethically obliged to speak up and ask questions when problems arise or are seen and provide a series of clinical case examples in which there is scope for veterinarians to improve animal welfare by ‘speaking up’. Abstract Although expectations for appropriate animal care are present in most developed countries, significant animal welfare challenges continue to be seen on a regular basis in all areas of veterinary practice. Veterinary ethics is a relatively new area of educational focus but is thought to be critically important in helping veterinarians formulate their approach to clinical case management and in determining the overall acceptability of practices towards animals. An overview is provided of how veterinary ethics are taught and how common ethical frameworks and approaches are employed—along with legislation, guidelines and codes of professional conduct—to address animal welfare issues. Insufficiently mature ethical reasoning or a lack of veterinary ethical sensitivity can lead to an inability or difficulty in speaking up about concerns with clients and ultimately, failure in their duty of care to animals, leading to poor animal welfare outcomes. A number of examples are provided to illustrate this point. Ensuring that robust ethical frameworks are employed will ultimately help veterinarians to “speak up” to address animal welfare concerns and prevent future harms. PMID:29361786

Teachers' Interpretations of the Ethical Dimensions of Teaching on the Chinese Mainland: A Case Study of Two Secondary Schools in Shanghai

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lijia, Wang; Lai, Manhong; Lo, Leslie N. K.

2016-01-01

This paper highlights Chinese teachers' ethical concerns in their relationships with students, colleagues, and students' parents. Through a qualitative study of 26 teachers, it was found that the teachers were often trapped in a dilemma between teaching to students' real development and teaching to the test. The ethics of professional…

Does Applying Ethics in Education Have an Effective Impact in the Classroom?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eldakak, Sam

2010-01-01

Everyone believes now these days that our current age of technology where everything is available on the internet and through texts and emails, ethical issues and ethic in education are becoming major concern and very important than ever before. In the past, people needed to really work hard if they wished to obtain information for tests and…

Interactive Poster Survey Study of ACS Members' Knowledge and Needs on Research Ethics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mabrouk, Patricia Ann; Schelble, Susan M.

2018-01-01

An interactive poster exhibited at two poster sessions at the Fall 2016 American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting was used as a vehicle to learn about ACS members' concerns and needs related to research ethics and to identify opportunities for engagement of the Society by the Committee on Ethics (ETHX) and others in terms of ethics…

The Keirsey Temperament Model: A Model for Helping Educational Administrators Facilitate Ethical Decision Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mills, Roxanne

2006-01-01

Administrators in any field are often called upon to make decisions involving ethical considerations, but are not always well prepared or prone to do so. This situation of being faced with ethical concerns is perhaps more true for educational administrators than for leaders in other arenas. Not only are administrators at school, since they deal…

Development and Implementation of Science and Technology Ethics Education Program for Prospective Science Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rhee, Hyang-yon; Choi, Kyunghee

2014-01-01

The purposes of this study were (1) to develop a science and technology (ST) ethics education program for prospective science teachers, (2) to examine the effect of the program on the perceptions of the participants, in terms of their ethics and education concerns, and (3) to evaluate the impact of the program design. The program utilized…

Research Ethics in Emerging Forms of Online Learning: Issues Arising from a Hypothetical Study on a MOOC

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Esposito, Antonella

2012-01-01

This paper is concerned with how research ethics is evolving along with emerging online research methods and settings. In particular, it focuses on ethics issues implied in a hypothetical virtual ethnography study aiming to gain insights on participants' experience in an emergent context of networked learning, namely a MOOC--Massive Online Open…

The ethics of research on stored biological samples: outcomes of a Workshop.

PubMed

Vaz, Manjulika; Sridhar, T S; Pai, Sanjay A

2016-01-01

Research is often conducted using laboratory samples and data. The ethical issues that arise in a study involving residual samples are considerably different from those arising in a prospective study. Some of these ethical issues concern the risks to confidentiality, individual autonomy, trust in and credibility of the researcher or the research, commercialisation and even the nomenclature involved.

Leadership and Ethics: A Pragmatic Exploration among Candidates in a Doctoral Leadership Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hatfield, Jennifer Marie

2011-01-01

The study of leadership and ethics, in the context of ethical behavior, is an area of concern, yet interest in an ever changing multicultural society of social norms and values. The magnitude of success has been and can be attributed to thriving and flourishing leadership exhibited by those parties involved. However, the behaviors exhibited by…

Children with Disabilities Who Use Assistive Technology: Ethical Considerations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holder-Brown, Loreta; Parette, Howard P. Jr.

1992-01-01

Discusses some of the ethical concerns that early childhood professionals should consider when identifying or adapting assistive technologies for young children with such disabilities as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, visual impairments, and hearing impairments. (BB)

Accelerating the carbon cycle: the ethics of enhanced weathering.

PubMed

Lawford-Smith, H; Currie, A

2017-04-01

Enhanced weathering, in comparison to other geoengineering measures, creates the possibility of a reduced cost, reduced impact way of decreasing atmospheric carbon, with positive knock-on effects such as decreased oceanic acidity. We argue that ethical concerns have a place alongside empirical, political and social factors as we consider how to best respond to the critical challenge that anthropogenic climate change poses. We review these concerns, considering the ethical issues that arise (or would arise) in the large-scale deployment of enhanced weathering. We discuss post-implementation scenarios, failures of collective action, the distribution of risk and externalities and redress for damage. We also discuss issues surrounding 'dirty hands' (taking conventionally immoral action to avoid having to take action that is even worse), whether enhanced weathering research might present a moral hazard, the importance of international governance and the notion that the implementation of large-scale enhanced weathering would reveal problematic hubris. Ethics and scientific research interrelate in complex ways: some ethical considerations caution against research and implementation, while others encourage them. Indeed, the ethical perspective encourages us to think more carefully about how, and what types of, geoengineering should be researched and implemented. © 2017 The Author(s).

Ethical Issues for Public Health Approaches to Obesity.

PubMed

Azevedo, Suzanna M; Vartanian, Lenny R

2015-09-01

Obesity is a major public health concern worldwide. Because individual-level interventions have been unsuccessful at curbing obesity rates, there is an emphasis on public health approaches. In addition to testing the effectiveness of any public health interventions, it is important to consider the ethical implications of these interventions in order to protect the public's rights and promote overall well-being. In this paper, we review public health approaches to obesity in three broad domains (changes to the socio-communicative environment, changes to the economic environment, and changes to the physical environment/access) and consider the potential ethical issues that arise in each of those domains. We suggest that interventions that target the physical environment/access (making it easier for people to engage in healthy behaviors), that target the entire population (rather than just individuals with obesity), and that focus on health behaviors (rather than on weight) have the least potential for ethical concerns.

The ethics of deactivating a pacemaker in a pacing-dependent patient: reflections on a case study.

PubMed

Malpas, Phillipa J; Cooper, Lisa

2012-11-01

The decision to deactivate a pacemaker in a pacing-dependent patient is troubling for some health professionals who may regard such interventions as hastening death and therefore ethically impermissible. This may be especially concerning in situations where a patient is unable to clearly state what their preferences may be and the decision--were it to be made--will almost certainly result in the patient's immediate death. In this discussion, we reflect on some of the ethical aspects that arise when JP, a 75-year-old woman who is pacing dependent, suffers a significant brain injury, and the family request that her pacemaker be deactivated. Taking into account the clinical reality of her situation, the united wishes and loving concern of her husband and family, and their substituted judgment regarding her likely preferences, we claim that the decision to deactivate her pacemaker was ethically sound.

Response to article titled "US-funded measurements of cervical cancer death rates in India: scientific and ethical concerns" by Eric J Suba.

PubMed

Sankaranarayanan, Rengaswamy; Nene, Bhagwan M; Shastri, Surendra; Esmy, Pullikotil Ekkuru; Rajkumar, Rajamanickam; Muwonge, Richard; Swaminathan, Rajaraman; Malvi, Sylla G; Kane, Shubada; Desai, Sangeeta; Kelkar, Rohini; Hingmire, Sanjay; Jayant, Kasturi

2014-01-01

Dr Eric Suba has been distorting facts and persistently disseminating biased and misleading views and statements regarding our studies over the past several years. His article in the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics fails to mention the facts that seem unfavourable to his arguments, and the ethical concerns are unsubstantiated by the evidence. In this context, we present the following clarifications for the attention of your readers, notably with regard to: (i) the study design and inclusion of a control group; (ii) the informed consent of the women participating in the study; (iii) the conformity with international ethical standards and guidelines, and (iv) the provision of screening to women in the control arm of the studies. We also highlight the benefits that are flowing from this research and the risk that misinformation may further delay access for women to life-saving cervical cancer screening.

Biobanks for non-clinical purposes and the new law on forensic biobanks: does the Italian context protect the rights of minors?

PubMed

Tozzo, Pamela; Pegoraro, Renzo; Caenazzo, Luciana

2010-12-01

Biobanks are an important resource for medical research. Genetic research on biological material from minors can yield valuable information that can improve our understanding of genetic-environmental interactions and the genesis and development of early onset genetic disorders. The major ethical concerns relating to biobanks concern consent, privacy, confidentiality, commercialisation, and the right to know or not to know. However, research on paediatric data raises specific governance and ethical questions with regard to consent and privacy. We have considered the Italian normative context focusing on what is mentioned in each document on the ethical and legal requirements that guarantee the rights of minors. We found out that there is no systematic reflection on the ethical and policy issues arising from the participation of minors in biobank research. Moreover, we have focused on the same aspects for the new Italian Law on the National Forensic Biobank.

Ethics of human testing.

PubMed

Salter, D C

1990-08-01

What should one do, and why? Anyone asking such questions--and everyone does so hundreds of time each day--is concerned with ethics. Product development and testing raise many ethical questions. Particularly since the rise of 'green consumerism', these are of increasing concern to people outside the cosmetics industry, and so should be of interest to those inside it. The major problem seems to be that of reaching agreement on moral and ethical issues. Overcoming this problem involves investigating what is meant by 'ethics', and how decisions depend not on facts but on 'facts-as-perceived'. These in turn depend on many factors, with one's philosophy being the most fundamental. The range of philosophical options is reviewed and it is proposed that wider discussion is the only just way to achieve agreement. Yet some things are not negotiable. There are certain key moral concepts in terms of which discussion must take place for it to be relevant. In ethics of human testing, 'respect for others', that is, avoiding exploitation, is the principal one. Some synthesis of the key moral concepts like that of Immanuel Kant is therefore recommended as the soundest and most widely acceptable basis for the necessary discussion. Defining the responsible use of human subjects covers a range of issues, moral, historical, legal and professional. For example, there may be ethical difficulties in deliberate damage induction as in SPF and irritancy testing. But above all, to avoid exploitation, there is a moral and also a legal requirement that subjects are truly volunteers. This is the basis of the concept of 'informed consent', required but not generally explained in current professional codes of practice. It is unjustified to exploit those who may be under duress, such as 'in-house volunteers' and those with low incomes. Hence in conclusion, criteria for obtaining valid informed consent are briefly reviewed. By considering issues such as these, we can help ensure that cosmetic scientists are true professionals, that is, those who recognise and are concerned with the ethical basis of their work.

Amenable to reason: Aristotle's rhetoric and the moral psychology of practical ethics.

PubMed

London, A J

2000-12-01

An Aristotelian conception of practical ethics can be derived from the account of practical reasoning that Aristotle articulates in is Rhetoric and this has important implications for the way we understand the nature and limits of practical ethics. an important feature of this conception of practical ethics is its responsiveness to the complex ways in which agents form and maintain moral commitments, and this has important implications for the debate concerning methods of ethics in applied ethics. In particular, this feature enables us to understand casuistry, narrative, and principlism as mutually supportive modes of moral inquiry, rather than divergent and mutually exclusive methods of ethics. As a result, an Aristotelian conception of practical ethics clears the conceptual common ground upon which practical ethicists can forge a stable and realistic self-understanding.

[Ethical opinion survey on the periodical health examination among workers: privacy protection and informed consent on the information of the heath examination among workers in small and medium-sized enterprises].

PubMed

Takahashi, Norito; Fujino, Akihiro

2006-03-01

We investigated the ethical opinions concerning the information on legal regular health examinations with a questionnaire for 757 workers in enterprises that contracted a part-time occupational physician as there were no full-time occupational health professionals. Thirty to 50% of the workers answered that the information on their health examination was known to their superiors and their colleagues. Also, 20 to 40% of the workers answered that the information was made known to other people without obtaining their agreement. This tendency among the group of sick workers was stronger than in the group of healthy workers. On the other hand, the workers who suspected that the information on their health examination might be made available to other people exceeded the majority. In these enterprises, there seemed to be ethical problems from the point of the protection of privacy. It was also shown that the consideration of ethics concerning the protection of the privacy of the information on worker's health examinations was not high. However, it was suggested that the ethical opinion concerning worker's informed consent was high, as there were 85% or more workers who answered that agreement of the workers themselves was necessary for disclosing the information on their medical examination.

Dentists versus auto mechanics: are there ethical differences?

PubMed

Riley, Crystal

2013-01-01

The different ethical perspectives of dentists and auto mechanics include primary concern, billing procedures, advertising, emergency care, the level of autonomy granted to their patients/ clients, the amount of disclosure given to their patients/clients, the ability to judge the work of others, and the freedom to pursue romantic relationships with their patients/clients. In analyzing these differences, one finds dentists to have much greater ethical obligations than auto mechanics. There are subtle differences between the ethical expectations of Canadian and United States dentists.

Best practice & research in anaesthesiology issue on new approaches in clinical research ethics in clinical research.

PubMed

Schwenzer, Karen J

2011-12-01

The history of ethics in clinical research parallels the history of abuse of human beings. The Nuremberg Code, Declaration of Helsinki, and the Belmont Report laid the foundations for modern research ethics. In the United States, the OHRP and the FDA provide guidelines for the ethical conduct of research. Investigators should be familiar with regulations concerning informed consent, doing research in vulnerable populations, and protection of privacy. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ethical issues in child and adolescent psychiatry.

PubMed Central

Green, J; Stewart, A

1987-01-01

This paper concerns the special ethical problems in child and adolescent psychiatry which relate to the child as a developing being. Two themes are discussed--the sense of responsibility in the child, and the therapist's responsibility towards the child. As a background to understanding the former, ideas on moral and cognitive development are reviewed. The therapist's responsibility is discussed in relation to different styles of therapy and the ethical issues they raise. The article concludes with a number of suggested ethical principles. PMID:3572994

Ethical perspectives on living donor organ transplantation in Asia.

PubMed

Concejero, Allan M; Chen, Chao-Long

2009-12-01

Live donors are a continuing source of organ grafts for solid organ transplantation in Asia. Ethical issues surrounding the development of living donor organ transplantation in Eastern countries are different from those in Western countries. Donor safety is still the paramount concern in any donor operation. Issues on organ trafficking remain societal concerns in low-income nations. Religion, cultural background, economic prerogatives, and timely legislation contribute to the social acceptance and maturation of organ donation.

A Survey of Expectations About the Role of Robots in Robot-Assisted Therapy for Children with ASD: Ethical Acceptability, Trust, Sociability, Appearance, and Attachment.

PubMed

Coeckelbergh, Mark; Pop, Cristina; Simut, Ramona; Peca, Andreea; Pintea, Sebastian; David, Daniel; Vanderborght, Bram

2016-02-01

The use of robots in therapy for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) raises issues concerning the ethical and social acceptability of this technology and, more generally, about human-robot interaction. However, usually philosophical papers on the ethics of human-robot-interaction do not take into account stakeholders' views; yet it is important to involve stakeholders in order to render the research responsive to concerns within the autism and autism therapy community. To support responsible research and innovation in this field, this paper identifies a range of ethical, social and therapeutic concerns, and presents and discusses the results of an exploratory survey that investigated these issues and explored stakeholders' expectations about this kind of therapy. We conclude that although in general stakeholders approve of using robots in therapy for children with ASD, it is wise to avoid replacing therapists by robots and to develop and use robots that have what we call supervised autonomy. This is likely to create more trust among stakeholders and improve the quality of the therapy. Moreover, our research suggests that issues concerning the appearance of the robot need to be adequately dealt with by the researchers and therapists. For instance, our survey suggests that zoomorphic robots may be less problematic than robots that look too much like humans.

Ethics and Community Involvement in Syntheses Concerning American Indian, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian Health: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Around Him, Deana M.

2014-01-01

Background The objective of the research was to review reporting of ethical concerns and community involvement in peer-reviewed systematic reviews or meta-analyses concerning American Indian, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian (AI/AN/NH) health. Methods Text words and indexed vocabulary terms were used to query PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and the Native Health Database for systematic reviews or meta-analyses concerning AI/AN/NH health published in peer-reviewed journals, followed by a search through reference lists. Each article was abstracted by two independent reviewers; results were discussed until consensus was reached. Results We identified 107 papers published from 1986–2012 that were primarily about AI/AN/NH health or presented findings separately for AI/AN/NH communities. Two reported seeking indigenous reviewer feedback; none reported seeking input from tribes and communities. Approximately 7% reported on institutional review board (IRB) approval of included studies, 5% reported on tribal approval, and 4% referenced the sovereignty of AI/AN tribes. Approximately 63% used evidence from more than one AI/AN/NH population study, and 28% discussed potential benefits to communities from the synthesis research. Conclusions Reporting of ethics and community involvement are not prominent. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses making community-level inferences may pose risks to communities. Future systematic reviews and meta-analyses should consider ethical and participatory dimensions of research. PMID:25089283

Errant corporations, diffuse responsibilities, and the environment: ethical issues in the Orica case study.

PubMed

Grace, Damian

2009-04-01

The papers in this volume deal with various aspects of the HCB legacy at the Orica plant at Botany. Whether explicitly or implicitly, they are concerned with questions of ethics; with the just distribution of burdens and benefits; with just processes for disposing of dangerous industrial waste; and with a just custodianship of the Botany environment. These ethical issues illustrate the difficulty of securing corporate accountability, and the elusiveness of responsibility within organisations. This paper reflects on some of the issues for ethics raised by the Orica case and their significance for corporate ethics.

[Henri Atlan's levels of ethics and the challenge of the "fourth level"].

PubMed

Aleksandrowicz, Ana Maria Coutinho

2008-01-01

This article presents the ideas on ethics by the contemporary French biophysicist and Spinozist philosopher Henri Atlan, based on his singular epistemological position, in constant transit between naturalistic philosophy (in alliance with cognitive sciences) and his refusal to a natural foundations of ethics. It underlines Atlan's defense of casuistry towards bioethics dilemmas and associates it to his proposal of different levels of ethics. The text introduces a reflection concerning Atlan's ideas about the possible passage between the third and the fourth levels of ethics, stressing its positive impact in individuals and social groups' life quality.

The effects of low doses of ionizing radiation - A question of ethics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tschaeche, A.N.

1996-12-31

Three ethical questions are asked and answered about the current state of affairs concerning how those in power manipulate public understanding of the effects of low doses of ionizing radiation. The questions are as follows: (1) Is it ethical to frighten people when you do not know that there is anything to be frightened of? (2) Is it ethical to be so conservative that resources are spent to solve a problem that may not exist? (3) Is it ethical not to tell the whole truth about the effects of low levels of ionizing radiation?

Juridical and ethical peculiarities in doping policy.

PubMed

McNamee, Mike J; Tarasti, Lauri

2010-03-01

Criticisms of the ethical justification of antidoping legislation are not uncommon in the literatures of medical ethics, sports ethics and sports medicine. Critics of antidoping point to inconsistencies of principle in the application of legislation and the unjustifiability of ethical postures enshrined in the World Anti-Doping Code, a new version of which came into effect in January 2009. This article explores the arguments concerning the apparent legal peculiarities of antidoping legislation and their ethically salient features in terms of: notions of culpability, liability and guilt; aspects of potential duplication of punishments and the limitations of athlete privacy in antidoping practice and policy. It is noted that tensions still exist between legal and ethical principles and norms that require further critical attention.

American College of Physicians Ethics Manual: sixth edition.

PubMed

Snyder, Lois

2012-01-03

Medicine, law, and social values are not static. Reexamining the ethical tenets of medicine and their application in new circumstances is a necessary exercise. The sixth edition of the American College of Physicians (ACP) Ethics Manual covers emerging issues in medical ethics and revisits older ones that are still very pertinent. It reflects on many of the ethical tensions in medicine and attempts to shed light on how existing principles extend to emerging concerns. In addition, by reiterating ethical principles that have provided guidance in resolving past ethical problems, the Manual may help physicians avert future problems. The Manual is not a substitute for the experience and integrity of individual physicians, but it may serve as a reminder of the shared duties of the medical profession.

Ethical Concerns of and Risk Mitigation Strategies for Crowdsourcing Contests and Innovation Challenges: Scoping Review

PubMed Central

Pan, Stephen W; Mathews, Allison; Stein, Gabriella; Bayus, Barry; Rennie, Stuart

2018-01-01

Background Crowdsourcing contests (also called innovation challenges, innovation contests, and inducement prize contests) can be used to solicit multisectoral feedback on health programs and design public health campaigns. They consist of organizing a steering committee, soliciting contributions, engaging the community, judging contributions, recognizing a subset of contributors, and sharing with the community. Objective This scoping review describes crowdsourcing contests by stage, examines ethical problems at each stage, and proposes potential ways of mitigating risk. Methods Our analysis was anchored in the specific example of a crowdsourcing contest that our team organized to solicit videos promoting condom use in China. The purpose of this contest was to create compelling 1-min videos to promote condom use. We used a scoping review to examine the existing ethical literature on crowdsourcing to help identify and frame ethical concerns at each stage. Results Crowdsourcing has a group of individuals solve a problem and then share the solution with the public. Crowdsourcing contests provide an opportunity for community engagement at each stage: organizing, soliciting, promoting, judging, recognizing, and sharing. Crowdsourcing poses several ethical concerns: organizing—potential for excluding community voices; soliciting—potential for overly narrow participation; promoting—potential for divulging confidential information; judging—potential for biased evaluation; recognizing—potential for insufficient recognition of the finalist; and sharing—potential for the solution to not be implemented or widely disseminated. Conclusions Crowdsourcing contests can be effective and engaging public health tools but also introduce potential ethical problems. We present methods for the responsible conduct of crowdsourcing contests. PMID:29523500

Health research ethics in malaria vector trials in Africa

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Malaria mosquito research in Africa as elsewhere is just over a century old. Early trials for development of mosquito control tools were driven by colonial enterprises and war efforts; they were, therefore, tested in military or colonial settings. The failure of those tools and environmental concerns, coupled with the desperate need for integrated malaria control strategies, has necessitated the development of new malaria mosquito control tools, which are to be tested on humans, their environment and mosquito habitats. Ethical concerns start with phase 2 trials, which pose limited ethical dilemmas. Phase 3 trials, which are undertaken on vulnerable civilian populations, pose ethical dilemmas ranging from individual to community concerns. It is argued that such trials must abide by established ethical principles especially safety, which is mainly enshrined in the principle of non-maleficence. As there is total lack of experience with many of the promising candidate tools (eg genetically modified mosquitoes, entomopathogenic fungi, and biocontrol agents), great caution must be exercised before they are introduced in the field. Since malaria vector trials, especially phase 3 are intrusive and in large populations, individual and community respect is mandatory, and must give great priority to community engagement. It is concluded that new tools must be safe, beneficial, efficacious, effective, and acceptable to large populations in the short and long-term, and that research benefits should be equitably distributed to all who bear the brunt of the research burdens. It is further concluded that individual and institutional capacity strengthening should be provided, in order to undertake essential research, carry out scientific and ethical review, and establish competent regulatory frameworks. PMID:21144083

Magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the solar wind

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matthaeus, W. H.; Goldstein, M. L.

1983-01-01

Recent work in describing the solar wind as an MHD turbulent fluid has shown that the magnetic fluctuations are adequately described as time stationary and to some extent as spatially homogeneous. Spectra of the three rugged invariants of incompressible MHD are the principal quantities used to characterize the velocity and magnetic field fluctuations. Unresolved issues concerning the existence of actively developing turbulence are discussed.

Is ADHD Diagnosed in Accord with Diagnostic Criteria? Overdiagnosis and Influence of Client Gender on Diagnosis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruchmuller, Katrin; Margraf, Jurgen; Schneider, Silvia

2012-01-01

Objective: Unresolved questions exist concerning diagnosis of ADHD. First, some studies suggest a potential overdiagnosis. Second, compared with the male-female ratio in the general population (3:1), many more boys receive ADHD treatment compared with girls (6-9:1). We hypothesized that this occurs because therapists do not adhere to "Diagnostic…

An Overview of School Dropout in Central America: Unresolved Issues and New Challenges for Education Progress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adelman, Melissa A.; Székely, Miguel

2017-01-01

School dropout is a growing concern in Central America, and in Latin America as a whole, because of its consequences for economic productivity, the inclusiveness of growth, social cohesion, and increasing youth risks. This paper utilizes more than two decades of household survey data to construct a systematic overview of school dropout at the…

Incorporating ethical principles into clinical research protocols: a tool for protocol writers and ethics committees

PubMed Central

Li, Rebecca H; Wacholtz, Mary C; Barnes, Mark; Boggs, Liam; Callery-D'Amico, Susan; Davis, Amy; Digilova, Alla; Forster, David; Heffernan, Kate; Luthin, Maeve; Lynch, Holly Fernandez; McNair, Lindsay; Miller, Jennifer E; Murphy, Jacquelyn; Van Campen, Luann; Wilenzick, Mark; Wolf, Delia; Woolston, Cris; Aldinger, Carmen; Bierer, Barbara E

2016-01-01

A novel Protocol Ethics Tool Kit (‘Ethics Tool Kit’) has been developed by a multi-stakeholder group of the Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard. The purpose of the Ethics Tool Kit is to facilitate effective recognition, consideration and deliberation of critical ethical issues in clinical trial protocols. The Ethics Tool Kit may be used by investigators and sponsors to develop a dedicated Ethics Section within a protocol to improve the consistency and transparency between clinical trial protocols and research ethics committee reviews. It may also streamline ethics review and may facilitate and expedite the review process by anticipating the concerns of ethics committee reviewers. Specific attention was given to issues arising in multinational settings. With the use of this Tool Kit, researchers have the opportunity to address critical research ethics issues proactively, potentially speeding the time and easing the process to final protocol approval. PMID:26811365

Ethics consultants and ethics committees.

PubMed

La Puma, J; Toulmin, S E

1989-05-01

To address moral questions in patient care, hospitals and health care systems have enlisted the help of hospital ethicists, ethics committees, and ethics consultation services. Most physicians have not been trained in the concepts, skills, or language of clinical ethics, and few ethicists have been trained in clinical medicine, so neither group can fully identify, analyze, and resolve clinical ethical problems. Some ethics committees have undertaken clinical consultations themselves, but liability concerns and variable standards for membership hinder their efforts. An ethics consultation service comprising both physician-ethicists and nonphysician-ethicists brings complementary viewpoints to the management of particular cases. If they are to be effective consultants, however, nonphysician-ethicists need to be "clinicians": professionals who understand an individual patient's medical condition and personal situation well enough to help in managing the case. Ethics consultants and ethics committees may work together, but they have separate identities and distinct objectives: ethics consultants are responsible for patient care, while ethics committees are administrative bodies whose primary task is to advise in creating institutional policy.

Ethical issues in perinatal mental health research.

PubMed

Brandon, Anna R; Shivakumar, Geetha; Lee, Simon Craddock; Inrig, Stephen J; Sadler, John Z

2009-11-01

To review the background of current ethical standards for the conduct of perinatal mental health research and describe the ethical challenges in this research domain. Current literature reflects a growing sentiment in the scientific community that having no information regarding the impact of psychiatric treatment on the mother and developing fetus/infant poses dangers that may exceed the risks involved in research. However, without sufficient consensus across the scientific community, both regulatory bodies and perinatal researchers find themselves without a framework for decision making that satisfactorily limits the risks and facilitates the benefits of participation of pregnant and lactating women in clinical research. Psychiatric research in perinatal mental health is critically important as it enables clinicians and patients to participate in informed decision-making concerning treatment for psychiatric disorders. Specific areas of concern include fetal safety, maternal risk, the therapeutic misconception, commercial interests, forensic/legal issues, the informed consent process, and study design. Developing guidelines that address ethical challenges and include the views and concerns of multiple stakeholders could improve the access of perinatal women to the benefits of participation in mental health research in addition to providing evidence-based mental healthcare for this subpopulation.

Ethics in Worksite Health Programming: Who Is Served?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roman, Paul M.; Blum, Terry C.

1987-01-01

Based on extensive research experience with employee assistance programs, ethical issues concerning employee assistance and wellness/health promotion programs are considered at three levels: (1) the individual level, (2) the organizational level, and (3) the interorganizational level. (Author/CH)

Ethical issues confronted by medical students during clinical rotations.

PubMed

Fard, Nazila Nikravan; Asghari, Fariba; Mirzazadeh, Azim

2010-07-01

This study aimed to examine the most common and important ethical issues confronting medical students during clinical rotations so that ethics-related topics can be prioritised according to students' needs and this information used to develop a curriculum for the ethics course. In a cross-sectional approach, we reviewed the medical ethics-related cases recorded in the logbooks of all medical students (n=241) at Tehran University of Medical Sciences who attended the medical ethics course during October 2006 to July 2007. As part of a graded assignment, each student was required to record three encounters with ethics-related issues in his or her logbook. A total of 713 cases were assessed. Information related to the ethical issues and the conditions in which ethical issues arose was extracted and recorded by two experts, whose analysis showed agreement of kappa 0.77. In cases of discrepancy, both experts reviewed and discussed the record until they achieved agreement. A total of 713 cases were analysed. The most common issues reported by students related to ethics in medical education (20.1%, n=143), professionalism (18.8%, n=134), confidentiality (7.6%, n=54), the doctor-patient relationship (7.3%, n=52), informed consent (7.0%, n=50) and the doctor-peer relationship (7.0%, n=50). After adjusting for length of rotation, the highest numbers of ethics-related incidents were reported from urology, general surgery, orthopaedics, internal medicine, neurology, and obstetrics and gynaecology wards. The results of this study indicate that professionalism and related elements represent one of the most important areas of concern that need to be addressed when planning courses for medical students. The other significant area of concern is that of ethics in medical education, which, although the subject is not considered essential for medical practitioners, should be taught and respected so that student sensitivity to medical ethics is maintained and even increased.

Nursing resistance as ethical action: literature review.

PubMed

Peter, Elizabeth; Lunardi, Valeria Lerch; Macfarlane, Amy

2004-05-01

Much has been written about nursing as a predominantly female profession whose members display passivity, submission, obedience and powerlessness. Alternatively, some authors have presented evidence of nurses' capacity to exercise power, revealing the possible relationship between powerlessness and ethical compromise. Thus, empowerment strategies for nurses can yield ethical action. The aim of this paper is to use analysis of the literature to demonstrate how the actions and responses of nurses to ethical concerns are examples of nurses exercising power. Empirical studies published in the nursing literature between 1990 and 2003 have been analysed to illustrate how nurses' actions of resistance can ensure that moral values are realized in practice. Foucauldian notions of power relations and feminist ethics provide the theoretical framework. Nurses were found to resist in situations where they experienced moral conflicts in relation to the actions of health professionals; however, instances were cited where they did not. Consequently, strategies for nursing education and management are proposed to increase nurses' understanding of the potential acts of resistance that they could employ in situations of moral conflict or concern.

Print Me an Organ? Ethical and Regulatory Issues Emerging from 3D Bioprinting in Medicine.

PubMed

Gilbert, Frederic; O'Connell, Cathal D; Mladenovska, Tajanka; Dodds, Susan

2018-02-01

Recent developments of three-dimensional printing of biomaterials (3D bioprinting) in medicine have been portrayed as demonstrating the potential to transform some medical treatments, including providing new responses to organ damage or organ failure. However, beyond the hype and before 3D bioprinted organs are ready to be transplanted into humans, several important ethical concerns and regulatory questions need to be addressed. This article starts by raising general ethical concerns associated with the use of bioprinting in medicine, then it focuses on more particular ethical issues related to experimental testing on humans, and the lack of current international regulatory directives to guide these experiments. Accordingly, this article (1) considers whether there is a limit as to what should be bioprinted in medicine; (2) examines key risks of significant harm associated with testing 3D bioprinting for humans; (3) investigates the clinical trial paradigm used to test 3D bioprinting; (4) analyses ethical questions of irreversibility, loss of treatment opportunity and replicability; (5) explores the current lack of a specific framework for the regulation and testing of 3D bioprinting treatments.

Ethical questions must be considered for electronic health records.

PubMed

Spriggs, Merle; Arnold, Michael V; Pearce, Christopher M; Fry, Craig

2012-09-01

National electronic health record initiatives are in progress in many countries around the world but the debate about the ethical issues and how they are to be addressed remains overshadowed by other issues. The discourse to which all others are answerable is a technical discourse, even where matters of privacy and consent are concerned. Yet a focus on technical issues and a failure to think about ethics are cited as factors in the failure of the UK health record system. In this paper, while the prime concern is the Australian Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR), the discussion is relevant to and informed by the international context. The authors draw attention to ethical and conceptual issues that have implications for the success or failure of electronic health records systems. Important ethical issues to consider as Australia moves towards a PCEHR system include: issues of equity that arise in the context of personal control, who benefits and who should pay, what are the legitimate uses of PCEHRs, and how we should implement privacy. The authors identify specific questions that need addressing.

Research ethics in the context of humanitarian emergencies.

PubMed

O'Mathúna, Dónal

2015-02-01

Research is needed to make responses to disasters and humanitarian emergencies more evidence-based. Such research must also adhere to the generally accepted principles of research ethics. While research into health interventions used in disasters raises distinctive ethical concerns, seven ethical principles developed for clinical research are applied here to disaster research. Practical examples from disaster settings are used to demonstrate how these ethical principles can be applied. This reveals that research ethics needs to be seen as much more than a mechanism to obtain ethical approval for research. Research ethics involves ethical principles and governance frameworks, but must also consider the role of ethical virtues in research. Virtues are essential to ensure that researchers do what they believe is ethically right and resist what is unethical. Research ethics that truly protects participants and promotes respect needs to include training in ethical virtues to ensure disaster research is carried out to the highest ethical standards. This article is based on a presentation at the Evidence Aid Symposium on 20 September 2014, in Hyderabad, India. © 2015 Chinese Cochrane Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Ethical, religious and factual beliefs about the supply of emergency hormonal contraception by UK community pharmacists.

PubMed

Cooper, Richard J; Bissell, Paul; Wingfield, Joy

2008-01-01

Community pharmacists' role in the sale and supply of emergency hormonal contraception (EHC) represents an opportunity to increase EHC availability and utilise pharmacists' expertise but little is known about pharmacists' attendant ethical concerns. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were undertaken with 23 UK pharmacists to explore their views and ethical concerns about EHC. Dispensing EHC was ethically acceptable for almost all pharmacists but beliefs about selling EHC revealed three categories: pharmacists who sold EHC, respected women's autonomy and peers' conscientious objection but feared the consequences of limited EHC availability; contingently selling pharmacists who believed doctors should be first choice for EHC supply but who occasionally supplied and were influenced by women's ages, affluence and genuineness; non-selling pharmacists who believed EHC was abortion and who found selling EHC distressing and ethically problematic. Terminological/factual misunderstandings about EHC were common and discussing ethical issues was difficult for most pharmacists. Religion informed non-selling pharmacists' ethical decisions but other pharmacists prioritised professional responsibilities over their religion. Pharmacists' ethical views on EHC and the influence of religion varied and, together with some pharmacists' reliance upon non-clinical factors, led to a potentially variable supply, which may threaten the prompt availability of EHC. Misunderstandings about EHC perpetuated lay beliefs and potentially threatened correct advice. The influence of subordination and non-selling pharmacists' dispensing EHC may also lead to variable supply and confusion amongst women. Training is needed to address both factual/terminological misunderstandings about EHC and to develop pharmacists' ethical understanding and responsibility.

Ethical Challenges in Promoting the Implementation of Preventive Interventions: Report of the SPR Task Force.

PubMed

Leadbeater, Bonnie J; Dishion, Tom; Sandler, Irwin; Bradshaw, Catherine P; Dodge, Kenneth; Gottfredson, Denise; Graham, Phillip W; Lindstrom Johnson, Sarah; Maldonado-Molina, Mildred M; Mauricio, Anne M; Smith, Emilie Phillips

2018-06-23

Prevention science researchers and practitioners are increasingly engaged in a wide range of activities and roles to promote evidence-based prevention practices in the community. Ethical concerns invariably arise in these activities and roles that may not be explicitly addressed by university or professional guidelines for ethical conduct. In 2015, the Society for Prevention Research (SPR) Board of Directors commissioned Irwin Sandler and Tom Dishion to organize a series of roundtables and establish a task force to identify salient ethical issues encountered by prevention scientists and community-based practitioners as they collaborate to implement evidence-based prevention practices. This article documents the process and findings of the SPR Ethics Task Force and aims to inform continued efforts to articulate ethical practice. Specifically, the SPR membership and task force identified prevention activities that commonly stemmed from implementation and scale-up efforts. This article presents examples that illustrate typical ethical dilemmas. We present principles and concepts that can be used to frame the discussion of ethical concerns that may be encountered in implementation and scale-up efforts. We summarize value statements that stemmed from our discussion. We also conclude that the field of prevention science in general would benefit from standards and guidelines to promote ethical behavior and social justice in the process of implementing evidence-based prevention practices in community settings. It is our hope that this article serves as an educational resource for students, investigators, and Human Subjects Review Board members regarding some of the complexity of issues of fairness, equality, diversity, and personal rights for implementation of preventive interventions.

Integrating anticipated nutrigenomics bioscience applications with ethical aspects.

PubMed

Lévesque, Lise; Ozdemir, Vural; Gremmen, Bart; Godard, Béatrice

2008-03-01

Nutrigenomics is a subspecialty of nutrition science which aims to understand how gene-diet interactions influence individuals' response to food, disease susceptibility, and population health. Yet ethical enquiry into this field is being outpaced by nutrigenomics bioscience. The ethical issues surrounding nutrigenomics face the challenges of a rapidly evolving field which bring forward the additional dimension of crossdisciplinary integrative research between social and biomedical sciences. This article outlines the emerging nutrigenomics definitions and concepts and analyzes the existing ethics literature concerning personalized nutrition and presents "points to consider" over ethical issues regarding future nutrigenomics applications. The interest in nutrigenomics coincides with a shift in emphasis in medicine and biosciences toward prevention of future disease susceptibilities rather than treatment of already established disease. Hence, unique ethical issues emerge concerning the extent to which nutrigenomics can alter our relation to food, boundaries between health and disease, and the folklore of medical practice. Nutrigenomics can result in new social values, norms, and responsibilities for both individuals and societies. Nutrigenomics is not only another new application of "-omics" technologies in the context of gene-diet interactions. Nutrigenomics may fundamentally change the way we perceive human illness while shifting the focus and broadening the scope of health interventions from patients to healthy individuals. In resource- and time-limited healthcare settings, this creates unique ethical dilemmas and distributive justice issues. Ethical aspects of nutrigenomics applications should be addressed proactively, as this new science develops and increasingly coalesces with other applications of genomics in medicine and public health.

Ethical, social, and legal issues surrounding studies of susceptible populations and individuals.

PubMed Central

Soskolne, C L

1997-01-01

Calls for professional accountability have resulted in the development of ethics guidelines by numerous specialty and subspecialty groups of scientists. Indeed, guidelines among some health professions now address vulnerable and dependent groups: but these are silent on issues related to biomarkers. In parallel, attention has been drawn to human rights concerns associated with attempts to detect hypersusceptible workers, especially in democratic countries. Despite this, concern for vulnerable populations grows as advances in biomarker technology make the identification of genetic predisposition and susceptibility markers of both exposure and outcome more attainable. In this article, the principles derived from the ethical theory of utilitarianism provide the basis for principle-based ethical analysis. In addition, the four principles of biomedical ethics--respect for autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and social justice--are considered for biomarker studies. The need for a context in which ethical analysis is conducted and from which prevailing social values are shown to drive decisions of an ethical nature is emphasized; these include statutory regulation and law. Because biomarker studies can result in more harm than good, special precautions to inform research participants prior to any involvement in the use of biomarkers are needed. In addition, safeguards to maintain the privacy of data derived from biomarker studies must be developed and implemented prior to the application of these new technologies. Guidelines must be expanded to incorporate ethical, social, and legal considerations surrounding the introduction of new technologies for studying susceptible populations and individuals who may be vulnerable to environmental exposures. PMID:9255569

Science and ethics of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome controversies in Africa.

PubMed

Brewster, David

2011-09-01

The human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) epidemic in Africa has raised important ethical issues for both researchers and clinicians. The most notorious controversy has been related to the zidovudine (AZT) trials in Africa in the late 1990s, in which the control groups were given a placebo rather than an effective drug to prevent vertical transmission. This raised concerns in the sponsoring country about exploitation of subjects, injustice and an ethical double standard between donor countries and resource-poor settings. However, the real double standard is between clinical practice standards in Western versus African countries, which must be addressed as part of the increasing global inequity of wealth both between countries and also within countries. There are important limitations to ethical declarations, principles and guidelines on their own without contextual ethical reasoning. The focus on research ethics with the HIV epidemic has led to a relative neglect of ethical issues in clinical practice. Although the scientific advances in HIV/AIDS have changed the ethical issues since the 1990s, there has also been progress in the bioethics of HIV/AIDS in terms of ethical review capability by local committees as well as in exposure to ethical issues by clinicians and researchers in Africa. However, serious concerns remain about the overregulation of research by bureaucratic agencies which could discourage African research on specifically African health issues. There is also a need for African academic institutions and researchers to progressively improve their research capacity with the assistance of research funders and donor agencies. © 2011 The Author. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health © 2011 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

Ethical androcentrism and maternal substance addiction.

PubMed

Parks, J A

1999-01-01

In this paper, I argue that bioethics suffers from a masculinist approach--what I call "ethical androcentrism." Despite the genesis of other legitimate approaches to ethics (such as feminist, narrative, and communicative ethics), this masculinist tradition persists. The first part of my paper concerns the problem of ethical androcentrism, and how it is manifest in our typical ways of "doing" bioethics (as teachers, ethicists, policymakers, and medical practitioners). After arguing that bioethics suffers from a masculinist ethic, I consider the case of maternal substance addiction to show how this ethic negatively affects the treatment of pregnant addicts. I argue that by treatment maternal substance addiction from an androcentric approach, we fail to serve both pregnant addicts and their fetuses; furthermore, we misrepresent the intentional state of pregnant substance addicts and label them "prenatal abusers." If maternal substance addiction is to be ethically addressed--and if pregnant substance addicts are to be effectively treated--we cannot tacitly accept an androcentric ethic.

Impact of ethical factors on job satisfaction among Korean nurses.

PubMed

Jang, Yujin; Oh, Younjae

2017-01-01

Although numerous studies on job satisfaction among nurses have been conducted, there is a lack of research considering the ethical perspectives of leadership and organizational climate in job satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to clarify the impact of the ethical climate and ethical leadership as perceived by nurses on job satisfaction in South Korea. A descriptive and correlational study was conducted with a convenience sample of 263 nurses from four general hospitals in South Korea. Ethical considerations: This study was approved by the Institute Review Board of Hallym University before data collection. Job satisfaction was positively correlated with ethical climate and ethical leadership. The ethical climate in relationship with hospitals and people orientation leadership were influential factors in the level of job satisfaction among nurses. Organizations in the nursing environment should pay attention to improving the ethical climate with acceptable ethical norms in the workplace and nurse leaders should respect, support and genuinely care about their nurses in ethical concerns.

Great expectations--ethics, avian flu and the value of progress.

PubMed

Evans, Nicholas G

2013-04-01

A recent controversy over the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity's recommendation to censor two publications on genetically modified H5N1 avian influenza has generated concern over the threat to scientific freedom such censorship presents. In this paper, I argue that in the case of these studies, appeals to scientific freedom are not sufficient to motivate a rejection of censorship. I then use this conclusion to draw broader concerns about the ethics of dual-use research.

Medical experimentation concerning chemical and biological weapons for mass destruction.

PubMed

Deutsch, Erwin

2003-04-01

This article is the text of a speech originally presented at the Second World Conference on Medical Ethics at Gijon, Spain, on 2 October 2002 under the title "Medical Experimentation Concerning Chemical and Biological Weapons for Mass Destruction: Clinical Design for New Smallpox Vaccines: Ethical and Legal Aspects." Experimentation on vaccines such as smallpox is subject to the usual ethical rules such as the need for informed consent. However, the participants will not often be at risk of catching the disease but expose themselves by taking part in the experimentation. Professor Deutsch explores the implications of this, including the position of vulnerable groups such as children, those with mental handicaps, and those acting under orders such as the miliary, the policy and fire officers.

School-Based Gay-Affirmative Interventions: First Amendment and Ethical Concerns

PubMed Central

Bayer, Ronald

2013-01-01

Public health professionals and educators have developed effective school-based interventions to reduce prejudice and stigma against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students. Such interventions can reduce the harm caused to sexual minority youths by stigma and can improve health outcomes. However, critics have warned that these interventions attempt to control speech and religious beliefs protected by the First Amendment. We review this critique and assess the legal and ethical arguments. We conclude that, both legally and ethically, there is great leeway for schools to implement LGBT-affirmative interventions. Still, we recommend that interventionists attend critics’ concerns using principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR). Using CBPR approaches, interventionists can achieve better community acceptance and cooperation and more successful interventions. PMID:23948002

School-based gay-affirmative interventions: first amendment and ethical concerns.

PubMed

Meyer, Ilan H; Bayer, Ronald

2013-10-01

Public health professionals and educators have developed effective school-based interventions to reduce prejudice and stigma against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students. Such interventions can reduce the harm caused to sexual minority youths by stigma and can improve health outcomes. However, critics have warned that these interventions attempt to control speech and religious beliefs protected by the First Amendment. We review this critique and assess the legal and ethical arguments. We conclude that, both legally and ethically, there is great leeway for schools to implement LGBT-affirmative interventions. Still, we recommend that interventionists attend critics' concerns using principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR). Using CBPR approaches, interventionists can achieve better community acceptance and cooperation and more successful interventions.

Ethics and health technology assessment: handmaiden and/or critic?

PubMed

Braunack-Mayer, Annette J

2006-01-01

This study examines the content and role of ethical analysis in health technology assessment (HTA) and horizon scanning publications. It proposes that ethical analysis in HTA is of at least two different types: an ethics of HTA and an ethics in HTA. I examine the critical differences between these approaches through the examples of the analysis of genetic screening for breast cancer and home blood glucose testing in diabetes. I then argue that, although both approaches subscribe to similar views concerning HTA and ethics, they use different theoretical and methodological traditions to interpret and explain them. I conclude by suggesting that we need the interpretive insights of both these approaches, taken together, to explain why ethics has not been able yet to contribute fully to HTA and to demonstrate the scope and complexity of ethical work in this domain.

Ethical challenges related to elder care. High level decision-makers' experiences

PubMed Central

Mamhidir, Anna-Greta; Kihlgren, Mona; Sorlie, Venke

2007-01-01

Background Few empirical studies have been found that explore ethical challenges among persons in high public positions that are responsible for elder care. The aim of this paper was to illuminate the meaning of being in ethically difficult situations related to elder care as experienced by high level decision-makers. Methods A phenomenological-hermeneutic method was used to analyse the eighteen interviews conducted with political and civil servant high level decision-makers at the municipality and county council level from two counties in Sweden. The participants worked at a planning and control as well as executive level and had both budget and quality of elder care responsibilities. Results Both ethical dilemmas and the meaning of being in ethically difficult situations related to elder care were revealed. No differences were seen between the politicians and the civil servants. The ethical dilemmas mostly concerned dealings with extensive care needs and working with a limited budget. The dilemmas were associated with a lack of good care and a lack of agreement concerning care such as vulnerable patients in inappropriate care settings, weaknesses in medical support, dissimilar focuses between the caring systems, justness in the distribution of care and deficient information. Being in ethically difficult situations was challenging. Associated with them were experiences of being exposed, having to be strategic and living with feelings such as aloneness and loneliness, uncertainty, lack of confirmation, the risk of being threatened or becoming a scapegoat and difficult decision avoidance. Conclusion Our paper provides further insight into the ethical dilemmas and ethical challenges met by high level decision-makers', which is important since the overall responsibility for elder care that is also ethically defensible rests with them. They have power and their decisions affect many stakeholders in elder care. Our results can be used to stimulate discussions between high level decision-makers and health care professionals concerning ways of dealing with ethical issues and the necessity of structures that facilitate dealing with them. Even if the high level decision-makers have learned to live with the ethical challenges that confronted them, it was obvious that they were not free from feelings of uncertainty, frustration and loneliness. Vulnerability was revealed regarding themselves and others. Their feelings of failure indicated that they felt something was at stake for the older adults in elder care and for themselves as well, in that there was the risk that important needs would go unmet. PMID:17419880

Ethical challenges related to elder care. High level decision-makers' experiences.

PubMed

Mamhidir, Anna-Greta; Kihlgren, Mona; Sorlie, Venke

2007-04-10

Few empirical studies have been found that explore ethical challenges among persons in high public positions that are responsible for elder care. The aim of this paper was to illuminate the meaning of being in ethically difficult situations related to elder care as experienced by high level decision-makers. A phenomenological-hermeneutic method was used to analyse the eighteen interviews conducted with political and civil servant high level decision-makers at the municipality and county council level from two counties in Sweden. The participants worked at a planning and control as well as executive level and had both budget and quality of elder care responsibilities. Both ethical dilemmas and the meaning of being in ethically difficult situations related to elder care were revealed. No differences were seen between the politicians and the civil servants. The ethical dilemmas mostly concerned dealings with extensive care needs and working with a limited budget. The dilemmas were associated with a lack of good care and a lack of agreement concerning care such as vulnerable patients in inappropriate care settings, weaknesses in medical support, dissimilar focuses between the caring systems, justness in the distribution of care and deficient information. Being in ethically difficult situations was challenging. Associated with them were experiences of being exposed, having to be strategic and living with feelings such as aloneness and loneliness, uncertainty, lack of confirmation, the risk of being threatened or becoming a scapegoat and difficult decision avoidance. Our paper provides further insight into the ethical dilemmas and ethical challenges met by high level decision-makers', which is important since the overall responsibility for elder care that is also ethically defensible rests with them. They have power and their decisions affect many stakeholders in elder care. Our results can be used to stimulate discussions between high level decision-makers and health care professionals concerning ways of dealing with ethical issues and the necessity of structures that facilitate dealing with them. Even if the high level decision-makers have learned to live with the ethical challenges that confronted them, it was obvious that they were not free from feelings of uncertainty, frustration and loneliness. Vulnerability was revealed regarding themselves and others. Their feelings of failure indicated that they felt something was at stake for the older adults in elder care and for themselves as well, in that there was the risk that important needs would go unmet.

ECASTAR: Energy conservation. An assessment of systems, technologies and requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

A methodology was presented for a systems approach to energy conservation actions and their potentials and impacts in the United States. Constraints affecting the approach were ranked, and the most important ones are the present economic and technical conditions. The following unresolved issues were identified: consumptive lifestyles vs. conservation ethic, environmental standards vs. energy conservation, capital availability, decentralization and vertical integration vs. centralization, fuel rich regions vs. fuel poor regions, supply vs. end use conservation, life cycle costing vs. initial cost, mandatory savings vs. voluntary savings, labor intensive vs. capital intensive, price control vs. free market. The following recommendations were made: provide action/impact assessment, establish regional energy centers, improve technology articulation with government, design total energy systems, utilize existing systems approach expertise.

Reductio ad absurdum. Editorial.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buck, George H.

2003-01-01

Recently, universities and other research institutions have increased the number of regulations concerning research "ethics." Driven by fears of litigation or political unpopularity and acting in an authoritarian manner, many institutional ethics boards are exceeding their purpose and are threatening both the validity of their faculty's…

Motives underlying healthy eating: using the Food Choice Questionnaire to explain variation in dietary intake.

PubMed

Pollard, T M; Steptoe, A; Wardle, J

1998-04-01

The Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ), which measures the reported importance to a given individual of nine factors underlying food choice, and a food frequency questionnaire, were administered to 241 participants, who were also required to classify their diet as either 'standard', 'low in red meat' or 'vegetarian'. Respondents describing their diet as low in red meat attributed greater importance to health, natural content, weight control and ethical concern in their food choice than did those who described their diets as standard, whereas vegetarians differed significantly from those with a standard diet only on the score for ethical concern. Differences between men and women and between students and non-students in the frequency of consumption of a number of foods were shown to be mediated by differences in the importance attached to FCQ factors. Thus the generally healthier diets of women compared to men appeared to be accounted for by the greater importance attributed by women to weight control, natural content and ethical concerns.

A systematic literature review on the ethics of palliative sedation: an update (2016).

PubMed

Henry, Blair

2016-09-01

Palliative sedation has been the subject of intensive debate since its first appearance in 1990. In a 2010 review of palliative sedation, the following areas were identified as lacking in consensus: inconsistent terminology, its use in nonphysical suffering, the ongoing experience of distress, and concern that the practice of palliative sedation may hasten death. This review looks at the literature over the past 6 years and provides an update on these outstanding concerns. Good clinical guidelines and policies are still required to address issues of emotional distress and waylay concerns that palliative sedation hastens death. The empirical evidence suggests some movement toward consensus on the practice of palliative sedation. However, a continued need exists for evidence-informed practice guidelines, education, and research to support the ethical practice of palliative sedation at the end of life. Until that time, clinicians are advised to adopt a framework or guideline that has been expert driven to ensure consistent and ethical use of palliative sedation at the end of life.

Cadaveric organ donation in China: A crossroads for ethics and sociocultural factors.

PubMed

Wu, Yijin; Elliott, Robert; Li, Linzi; Yang, Tongwei; Bai, Yusen; Ma, Wen

2018-03-01

In this paper, we will discuss several ethical issues concerning cadaveric organ donation from the perspective of sociocultural factors that are unique to China under the condition that China has ended the use of executed prisoner's organs for transplants. It is found that though great developments have been made in organ transplantation, the ethical issues relating to organ transplantation still face dilemmas in China. It is argued that organ donation and transplantation in China could make further progress if the ethical issues proposed in this paper can be carefully considered.

Everyday ethics and help-seeking in early rheumatoid arthritis

PubMed Central

Townsend, A.; Adam, P.; Cox, S.M.; Li, L.C.

2018-01-01

Background Sociological understandings of chronic illness have revealed tensions and complexities around help-seeking. Although ethics underpins healthcare, its application in the area of chronic illness is limited. Here we apply an ethical framework to interview accounts and identify ethical challenges in the early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) experience. Methods In-depth interviews were conducted with eight participants who had been diagnosed with RA in the 12 months prior to recruitment. Applying the concepts of autonomous decision-making and procedural justice highlighted ethical concerns which arose throughout the help-seeking process. Analysis was based on the constant-comparison approach. Results Individuals described decision-making, illness actions and the medical encounter. The process was complicated by inadequate knowledge about symptoms, common-sense understandings about the GP appointment, difficulties concerning access to specialists, and patient–practitioner interactions. Autonomous decision-making and procedural justice were compromised. The accounts revealed contradictions between the policy ideals of active self-management, patient-centred care and shared decision-making, and the everyday experiences of individuals. Conclusions For ethical healthcare there is a need for: public knowledge about early RA symptoms; more effective patient–practitioner communication; and increased support during the wait between primary and secondary care. Healthcare facilities and the government may consider different models to deliver services to people requiring rheumatology consults. PMID:20610465

Implicit Learning in the Crowd: Investigating the Role of Awareness in the Acquisition of L2 Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kerz, Elma; Wiechmann, Daniel; Riedel, Florian B.

2017-01-01

A growing field of research has made use of a semiartificial language paradigm to investigate the role of awareness in L2 acquisition. A central and empirically still unresolved issue in this field concerns the possibility of learning implicitly, that is, without intention to learn and without awareness of what has been learned. Up until now,…

Premortem interventions in dying children to optimise organ donation: an ethical analysis.

PubMed

Brierley, Joe; Shaw, David

2016-07-01

A range of interventions in dying patients can improve both the possibility of successful organ donation and the likely long-term success of transplantation. The ethical and legal issues surrounding such interventions, which most frequently occur in the context of donation after circulatory determination of death, are complex, controversial and many remain unresolved. This is true with adults, but even more so with children, where the issue of organ donation and premortem interventions to facilitate it, are highly sensitive. Essentially, such interventions are being undertaken in dying children who cannot medically benefit from them, though arguments have been advanced that becoming a donor might be in a child's extended best interest. However, certain interventions carry a potential risk, although small, of direct harm and of course overall objections to child donation after circulatory determination of death per se are still expressed in the literature. But, unlike the case in critically ill adults, those giving permission for such interventions are normally able to fully participate in decision-making, and indeed to consent, to both donation and premortem interventions. We review the issue of the use of premortem interventions in dying children to facilitate organ donation, including decision-making and ethical justification. Individual interventions are then considered, including an ethical analyse of their use. Finally, we recommend an approach using a combination of welfare checklist strategy, coupled with the establishment of an agreed zone of parental discretion about individual interventions which might be used in dying children to increase the possibility of successful organ donation. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Ethical Concerns and Procedural Pathways for Patients Who are Incapacitated and Alone: Implications from a Qualitative Study for Advancing Ethical Practice

PubMed Central

Catlin, Casey; Kwak, Jennifer; Wood, Erica; Teaster, Pamela B.

2017-01-01

Adults who are incapacitated and alone, having no surrogates, may be known as “unbefriended.” Decision-making for these particularly vulnerable patients is a common and vexing concern for healthcare providers and hospital ethics committees. When all other avenues for resolving the need for surrogate decision-making fail, patients who are incapacitated and alone may be referred for “public guardianship” or guardianship of last resort. While an appropriate mechanism in theory, these programs are often under-staffed and under-funded, laying the consequences of inadequacies on the healthcare system and the patient him or herself. We describe a qualitative study of professionals spanning clinical, court, and agency settings about the mechanisms for resolving surrogate consent for these patients and problems therein within the state of Massachusetts. Interviews found that all participants encountered adults who are incapacitated and without surrogates. Four approaches for addressing surrogate needs were: (1) work to restore capacity; (2) find previously unknown surrogates; (3) work with agencies to obtain surrogates; and (4) access the guardianship system. The use of guardianship was associated with procedural challenges and ethical concerns including delays in care, short term gains for long term costs, inabilities to meet a patient’s values and preferences, conflicts of interest, and ethical discomfort among interviewees. Findings are discussed in the context of resources to restore capacity, identify previously unknown surrogates, and establish improved surrogate mechanisms for this vulnerable population. PMID:28084575

Ethical Concerns and Procedural Pathways for Patients Who are Incapacitated and Alone: Implications from a Qualitative Study for Advancing Ethical Practice.

PubMed

Moye, Jennifer; Catlin, Casey; Kwak, Jennifer; Wood, Erica; Teaster, Pamela B

2017-06-01

Adults who are incapacitated and alone, having no surrogates, may be known as "unbefriended." Decision-making for these particularly vulnerable patients is a common and vexing concern for healthcare providers and hospital ethics committees. When all other avenues for resolving the need for surrogate decision-making fail, patients who are incapacitated and alone may be referred for "public guardianship" or guardianship of last resort. While an appropriate mechanism in theory, these programs are often under-staffed and under-funded, laying the consequences of inadequacies on the healthcare system and the patient him or herself. We describe a qualitative study of professionals spanning clinical, court, and agency settings about the mechanisms for resolving surrogate consent for these patients and problems therein within the state of Massachusetts. Interviews found that all participants encountered adults who are incapacitated and without surrogates. Four approaches for addressing surrogate needs were: (1) work to restore capacity; (2) find previously unknown surrogates; (3) work with agencies to obtain surrogates; and (4) access the guardianship system. The use of guardianship was associated with procedural challenges and ethical concerns including delays in care, short term gains for long term costs, inabilities to meet a patient's values and preferences, conflicts of interest, and ethical discomfort among interviewees. Findings are discussed in the context of resources to restore capacity, identify previously unknown surrogates, and establish improved surrogate mechanisms for this vulnerable population.

Consumers' environmental and ethical consciousness and the use of the related food products information: The role of perceived consumer effectiveness.

PubMed

Ghvanidze, Sophie; Velikova, Natalia; Dodd, Tim H; Oldewage-Theron, Wilna

2016-12-01

Consumers can be important active contributors to a sustainable society by selecting food choices that are both healthy and produced respecting environmental and socially ethical standards. The current study investigates five consumer behavioural factors - namely, perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE); environmental conscious behaviour; concerns for ethical food production; health conscious lifestyle; and healthy dietary patterns. The key interest of the study lies in exploring the moderating role of PCE - the extent to which the consumer believes that his/her own efforts can make a difference - in these interrelationships. The empirical analysis was conducted through an online survey of food consumers implemented in three markets - the US, the UK and Germany. Findings indicate that for individuals with higher levels of PCE, who are environmental conscious and ethically concerned, information on food labels relating to environmental and social issues represents value by itself. Interestingly, health and nutrition information on food labels was not perceived valuable by consumers with high PCE. The predictive effects of various socio-demographic variables on PCE, consumer environmental and health consciousness are discussed. Cross-cultural differences are also outlined. The results of this research may contribute to the development of environmental policies and communication strategies of the food industry to enhance perceived consumer effectiveness among consumers. Improved PCE, in turn, may catalyze consumers' environmental behaviour and ethical concerns in relation to consumption of food products with environmental and social information. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Ethical Implications of Cultural Intervention by Space-faring Civilizations -- What Science Fiction Has to Say

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciupa, M.

Science fiction (Scifi) plays out the concerns of our possible scientistic futures; it is a source for exploring the deep rooted psychological concerns of mankind with science and the humanities. In this paper it is proposed Scifi is a valid source of hypotheses to examine, not as "evidence", but as candidate ­ often cautionary ­ notions, i.e., scenarios to be studied. Scifi represents a kind of Jungian mythological based story-telling, putting forward tales that express our conscious/unconscious concerns. Thus, when looking into ethical questions like, "where will techno-progressive futures take us?", we import into them these archetypes, hopes and fears, as a result they frequently reappear as familiar tropes. In this respect it is appropriate not to ignore them, but to openly challenge/appreciate them: to see what scenarios are indeed likely and how they may impact us reciprocally. This paper examines some of these aspects, and provides examples of how they are represented in the Scifi genre, in particular with consideration of the ethical implications of cultural intervention by space-faring civilizations. Given the specific analysis/examples provided, it concludes with an ethical scenario analysis (a dialectic argument), within the limiting conditions of the Drake Equation, Fermi Paradox and Cultural History. It comments on the potential existential risk of the Active SETI programmes recently initiated, indeed the need for an ethical exosociological review of all proposed Interstellar projects that express an "Intervention-Propensity".

Ethical considerations in preventive interventions for bipolar disorder.

PubMed

Ratheesh, Aswin; Cotton, Susan M; Davey, Christopher G; Adams, Sophie; Bechdolf, Andreas; Macneil, Craig; Berk, Michael; McGorry, Patrick D

2017-04-01

Early intervention and prevention of serious mental disorders such as bipolar disorder has the promise of decreasing the burden associated with these disorders. With increasing early and preventive intervention efforts among cohorts such as those with a familial risk for bipolar disorder, there is a need to examine the associated ethical concerns. The aim of this review was to examine the ethical issues underpinning the clinical research on pre-onset identification and preventive interventions for bipolar disorder. We undertook a PubMed search updated to November 2014 incorporating search terms such as bipolar, mania, hypomania, ethic*(truncated), early intervention, prevention, genetic and family. Fifty-six articles that were identified by this method as well as other relevant articles were examined within a framework of ethical principles including beneficence, non-maleficence, respect for autonomy and justice. The primary risks associated with research and clinical interventions include stigma and labelling, especially among familial high-risk youth. Side effects from interventions are another concern. The benefits of preventive or early interventions were in the amelioration of symptoms as well as the possibility of minimizing disability, cognitive impairment and progression of the illness. Supporting the autonomy of individuals and improving access to stigma-free care may help moderate the potential challenges associated with the risks of interventions. Concerns about the risks of early identification and pre-onset interventions should be balanced against the potential benefits, the individuals' right to choice and by improving availability of services that balance such dilemmas. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Ethical Concerns of and Risk Mitigation Strategies for Crowdsourcing Contests and Innovation Challenges: Scoping Review.

PubMed

Tucker, Joseph D; Pan, Stephen W; Mathews, Allison; Stein, Gabriella; Bayus, Barry; Rennie, Stuart

2018-03-09

Crowdsourcing contests (also called innovation challenges, innovation contests, and inducement prize contests) can be used to solicit multisectoral feedback on health programs and design public health campaigns. They consist of organizing a steering committee, soliciting contributions, engaging the community, judging contributions, recognizing a subset of contributors, and sharing with the community. This scoping review describes crowdsourcing contests by stage, examines ethical problems at each stage, and proposes potential ways of mitigating risk. Our analysis was anchored in the specific example of a crowdsourcing contest that our team organized to solicit videos promoting condom use in China. The purpose of this contest was to create compelling 1-min videos to promote condom use. We used a scoping review to examine the existing ethical literature on crowdsourcing to help identify and frame ethical concerns at each stage. Crowdsourcing has a group of individuals solve a problem and then share the solution with the public. Crowdsourcing contests provide an opportunity for community engagement at each stage: organizing, soliciting, promoting, judging, recognizing, and sharing. Crowdsourcing poses several ethical concerns: organizing-potential for excluding community voices; soliciting-potential for overly narrow participation; promoting-potential for divulging confidential information; judging-potential for biased evaluation; recognizing-potential for insufficient recognition of the finalist; and sharing-potential for the solution to not be implemented or widely disseminated. Crowdsourcing contests can be effective and engaging public health tools but also introduce potential ethical problems. We present methods for the responsible conduct of crowdsourcing contests. ©Joseph D Tucker, Stephen W Pan, Allison Mathews, Gabriella Stein, Barry Bayus, Stuart Rennie. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 09.03.2018.

Ethical limitations in patenting biotechnological inventions.

PubMed

Lugagnani, V

1999-01-01

In order to connect ethical considerations with practical limits to patentability, the moral judgement should possibly move from the exploitation of the invention to the nature and/or objectives of Research and Development (R&D) projects which have produced it: in other words, it appears quite reasonable and logical that Society is not rewarding unethical R&D activities by granting intellectual property rights. As far as biotechnology R&D is concerned, ethical guidance can be derived from the 1996 Council of EuropeOs OConvention for the protection of human rights and dignity of the human being with regard to the application of biology and medicineO, whose Chapter V - Scientific research - provides guidelines on: i. protection of persons undergoing research (e.g. informed consent); ii. protection of persons not able to consent to research; iii. research on embryos in vitro. As far as the specific point of patenting biotechnology inventions is concerned, the four exclusions prescribed by Directive 98/44/EC (i.e. human cloning, human germ-line gene therapy, use of human embryos for commercial purposes, unjustified animal suffering for medical purposes) are all we have in Europe in terms of ethical guidance to patentability. In Italy, in particular, we certainly need far more comprehensive legislation, expressing SocietyOs demand to provide ethical control of modern biotechnology. However it is quite difficult to claim that ethical concerns are being raised by currently awarded biotechnology patents related to living organisms and material thereof; they largely deal with the results of genomic R&D, purposely and usefully oriented toward improving health-care and agri-food processes, products and services. ONo patents on lifeOO can be an appealing slogan of militants against modern biotechnology, but it is far too much of an over-simplified abstraction to become the Eleventh Commandment our Society.

Ethics in Community-University-Artist Partnered Research: Tensions, Contradictions and Gaps Identified in an 'Arts for Social Change' Project.

PubMed

Yassi, Annalee; Spiegel, Jennifer Beth; Lockhart, Karen; Fels, Lynn; Boydell, Katherine; Marcuse, Judith

Academics from diverse disciplines are recognizing not only the procedural ethical issues involved in research, but also the complexity of everyday "micro" ethical issues that arise. While ethical guidelines are being developed for research in aboriginal populations and low-and-middle-income countries, multi-partnered research initiatives examining arts-based interventions to promote social change pose a unique set of ethical dilemmas not yet fully explored. Our research team, comprising health, education, and social scientists, critical theorists, artists and community-activists launched a five-year research partnership on arts-for-social change. Funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council in Canada and based in six universities, including over 40 community-based collaborators, and informed by five main field projects (circus with street youth, theatre by people with disabilities, dance for people with Parkinson's disease, participatory theatre with refugees and artsinfused dialogue), we set out to synthesize existing knowledge and lessons we learned. We summarized these learnings into 12 key points for reflection, grouped into three categories: community-university partnership concerns ( n  = 3), dilemmas related to the arts ( n  = 5), and team issues ( n  = 4). In addition to addressing previous concerns outlined in the literature (e.g., related to consent, anonymity, dangerous emotional terrain, etc.), we identified power dynamics (visible and hidden) hindering meaningful participation of community partners and university-based teams that need to be addressed within a reflective critical framework of ethical practice. We present how our team has been addressing these issues, as examples of how such concerns could be approached in community-university partnerships in arts for social change.

Development of Learning Management in Moral Ethics and Code of Ethics of the Teaching Profession Course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boonsong, S.; Siharak, S.; Srikanok, V.

2018-02-01

The purposes of this research were to develop the learning management, which was prepared for the enhancement of students’ Moral Ethics and Code of Ethics in Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi (RMUTT). The contextual study and the ideas for learning management development was conducted by the document study, focus group method and content analysis from the document about moral ethics and code of ethics of the teaching profession concerning Graduate Diploma for Teaching Profession Program. The main tools of this research were the summarize papers and analyse papers. The results of development showed the learning management for the development of moral ethics and code of ethics of the teaching profession for Graduate Diploma for Teaching Profession students could promote desired moral ethics and code of ethics of the teaching profession character by the integrated learning techniques which consisted of Service Learning, Contract System, Value Clarification, Role Playing, and Concept Mapping. The learning management was presented in 3 steps.

Ethics, Risk and Benefits Associated with Different Applications of Nanotechnology: a Comparison of Expert and Consumer Perceptions of Drivers of Societal Acceptance.

PubMed

Gupta, N; Fischer, A R H; Frewer, L J

Examining those risk and benefit perceptions utilised in the formation of attitudes and opinions about emerging technologies such as nanotechnology can be useful for both industry and policy makers involved in their development, implementation and regulation. A broad range of different socio-psychological and affective factors may influence consumer responses to different applications of nanotechnology, including ethical concerns. A useful approach to identifying relevant consumer concerns and innovation priorities is to develop predictive constructs which can be used to differentiate applications of nanotechnology in a way which is meaningful to consumers. This requires elicitation of attitudinal constructs from consumers, rather than measuring attitudes assumed to be important by the researcher. Psychological factors influencing societal responses to 15 applications of nanotechnology drawn from different application areas (e.g. medicine, agriculture and environment, food, military, sports, and cosmetics) were identified using repertory grid method in conjunction with generalised Procrustes analysis. The results suggested that people differentiate nanotechnology applications based on the extent to which they perceive them to be beneficial, useful, necessary and important. The benefits may be offset by perceived risks focusing on fear and ethical concerns. Compared to an earlier expert study on societal acceptance of nanotechnology, consumers emphasised ethical issues compared to experts but had less concern regarding potential physical contact with the product and time to market introduction. Consumers envisaged fewer issues with several applications compared to experts, in particular food applications.

Ethics of health policy and systems research: a scoping review of the literature.

PubMed

Pratt, Bridget; Paul, Amy; Hyder, Adnan A; Ali, Joseph

2017-07-01

Health policy and systems research (HPSR) is increasingly funded and undertaken as part of health system strengthening efforts worldwide. HPSR ethics is also a relatively new and emerging field, with numerous normative and descriptive questions that have largely not been considered. Normative questions include what ethical principles and values should guide HPSR. Descriptive questions include what ethical concerns arise when conducting HPSR. A small but growing body of scholarly work characterizes the various ethics issues inherent in HPSR. Towards informing the future development of ethics guidance for HPSR, a scoping review was undertaken to: (1) identify the range of ethics issues relevant to the conduct of HPSR-with a deliberate (though not exclusive) focus on low- and middle-income country settings and (2) describe existing guidance on key ethics issues relevant to HPSR. Using the Cochrane methods as a basis, the review identified formal and informal literature on HPSR ethics by searching the following databases: PubMed's Medline, Embase, Global Health, Scopus, WHO Global Health Regional Libraries, LILACs, OpenDOAR and Bielefeld Academic Search Engine. In total, 11 062 documents were identified from the formal (10 519) and informal (543) literature. One hundred and seven of these documents (formal 99 and informal 8) met at least one inclusion criterion and underwent thematic analysis. Ethical issues in four main categories were identified: upholding autonomy, identifying and balancing risks and benefits, justice and determination of ethical review requirements. The review indicated that the ethical values behind HPSR place an emphasis on its contributing to the reduction of health disparities. Unsurprisingly then, numerous ethical concerns relating to justice arise in HPSR. However, the majority of existing guidance focuses on obtaining or waiving informed consent and, thus, appears to be insufficient for HPSR. A list of priority ethics issues in HPSR in need of guidance development is provided. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.

The importance of formative assessment in science and engineering ethics education: some evidence and practical advice.

PubMed

Keefer, Matthew W; Wilson, Sara E; Dankowicz, Harry; Loui, Michael C

2014-03-01

Recent research in ethics education shows a potentially problematic variation in content, curricular materials, and instruction. While ethics instruction is now widespread, studies have identified significant variation in both the goals and methods of ethics education, leaving researchers to conclude that many approaches may be inappropriately paired with goals that are unachievable. This paper speaks to these concerns by demonstrating the importance of aligning classroom-based assessments to clear ethical learning objectives in order to help students and instructors track their progress toward meeting those objectives. Two studies at two different universities demonstrate the usefulness of classroom-based, formative assessments for improving the quality of students' case responses in computational modeling and research ethics.

Ethical framework of assistive devices: review and reflection.

PubMed

Mansouri, Nazanin; Goher, Khaled; Hosseini, Seyed Ebrahim

2017-01-01

The population of ageing is growing significantly over the world, and there is an emerging demand for better healthcare services and more care centres. Innovations of Information and Communication Technology has resulted in development of various types of assistive robots to fulfil elderly's needs and independency, whilst carrying out daily routine tasks. This makes it vital to have a clear understanding of elderly's needs and expectations from assistive robots. This paper addresses current ethical issues to understand elderly's prime needs. Also, we consider other general ethics with the purpose of applying these theories to form a proper ethics framework. In the ethics framework, the ethical concerns of senior citizens will be prioritized to satisfy elderly's needs and also to diminish related expenses to healthcare services.

Poland: biomedical ethics in a socialist state.

PubMed

Szawarski, Zbigniew

1987-06-01

In one of a Hastings Center Report series of four country reports, a professor of ethics discusses the Polish approach to ethical issues in health care. Szawarski begins by outlining five factors that influence the practice of medicine in Poland: a socialist form of government, the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, an ongoing economic crisis, the legacy of the Nazi death camps, and a lack of formal instruction in biomedical ethics. He then discusses three current ethical concerns of physicians, patients, and the public: regulation of physician conduct, abortion, and in vitro fertilization. There is little formal public debate of the issues, however, and physicians seem committed to upholding traditional medical codes of ethics without analyzing underlying moral principles and justifications.

Incorporating ethical principles into clinical research protocols: a tool for protocol writers and ethics committees.

PubMed

Li, Rebecca H; Wacholtz, Mary C; Barnes, Mark; Boggs, Liam; Callery-D'Amico, Susan; Davis, Amy; Digilova, Alla; Forster, David; Heffernan, Kate; Luthin, Maeve; Lynch, Holly Fernandez; McNair, Lindsay; Miller, Jennifer E; Murphy, Jacquelyn; Van Campen, Luann; Wilenzick, Mark; Wolf, Delia; Woolston, Cris; Aldinger, Carmen; Bierer, Barbara E

2016-04-01

A novel Protocol Ethics Tool Kit ('Ethics Tool Kit') has been developed by a multi-stakeholder group of the Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard. The purpose of the Ethics Tool Kit is to facilitate effective recognition, consideration and deliberation of critical ethical issues in clinical trial protocols. The Ethics Tool Kit may be used by investigators and sponsors to develop a dedicated Ethics Section within a protocol to improve the consistency and transparency between clinical trial protocols and research ethics committee reviews. It may also streamline ethics review and may facilitate and expedite the review process by anticipating the concerns of ethics committee reviewers. Specific attention was given to issues arising in multinational settings. With the use of this Tool Kit, researchers have the opportunity to address critical research ethics issues proactively, potentially speeding the time and easing the process to final protocol approval. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Ethical and Social Issues in Health Research Involving Incarcerated People.

PubMed

Coughlin, Steven S; Lewis, Sharon R; Smith, Selina A

2016-01-01

The use of inmates in research in the U.S. was restricted by the recommendations of the National Commission and by federal regulations and guidelines that followed. By the 1980s, many health care officials became concerned about the exclusion of inmates from experimental treatments for human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV). These developments in ethics occurred in the context of racial/ethnic disparities in health. In this article, ethical considerations in clinical and public health research on HIV in prison and jail settings are considered. Ethical considerations in mental health research are summarized as well as issues pertaining to research involving female inmates. Issues related to oversight of research involving incarcerated people are considered along with the ethics of public health research. The ethics of research involving incarcerated people extends beyond traditional issues in human subjects ethics to include issues within the domains of bioethics and public health ethics.

Development and Implementation of Science and Technology Ethics Education Program for Prospective Science Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rhee, Hyang-yon; Choi, Kyunghee

2014-05-01

The purposes of this study were (1) to develop a science and technology (ST) ethics education program for prospective science teachers, (2) to examine the effect of the program on the perceptions of the participants, in terms of their ethics and education concerns, and (3) to evaluate the impact of the program design. The program utilized problem-based learning (PBL) which was performed as an iterative process during two cycles. A total of 23 and 29 prospective teachers in each cycle performed team activities. A PBL-based ST ethics education program for the science classroom setting was effective in enhancing participants' perceptions of ethics and education in ST. These perceptions motivated prospective science teachers to develop and implement ST ethics education in their future classrooms. The change in the prospective teachers' perceptions of ethical issues and the need for ethics education was greater when the topic was controversial.

Ethical and Social Issues in Health Research Involving Incarcerated People

PubMed Central

Coughlin, Steven S.; Lewis, Sharon R.; Smith, Selina A.

2016-01-01

The use of inmates in research in the U.S. was restricted by the recommendations of the National Commission and by federal regulations and guidelines that followed. By the 1980s, many health care officials became concerned about the exclusion of inmates from experimental treatments for human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV). These developments in ethics occurred in the context of racial/ethnic disparities in health. In this article, ethical considerations in clinical and public health research on HIV in prison and jail settings are considered. Ethical considerations in mental health research are summarized as well as issues pertaining to research involving female inmates. Issues related to oversight of research involving incarcerated people are considered along with the ethics of public health research. The ethics of research involving incarcerated people extends beyond traditional issues in human subjects ethics to include issues within the domains of bioethics and public health ethics. PMID:27133509

A Sensemaking Approach to Ethics Training for Scientists: Preliminary Evidence of Training Effectiveness.

PubMed

Mumford, Michael D; Connelly, Shane; Brown, Ryan P; Murphy, Stephen T; Hill, Jason H; Antes, Alison L; Waples, Ethan P; Devenport, Lynn D

2008-10-01

In recent years, we have seen a new concern with ethics training for research and development professionals. Although ethics training has become more common, the effectiveness of the training being provided is open to question. In the present effort, a new ethics training course was developed that stresses the importance of the strategies people apply to make sense of ethical problems. The effectiveness of this training was assessed in a sample of 59 doctoral students working in the biological and social sciences using a pre-post design with follow-up, and a series of ethical decision-making measures serving as the outcome variable. Results showed that this training not only led to sizable gains in ethical decision-making, but that these gains were maintained over time. The implications of these findings for ethics training in the sciences are discussed.

A Sensemaking Approach to Ethics Training for Scientists: Preliminary Evidence of Training Effectiveness

PubMed Central

Mumford, Michael D.; Connelly, Shane; Brown, Ryan P.; Murphy, Stephen T.; Hill, Jason H.; Antes, Alison L.; Waples, Ethan P.; Devenport, Lynn D.

2009-01-01

In recent years, we have seen a new concern with ethics training for research and development professionals. Although ethics training has become more common, the effectiveness of the training being provided is open to question. In the present effort, a new ethics training course was developed that stresses the importance of the strategies people apply to make sense of ethical problems. The effectiveness of this training was assessed in a sample of 59 doctoral students working in the biological and social sciences using a pre-post design with follow-up, and a series of ethical decision-making measures serving as the outcome variable. Results showed that this training not only led to sizable gains in ethical decision-making, but that these gains were maintained over time. The implications of these findings for ethics training in the sciences are discussed. PMID:19578559

Ethics in Consulting and Outside Professional Activities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dillon, Kristine E.

Ethical concerns related to faculty consulting and other professional activities for supplemental pay are discussed. Some groups, like students and taxpayers, may find it difficult to view outside professional activities of faculty members in the context of public service and professional development. Universities employing academic professionals…

Ethical Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Michael

2005-01-01

The Ethical Challenges scenario in the June 2004 issue of the American Journal of Evaluation focused on an evaluator-client disagreement concerning the wisdom of having consumer representation on a steering committee that would help plan and oversee an evaluation in an agency providing community-based residential services to the chronically…

Beyond Instrumental Literacy: Discourse Ethics and Literacy Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Endres, Benjamin J.

Literacy education concerns itself with assessing student needs and determining the appropriate methods for meeting them, without considering the ethical framework in which those "needs" find meaning. This paper argues that a notion of reflective communication, based on Jurgen Habermas's theory of "Discourse," provides an…

Electronic Manipulation Endangers Credibility.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schaub, Laura

1998-01-01

Argues that technological advances with digital photo enhancement computer programs raise serious questions concerning ethics in student publications, and that instructors and advisers have an obligation to teach students about the appropriate, ethical use of these programs. Outlines specific issues and reminds students that it is wrong to enhance…

5 CFR 2606.207 - Accounting of disclosures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Section 2606.207 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURES PRIVACY...) The Office of Government Ethics or the other agency concerned will maintain an accounting of disclosures in cases where records about the data subject are disclosed from OGE's system of records except...

An Aristotelian Model for Ethical Higher Education Marketing: The Role of Practical Wisdom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibbs, Paul

2011-01-01

This paper discusses the concerns for a distinct ethics for marketers of higher education. It argues that higher education retains a difference for both product and service and that unfettered marketing can influence and then manipulate the underlying edifying offering.

Husbands' involvement in abortion in Vietnam.

PubMed

Johansson, A; Nga, N T; Huy, T Q; Dat, D D; Holmgren, K

1998-12-01

This study analyzes the involvement of men in abortion in Vietnam, where induced abortion is legal and abortion rates are among the highest in the world. Twenty men were interviewed in 1996 about the role they played in their wives' abortions and about their feelings and ethical views concerning the procedure. The results showed that both husbands and wives considered the husband to be the main decisionmaker regarding family size, which included the decision to have an abortion, but that, in fact, some women had undergone an abortion without consulting their husbands in advance. Parents and in-laws were usually not consulted; the couples thought they might object to the decision on moral grounds. Respondents' ethical perspectives on abortion are discussed. When faced with an unwanted pregnancy, the husbands adopted an ethics of care and responsibility toward family and children, although some felt that abortion was immoral. The study highlights the importance of understanding husbands' perspectives on their responsibilities and rights in reproductive decisionmaking and their ethical and other concerns related to abortion.

Picturing neuroscience research through a human rights lens: Imaging first-episode schizophrenic treatment-naive individuals

PubMed Central

Eijkholt, Marleen; Anderson, James A.; Illes, Judy

2012-01-01

In this paper we examine imaging research involving first-episode schizophrenic treatment-naive individuals (FESTNIs) through a legal human rights lens; in particular, the lens of the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine Concerning Biomedical Research. We identify a number of ethical and legal hot spots highlighted by the Protocol, and offer a series of recommendations designed to ensure the human rights compatibility of this research. Subsequently, we argue that the lack of reporting on design elements related to ethical concerns frustrates commitments at the heart of the human rights approach, namely, transparency and openness to international scrutiny. To redress this problem, we introduce two norms for the first time: ethical transparency, and ethical reproducibility. When concluding, we offer a set of reporting guidelines designed to operationalize these norms in the context of imaging research involving FESTNIs. Though we will not make this case here, we believe that parallel reporting guidelines should be incorporated into other areas of research involving human subjects. PMID:22304987

Conjoined Twins: Philosophical Problems and Ethical Challenges

PubMed Central

Savulescu, Julian; Persson, Ingmar

2016-01-01

We examine the philosophical and ethical issues associated with conjoined twins and their surgical separation. In cases in which there is an extensive sharing of organs, but nevertheless two distinguishable functioning brains, there are a number of philosophical and ethical challenges. This is because such conjoined twins: 1. give rise to puzzles concerning our identity, about whether we are identical to something psychological or biological;2. force us to decide whether what matters from an ethical point of view is the biological life of our organisms or the existence of our consciousness or mind;3. raise questions concerning when, if ever, it is morally acceptable to sacrifice one of us to save another;4. force us to reflect on the conditions for ownership of organs and the justification of removal of organs for transplantation which causes the death of the donor;5. raise questions about who should take decisions about life-risking treatments when this cannot be decided by patients themselves. We examine and suggest answers to these questions. PMID:26671962

Ethical considerations and potential threats to validity for three methods commonly used to collect geographic information in studies among people who use drugs.

PubMed

Rudolph, Abby E; Bazzi, Angela Robertson; Fish, Sue

2016-10-01

Analyses with geographic data can be used to identify "hot spots" and "health service deserts", examine associations between proximity to services and their use, and link contextual factors with individual-level data to better understand how environmental factors influence behaviors. Technological advancements in methods for collecting this information can improve the accuracy of contextually-relevant information; however, they have outpaced the development of ethical standards and guidance, particularly for research involving populations engaging in illicit/stigmatized behaviors. Thematic analysis identified ethical considerations for collecting geographic data using different methods and the extent to which these concerns could influence study compliance and data validity. In-depth interviews with 15 Baltimore residents (6 recruited via flyers and 9 via peer-referral) reporting recent drug use explored comfort with and ethics of three methods for collecting geographic information: (1) surveys collecting self-reported addresses/cross-streets, (2) surveys using web-based maps to find/confirm locations, and (3) geographical momentary assessments (GMA), which collect spatiotemporally referenced behavioral data. Survey methods for collecting geographic data (i.e., addresses/cross-streets and web-based maps) were generally acceptable; however, participants raised confidentiality concerns regarding exact addresses for illicit/stigmatized behaviors. Concerns specific to GMA included burden of carrying/safeguarding phones and responding to survey prompts, confidentiality, discomfort with being tracked, and noncompliance with study procedures. Overall, many felt that confidentiality concerns could influence the accuracy of location information collected for sensitive behaviors and study compliance. Concerns raised by participants could result in differential study participation and/or study compliance and questionable accuracy/validity of location data for sensitive behaviors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Beyond the 'embryo question': human embryonic stem cell ethics in the context of biomaterial donation in the UK.

PubMed

Bahadur, G; Morrison, M; Machin, L

2010-12-01

Discussion about the ethics of human embryonic stem cell (ESC) research in the UK tends to be dominated by the divisive and potentially intractable issue of the moral status of the embryo. This can have the effect of silencing or marginalizing other concerns, especially in the context of public engagement with science in this field. One such area of potential public concern is the donation of oocytes and embryos to stem cell research. Contemporary research on the views of donors and potential donors about a wide range of biomaterials, from solid organs to gametes and bone marrow, is reviewed and used to illustrate the range and types of ethical concerns articulated by this important group of stakeholders. Attitudes to donation are found to vary according to the type of tissue being donated or collected, the purpose for which donation is being sought and the nature of the recipient of the donation. Pertinently, attitudes towards donating oocytes are found to differ in some respects from donation of embryos or fetal tissue. The implications of these findings for ensuring ethically robust informed consent and publicly acceptable sourcing of human biomaterials for stem cell research are then considered. Copyright © 2010 Reproductive Healthcare Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Energy decisions reframed as justice and ethical concerns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sovacool, Benjamin K.; Heffron, Raphael J.; McCauley, Darren; Goldthau, Andreas

2016-05-01

All too often, energy policy and technology discussions are limited to the domains of engineering and economics. Many energy consumers, and even analysts and policymakers, confront and frame energy and climate risks in a moral vacuum, rarely incorporating broader social justice concerns. Here, to remedy this gap, we investigate how concepts from justice and ethics can inform energy decision-making by reframing five energy problems — nuclear waste, involuntary resettlement, energy pollution, energy poverty and climate change — as pressing justice concerns. We conclude by proposing an energy justice framework centred on availability, affordability, due process, transparency and accountability, sustainability, equity and responsibility, which highlights the futurity, fairness and equity dimensions of energy production and use.

Preventing Mitochondrial Diseases: Embryo-Sparing Donor-Independent Options.

PubMed

Adashi, Eli Y; Cohen, I Glenn

2018-05-01

Mutant mitochondrial DNA gives rise to a broad range of incurable inborn maladies. Prevention may now be possible by replacing the mutation-carrying mitochondria of zygotes or oocytes at risk with donated unaffected counterparts. However, mitochondrial replacement therapy is being held back by theological, ethical, and safety concerns over the loss of human zygotes and the involvement of a donor. These concerns make it plain that the identification, validation, and regulatory adjudication of novel embryo-sparing donor-independent technologies remains a pressing imperative. This Opinion highlights three emerging embryo-sparing donor-independent options that stand to markedly allay theological, ethical, and safety concerns raised by mitochondrial replacement therapy. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ethical challenges in connection with the use of coercion: a focus group study of health care personnel in mental health care.

PubMed

Hem, Marit Helene; Molewijk, Bert; Pedersen, Reidar

2014-12-04

In recent years, the attention on the use of coercion in mental health care has increased. The use of coercion is common and controversial, and involves many complex ethical challenges. The research question in this study was: What kind of ethical challenges related to the use of coercion do health care practitioners face in their daily clinical work? We conducted seven focus group interviews in three mental health care institutions involving 65 multidisciplinary participants from different clinical fields. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. We analysed the material applying a 'bricolage' approach. Basic ethical principles for research ethics were followed. We received permission from the hospitals' administrations and all health care professionals who participated in the focus group interviews. Health care practitioners describe ethical dilemmas they face concerning formal, informal and perceived coercion. They provide a complex picture. They have to handle various ethical challenges, not seldom concerning questions of life and death. In every situation, the dignity of the patient is at stake when coercion is considered as morally right, as well as when coercion is not the preferred intervention. The work of the mental health professional is a complicated "moral enterprise". The ethical challenges deserve to be identified and handled in a systematic way. This is important for developing the quality of health care, and it is relevant to the current focus on reducing the use of coercion and increasing patient participation. Precise knowledge about ethical challenges is necessary for those who want to develop ethics support in mental health care. Better communication skills among health care professionals and improved therapeutic relationships seem to be vital. A systematic focus on ethical challenges when dealing with coercion is an important step forward in order to improve health care in the mental health field.

Ethical Issues in Using Children's Blood Lead Levels as a Remedial Action Objective

PubMed Central

Evans, Emily Lorraine

2011-01-01

The Environmental Protection Agency measures the success or failure of Superfund site remediation efforts against remedial action objectives (RAOs). RAOs are frequently based on environmental contaminant concentrations, but with lead exposure, blood lead levels from the population at risk are often used. Although childhood lead screening is an important public health tool, an RAO based on child blood lead levels raises ethical concerns: public health efforts that are more reactive than preventive, a blood lead standard (10 μg/dL) that may not be fully protective, the use of a measure whose validity and reliability may be easily compromised, and exacerbation of environmental injustice and systematic disadvantages. The example of Bunker Hill mine, Kellogg, Idaho, allowed an examination of these ethical concerns. PMID:21836120

Ethics and Epistemology in Big Data Research.

PubMed

Lipworth, Wendy; Mason, Paul H; Kerridge, Ian; Ioannidis, John P A

2017-12-01

Biomedical innovation and translation are increasingly emphasizing research using "big data." The hope is that big data methods will both speed up research and make its results more applicable to "real-world" patients and health services. While big data research has been embraced by scientists, politicians, industry, and the public, numerous ethical, organizational, and technical/methodological concerns have also been raised. With respect to technical and methodological concerns, there is a view that these will be resolved through sophisticated information technologies, predictive algorithms, and data analysis techniques. While such advances will likely go some way towards resolving technical and methodological issues, we believe that the epistemological issues raised by big data research have important ethical implications and raise questions about the very possibility of big data research achieving its goals.

Vulnerable Subjects: Why Does Informed Consent Matter?

PubMed

Goodwin, Michele

2016-09-01

This special issue of the Journal Law, Medicine & Ethics takes up the concern of informed consent, particularly in times of controversy. The dominant moral dilemmas that frame traditional bioethical concerns address medical experimentation on vulnerable subjects; physicians assisting their patients in suicide or euthanasia; scarce resource allocation and medical futility; human trials to develop drugs; organ and tissue donation; cloning; xenotransplantation; abortion; human enhancement; mandatory vaccination; and much more. The term "bioethics" provides a lens, language, and guideposts to the study of medical ethics. It is worth noting, however, that medical experimentation is neither new nor exclusive to one country. Authors in this issue address thorny subjects that span borders and patients: from matters dealing with children and vaccination to the language and perception of consent. © 2016 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics.

Ethical Considerations and Planetary Protection for Future Space Exploration - Starting with the Basics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Race, Margaret

2012-07-01

As COSPAR scientists deliberate what types of frameworks and policy approaches may be applicable to future activities by various sectors in space exploration, it also needs to consider the challenging question of what ethical values and foundations should be used in dealing with life, objects and activities in outer space. A 2010 COSPAR Workshop Report on Ethical Considerations for Planetary Protection in Space Exploration recommended that it is appropriate to maintain the existing PP policy aimed at scientific concerns even as we begin to explore various practical approaches to future contamination avoidance policies. It is also appropriate to examine in parallel the ethical considerations applicable to potential indigenous extraterrestrial life, non-living extraterrestrial features and environments, and planned uses and activities involving diverse life from Earth. Since numerous sectors have begun to propose activities raising varied ethical concerns (e.g., protection and management on the moon, strip mining, space synthetic biology, space code of conduct, and commercial space transport), it is timely to initiate serious international discussions about the appropriate ethical foundations and questions applicable to future space exploration. Plans are underway for convening interdisciplinary work groups to explore and deliberate on the values (e.g., intrinsic and instrumental) and ethical foundations that are appropriate for use in deliberations involving potential indigenous extraterrestrial life and the different classes of target objects and environments in our solar system. More than ever, information on bioethics, environmental ethics and geoethics will provide helpful guidance and foundational approaches of relevance to future policy deliberations that seek to go beyond science protection per se.

Interviewing with or without the partner present?--an underexposed dilemma between ethics and methodology in nursing research.

PubMed

Norlyk, Annelise; Haahr, Anita; Hall, Elisabeth

2016-04-01

To discuss ethical and methodological challenges related to in-depth interviews with patients and partners when interviewed together or separately. Increased interest in exploring illness phenomena from both patients' and partners' perspectives has emerged. The decision about how to collect data is challenging. Patients and partners can be interviewed separately or together; in both scenarios researchers face complex questions of methodology and ethics. This paper contributes to the ongoing debate on individual or joint interviewing and the effect of absence/presence of the partner on data collection. Discussion paper that draws on data from three phenomenological studies. Referring to three cases from our phenomenological studies, we discuss the different types of ethical and methodological dilemmas faced when undertaking joint and separate interviews with couples. Furthermore, we discuss how the unexpected presence of the partner potentially influences the data gathered from the patient. The cases demonstrate the interrelatedness of ethics and methodology in studies based on in-depth interviews with couples. Nurse researchers may be caught up in a dilemma between ethical concerns and methodological considerations. We argue that the presence of the partner during an interview session might influence the data and favour expressions of shared rather than individual experiences of the phenomenon studied. Furthermore, we argue that ethical concerns must be given higher priority than methodology when interviewing couples. An increased awareness of the tension between ethical and methodological challenges in joint or individual interviewing with patients and partners is necessary, as this issue is underexposed. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Identifying veterinary students' capacity for moral behavior concerning animal ethics issues.

PubMed

Verrinder, Joy M; Phillips, Clive J C

2014-01-01

Veterinarians face unique animal ethics challenges as practitioners and policy advisors to government and industry. Changing societal attitudes, cultural diversity, and the often conflicting needs and interests of patients and clients contribute to moral distress. Yet little has been done to identify veterinarians' capacity to address these animal ethics issues. In this study, first-year and final-year veterinary students in an Australian university were surveyed to explore moral sensitivity, moral motivation, and moral character and their relationship with moral reasoning. The majority of students were concerned about animal ethics issues and had experienced moral distress in relation to the treatment of animals. Most believed that veterinarians should address the wider social issues of animal protection and that veterinary medicine should require a commitment to animals' interests over owners'/caregivers' interests. There was less agreement that the veterinary profession was sufficiently involved in addressing animal ethics issues. The principal motivators for studying veterinary medicine were, in declining importance, enjoyment in working with animals, helping sick and injured animals, and improving the way animals are treated. However, most students had taken little or no action to address animal ethics issues. These results suggest that both first- and fifth-year veterinary students are sensitive to animal ethics issues and are motivated to prioritize the interests of animals but have little experience in taking action to address these issues. Further research is needed to determine ways to identify and assess these moral behavior components in veterinary education to develop veterinarians' capacity to address animal ethics issues.

[Implementation of ethics services. Opportunities and obstacles].

PubMed

Salomon, F

2015-04-01

Medical success in the last century has caused situations, in which the question arises whether therapy is right. In the same time autonomy has become more and more important. Furthermore, human beings want to decide on health, life and dying. Experience of limitations of life and desire of autonomy in healthcare lead to ethical questions. Different ethical services were established to deal with and to solve problems. Ethics committees with multiprofessional members and different qualifications will give guidance in critical decision making. Ethics services do not receive responsibility for the decision, but helps those who are responsible by structured reflection, estimation of values and including all concerned. Implementing ethics services also encounters obstructions and scepticism. Time, responsibility for therapy and criticism of customs and structures must be considered to perpetuate success. Instructions for implementing ethics services are presented.

Ethical Behaviours of Student Teachers' Mentors in Forced Same-Gender and Cross-Gender Matches in a Malawian Initial Primary Teacher Education Programme: Implications for Mentor Selection and Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mwanza, Alnord L. D.; Moyo, George; Maphosa, Cosmas

2017-01-01

The popularity of assigned or forced same-gender and cross-gender matches between school mentors and student teachers has heightened concerns regarding the ethical and/or unethical behaviours of mentors. In this article the authors present the findings of a cross-sectional survey study on the prevalence of ethical and/or unethical behaviours of…

Access to assisted reproductive technologies in France: the emergence of the patients' voice.

PubMed

Fournier, Véronique; Berthiau, Denis; d'Haussy, Julie; Bataille, Philippe

2013-02-01

Is there any ethical justification for limiting the reproductive autonomy and not make assisted reproductive technologies available to certain prospective parents? We present and discuss the results of an interdisciplinary clinical ethics study concerning access to assisted reproductive technologies (ART) in situations which are considered as ethically problematic in France (overage or sick parents, surrogate motherhood). The study focused on the arguments that people in these situations put forward when requesting access to ART. It shows that requester's arguments are based on sound ethical values, and that their legitimacy is at least as strong as that of those used by doctors to question access to ART. Results reveal that the three implicit normative arguments that founded the law in 1994, which are still in force after the bioethics law revision in July 2011-the welfare of the child, the illegitimacy of a "right to a child," and the defense of the so called "social order"-are challenged on several grounds by requesters as reasons for limiting their reproductive autonomy. Although these results are limited to exceptional situations, they are of special interest insofar as they give voice to the requesters' own ethical concerns in the ongoing political debate over access to ART.

Uncertainty and equipoise: at interplay between epistemology, decision making and ethics.

PubMed

Djulbegovic, Benjamin

2011-10-01

In recent years, various authors have proposed that the concept of equipoise be abandoned because it conflates the practice of clinical care with clinical research. At the same time, the equipoise opponents acknowledge the necessity of clinical research if there are unresolved uncertainties about the effects of proposed healthcare interventions. As equipoise represents just 1 measure of uncertainty, proposals to abandon equipoise while maintaining a requirement for addressing uncertainties are contradictory and ultimately not valid. As acknowledgment and articulation of uncertainties represent key scientific and moral requirements for human experimentation, the concept of equipoise remains the most useful framework to link the theory of human experimentation with the theory of rational choice. In this article, I show how uncertainty (equipoise) is at the intersection between epistemology, decision making and ethics of clinical research. In particular, I show how our formulation of responses to uncertainties of hoped-for benefits and unknown harms of testing is a function of the way humans cognitively process information. This approach is based on the view that considerations of ethics and rationality cannot be separated. I analyze the response to uncertainties as it relates to the dual-processing theory, which postulates that rational approach to (clinical research) decision making depends both on analytical, deliberative processes embodied in scientific method (system II), and good human intuition (system I). Ultimately, our choices can only become wiser if we understand a close and intertwined relationship between irreducible uncertainty, inevitable errors and unavoidable injustice.

Uncertainty and Equipoise: At Interplay Between Epistemology, Decision-Making and Ethics

PubMed Central

Djulbegovic, Benjamin

2011-01-01

In recent years, various authors have proposed that the concept of equipoise be abandoned since it conflates the practice of clinical care with clinical research. At the same time, the equipoise opponents acknowledge the necessity of clinical research if there are unresolved uncertainties about the effects of proposed healthcare interventions. Since equipoise represents just one measure of uncertainty, proposals to abandon equipoise while maintaining a requirement for addressing uncertainties are contradictory and ultimately not valid. As acknowledgment and articulation of uncertainties represent key scientific and moral requirements for human experimentation, the concept of equipoise remains the most useful framework to link the theory of human experimentation with the theory of rational choice. In this paper, I show how uncertainty (equipoise) is at the intersection between epistemology, decision-making and ethics of clinical research. In particular, I show how our formulation of responses to uncertainties of hoped-for benefits and unknown harms of testing is a function of the way humans cognitively process information. This approach is based on the view that considerations of ethics and rationality cannot be separated. I analyze the response to uncertainties as it relates to the dual-processing theory, which postulates that rational approach to (clinical research) decision-making depends both on analytical, deliberative processes embodied in scientific method (system II) and “good” human intuition (system I). Ultimately, our choices can only become wiser if we understand a close and intertwined relationship between irreducible uncertainty, inevitable errors, and unavoidable injustice. PMID:21817885

48 CFR 2903.101-1 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Section 2903.101-1 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF LABOR GENERAL IMPROPER BUSINESS... their application to DOL personnel are discussed in the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of... questions concerning them must be referred to an Agency Ethics Official in the Office of the Solicitor. In...

76 FR 70815 - Privacy Act of 1974, as Amended

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-15

...; the second are those that address ethical or conflict concerns that may arise during these enforcement... resources procurement, and tax-exempt and government entities. Treasury/IRS 90.003--Chief Counsel Litigation... or inter-agency administrative offset. (22) Disclose information to the Office of Government Ethics...

Implementation of Ethical Higher Education Marketing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibbs, Paul; Murphy, Patrick

2009-01-01

With consumerism changing students to customers and teachers to service providers, ever more vulnerable and naive students enroll and, instead of collaboration between institutions, there is competition. There has been a call in the literature to face these challenges through ethical leadership in universities. Specifically, concern has been…

Social Justice and Education as Discursive Initiation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stojanov, Krassimir

2016-01-01

In this essay Krassimir Stojanov attempts first to reconstruct the "heart" of Jürgen Habermas's discourse ethics, namely the so-called "principle of universalization" of ethical norms. This principle grounds Habermas's proceduralist account of social justice via equal access of all concerned to the practices of deliberative…

Students' Ethics Ratings of Demonstrations in Introductory Psychology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harcum, E. Rae; Friedman, Herbert

1991-01-01

Reports results of a study of introductory psychology students' opinions of whether 10 classroom demonstrations would offend their sense of dignity or propriety. Discusses demonstrations of stages of death and dying, suggestibility, obedience to authority, and impressionability. Concludes that greater concern about ethical issues in classroom…

Troubling the Politics of Engagement, Ethics, and Educational Research: Reframing Our Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kumashiro, Kevin K.

2014-01-01

This reflective essay draws on the personal experiences of the author in negotiating various tensions of engaged research and raises several troubling questions about research with immigrant populations, particularly concerning engagement, ethics, and educational contexts. Three "lenses" (or, three theoretical framings) serve as…

Ethical Challenges Regarding Globalization of Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olivier, Bert

2011-01-01

This paper places the question of ethical challenges in relation to the process of globalization concerning international education and the mobility of international students worldwide. It focuses on five areas of justice, namely, social and political justice, administrative justice, distributive justice, cultural justice and ecological justice.…

Ethical Issues in International Communication: The Contribution of Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kent, Kurt E. M.

Two approaches to communication research, diffusion theory (individual-level analysis) and empathy approach (action implications through society) raise ethical concerns. The popularity of the approaches is related to power: those, such as government agencies, who provide funding often reflect self-interest in project selection. Some ethical…

Freshman Ethics Course Influences Students' Basic Beliefs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Appleton, James R.; Wong, Frank T.

1989-01-01

A freshman class called "Educational Odysseys" that bound together four themes and the concern for ethical living is described. The four themes included: the problem of identity; responses to good and evil; the search for success and surviving failure; and cultural diversity and a liberal education. (MLW)

Moral-Ethical Leadership as Everyday Practice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miron, Louis; Bogotch, Ira; Biesta, Gert

This paper presents an alternative view of moral-educational leadership, one that is based on a postmodern perspective centered on concern for "others." It emphasizes the importance of including students' voices when constructing moral practices and contrasts modern approaches to those methods that build moral-ethical schools with…

Spreading disease: a controversy concerning the metaphysics of disease.

PubMed

D'Amico, R

1998-01-01

This article concerns the metaphysics of disease. Is disease a fixed feature of the world or a social value or preference? I argue that disease is not a value-laden concept and thus debates concerning it differ fundamentally from debates concerning health, harm, or suffering where evaluative judgements are central. I show how the so-called social constructionist view of disease has been motivated both by ethical concerns with medical practices and general theoretical doubts about scientific naturalism. If I can show that ethical concerns about medical treatment can be answered without adopting social constructionism, that leaves only the broader theoretical question of naturalism. I cannot completely answer those theoretical doubts, but I show that the theoretical motivation is less convincing when it is separated from the moral challenge often accompanying it. I conclude that a convincing defense of the non-naturalistic conception of disease is rarely attempted and proves more difficult and counter-intuitive than its proponents assume.

Importance of a midterm time horizon for addressing ethical issues integral to nanobiotechnology.

PubMed

Khushf, George

2007-01-01

There is a consensus emerging on the importance of upstream ethical engagement in nanobiotechnology. Such a preventive ethic would anticipate downstream concerns that might arise and mitigate them as part of the research and development process. However, there is an unappreciated tension between the time horizon of upstream ethics and that assumed by most bioethical research. Current standards of high-quality research on ethical issues biases the research in favor of near-term, science-based, results-oriented work. A near-term focus would miss many of the important ethical issues integral to nanobiotechnology and undermine the goals integral to upstream ethical engagement. However, if we move to a far-term time horizon, the ethical debates tend to get too speculative and are no longer disciplined by existing research trajectories. This paper addresses the link between the midterm time horizon necessary for upstream ethics and the form, content, and style of ethical reflection. New paradigm cases, standards, and criteria will be needed for high-quality upstream ethics work in the area of nanobiotechnology.

The Ethics of Biosafety Considerations in Gain-of-Function Research Resulting in the Creation of Potential Pandemic Pathogens

PubMed Central

Lipsitch, Marc; Levinson, Meira

2015-01-01

This paper proposes an ethical framework for evaluating biosafety risks of gain-of-function (GOF) experiments that create novel strains of influenza expected to be virulent and transmissible in humans, so-called potential pandemic pathogens (PPP). Such research raises ethical concerns because of the risk that accidental release from a laboratory could lead to extensive or even global spread of a virulent pathogen. Biomedical research ethics has focused largely on human subjects research, while biosafety concerns about accidental infections, seen largely as a problem of occupational health, have been ignored. GOF/PPP research is an example of a small but important class of research where biosafety risks threaten public health, well beyond the small number of persons conducting the research. We argue that bioethical principles that ordinarily apply only to human subjects research should also apply to research that threatens public health, even if, as in GOF/PPP studies, the research involves no human subjects. Specifically we highlight the Nuremberg Code’s requirements of “fruitful results for the good of society, unprocurable by other methods,” and proportionality of risk and humanitarian benefit, as broad ethical principles that recur in later documents on research ethics and should also apply to certain types of research not involving human subjects. We address several potential objections to this view, and conclude with recommendations for bringing these ethical considerations into policy development. PMID:26320212

Ways of thinking about and teaching ethical problem solving: microethics and macroethics in engineering.

PubMed

Herkert, Joseph R

2005-07-01

Engineering ethics entails three frames of reference: individual, professional, and social. "Microethics" considers individuals and internal relations of the engineering profession; "macroethics" applies to the collective social responsibility of the profession and to societal decisions about technology. Most research and teaching in engineering ethics, including online resources, has had a "micro" focus. Mechanisms for incorporating macroethical perspectives include: integrating engineering ethics and science, technology and society (STS); closer integration of engineering ethics and computer ethics; and consideration of the influence of professional engineering societies and corporate social responsibility programs on ethical engineering practice. Integrating macroethical issues and concerns in engineering ethics involves broadening the context of ethical problem solving. This in turn implies: developing courses emphasizing both micro and macro perspectives, providing faculty development that includes training in both STS and practical ethics; and revision of curriculum materials, including online resources. Multidisciplinary collaboration is recommended 1) to create online case studies emphasizing ethical decision making in individual, professional, and societal contexts; 2) to leverage existing online computer ethics resources with relevance to engineering education and practice; and 3) to create transparent linkages between public policy positions advocated by professional societies and codes of ethics.

Ethical issues for hospice volunteers.

PubMed

Berry, Patricia; Planalp, Sally

Health care professionals usually receive professional education in ethics, but the half million hospice volunteers in the United States may receive only brief training that is limited to confidentiality and the volunteer role. The purpose of this study was to explore ethical issues hospice volunteers confront in their work. Interviews with 39 hospice volunteers were conducted, audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using qualitative methods. Prominent themes were dilemmas about gifts, patient care and family concerns, issues related to volunteer roles and boundaries, and issues surrounding suicide and hastening death. Suggestions for training include discussions of ethics after initial training once volunteers had confronted ethical issues, with special emphasis on strategies for negotiating their uneasy role positioned between health care professional and friend.

Barriers to innovation: nurses' risk appraisal in using a new ethics screening and early intervention tool.

PubMed

Pavlish, Carol L; Hellyer, Joan Henriksen; Brown-Saltzman, Katherine; Miers, Anne G; Squire, Karina

2013-01-01

We developed and assessed feasibility of an Ethics Screening and Early Intervention Tool that identifies at-risk clinical situations and prompts early actions to mitigate conflict and moral distress. Despite intensive care unit and oncology nurses' reports of tool benefits, they noted some risk to themselves when initiating follow-up actions. The riskiest actions were discussing ethical concerns with physicians, calling for ethics consultation, and initiating patient conversations. When discussing why initiating action was risky, participants revealed themes such as "being the troublemaker" and "questioning myself." To improve patient care and teamwork, all members of the health care team need to feel safe in raising ethics-related questions.

Ethical and effective ethnographic research methods: a case study with afghan refugees in California.

PubMed

Smith, Valerie J

2009-09-01

SCHOLARLY STUDIES OF REFUGEES and other vulnerable populations carry special ethical concerns. In this invited case study of Afghan refugees in Fremont, California, I provide illustrations and recommendations of ethical research methods with refugees. I also compare and contrast some ethical issues in the U.S. with issues in Thailand. The qualitative, ethnographic methods I report here demonstrate how to conduct culturally sensitive investigations by ethically approaching gatekeepers and other community members to preserve autonomy, ensure confidentiality, build trust, and improve the accuracy of interpretations and results. Six groups at risk for being marginalized in multiple ways within refugee populations are described. Ten best practices are recommended for ethically acquiring an in-depth understanding of the refugees, their community, and appropriate research methods.

Mega-sized concerns from the nano-sized world: the intersection of nano- and environmental ethics.

PubMed

Attia, Peter

2013-09-01

As rapid advances in nanotechnology are made, we must set guidelines to balance the interests of both human beneficiaries and the environment by combining nanoethics and environmental ethics. In this paper, I reject Leopoldian holism as a practical environmental ethic with which to gauge nanotechnologies because, as a nonanthropocentric ethic, it does not value the humans who will actually use the ethic. Weak anthropocentrism is suggested as a reasonable alternative to ethics without a substantial human interest, as it treats nonhuman interests as human interests. I also establish the precautionary principle as a useful situational guideline for decision makers. Finally, I examine existing and potential applications of nanotechnology, including water purification, agriculture, mining, energy, and pollutant removal, from the perspective of weak anthropocentrism using the precautionary principle.

The ethics of patenting human embryonic stem cells.

PubMed

Chapman, Audrey R

2009-09-01

Just as human embryonic stem cell research has generated controversy about the uses of human embryos for research and therapeutic applications, human embryonic stem cell patents raise fundamental ethical issues. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted foundational patents, including a composition of matter (or product) patent to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the University of Wisconsin-Madison's intellectual property office. In contrast, the European Patent Office rejected the same WARF patent application for ethical reasons. This article assesses the appropriateness of these patents placing the discussion in the context of the deontological and consequentialist ethical issues related to human embryonic stem cell patenting. It advocates for a patent system that explicitly takes ethical factors into account and explores options for new types of intellectual property arrangements consistent with ethical concerns.

The place for emotions in professional carers' thinking: reflections on two cases.

PubMed

Koren, E

2010-12-01

How do carers know what is right for their patient? What can they do further to relying on the two pillars of knowledge and ethics? Knowledge foregrounds rational decision-making based on scientific evidence. It allows cost-benefit rationalization and the choice of the best feasible objective. The steady advance of medical science drives responsible carers to keep their knowledge and skills up-to-date. Bioethics grants primary attention to the prevention of causing harm in general, to pursuant of patients' subjective wellbeing and to allow the latter enjoy their autonomy and to guarantee them the sense of justice. There are, however, cases where these values collide and any care decision violates one principle or another. How are carers expected to act then? This article concerns the choices made by carers, as presented and discussed in two cases. These cases deal with a clash between two principles: parenthood vs. fertility, religious rite vs. social affiliation. This class has generated an ethical dilemma. In each case carers try to justify their choices by expert knowledge and other ethical values, but later reflection reveals that the predominant element in 'solving' these dilemmas was "emotions." Professional training submits that: 'Set aside feelings in order to keep your thinking 'straight.' However, reality proves this simply infeasible. The more complex the medical-ethical situation, it is more likely that "emotions" take over. We have no choice as responsible carers but to allow our emotions the status of a factor of influence in their own right. Nowadays, a basic medical training for doctors and nurses offers an integrated body of knowledge and therapeutic skills. In addition, trainees are introduced to bioethics, supposedly sufficient to guide their future steps in their chosen profession. But how does this training in fact shape their future ethical conduct, if at all? How does it affect their ability to maintain ethical responsibility throughout therapeutic interactions? Perhaps there are other factors which govern the individual's conduct and his/her ethical responsibility? Simulation exercises were conducted, designed to induce healthcare professionals to reflect on the ethics of their own decision-making. The results demonstrated that therapeutic skills and familiarity with bioethical principles are not the sole factors governing the individual's ethical conduct. It turns out that emotions and feelings play a key part; this at once raises the question as to whether a medical training for doctors and nurses, in its current format, concerns itself with emotions and with how emotions shape a therapeutic personality. If not, then our training designers have food for thought. How can such training make trainees more aware of the power of their emotions? And, what are the ramifications on daily practice concerning ethical responsibility? Another question concerns the possible proper methods for mastering the theoretical materials and the practical techniques that promote emotional self-development?

The Ethics of Big Data: Current and Foreseeable Issues in Biomedical Contexts.

PubMed

Mittelstadt, Brent Daniel; Floridi, Luciano

2016-04-01

The capacity to collect and analyse data is growing exponentially. Referred to as 'Big Data', this scientific, social and technological trend has helped create destabilising amounts of information, which can challenge accepted social and ethical norms. Big Data remains a fuzzy idea, emerging across social, scientific, and business contexts sometimes seemingly related only by the gigantic size of the datasets being considered. As is often the case with the cutting edge of scientific and technological progress, understanding of the ethical implications of Big Data lags behind. In order to bridge such a gap, this article systematically and comprehensively analyses academic literature concerning the ethical implications of Big Data, providing a watershed for future ethical investigations and regulations. Particular attention is paid to biomedical Big Data due to the inherent sensitivity of medical information. By means of a meta-analysis of the literature, a thematic narrative is provided to guide ethicists, data scientists, regulators and other stakeholders through what is already known or hypothesised about the ethical risks of this emerging and innovative phenomenon. Five key areas of concern are identified: (1) informed consent, (2) privacy (including anonymisation and data protection), (3) ownership, (4) epistemology and objectivity, and (5) 'Big Data Divides' created between those who have or lack the necessary resources to analyse increasingly large datasets. Critical gaps in the treatment of these themes are identified with suggestions for future research. Six additional areas of concern are then suggested which, although related have not yet attracted extensive debate in the existing literature. It is argued that they will require much closer scrutiny in the immediate future: (6) the dangers of ignoring group-level ethical harms; (7) the importance of epistemology in assessing the ethics of Big Data; (8) the changing nature of fiduciary relationships that become increasingly data saturated; (9) the need to distinguish between 'academic' and 'commercial' Big Data practices in terms of potential harm to data subjects; (10) future problems with ownership of intellectual property generated from analysis of aggregated datasets; and (11) the difficulty of providing meaningful access rights to individual data subjects that lack necessary resources. Considered together, these eleven themes provide a thorough critical framework to guide ethical assessment and governance of emerging Big Data practices.

Theoretical Models and Operational Frameworks in Public Health Ethics

PubMed Central

Petrini, Carlo

2010-01-01

The article is divided into three sections: (i) an overview of the main ethical models in public health (theoretical foundations); (ii) a summary of several published frameworks for public health ethics (practical frameworks); and (iii) a few general remarks. Rather than maintaining the superiority of one position over the others, the main aim of the article is to summarize the basic approaches proposed thus far concerning the development of public health ethics by describing and comparing the various ideas in the literature. With this in mind, an extensive list of references is provided. PMID:20195441

Inclusion of policies on ethical standards in animal experiments in biomedical science journals.

PubMed

Rands, Sean A

2011-11-01

Most published biomedical research involving animal models is evaluated carefully to ensure that appropriate ethical standards are met. In the current study, 500 journals randomly selected from MedLine were assessed for whether they presented animal research. Of the 138 journals that did, the instructions to authors of 85 (61.6%) included a requirement for author assurance of adherence to ethical standards during experiments involving animals. In comparison to a wider range of biologic journals, biomedical science journals were more likely to have some sort of ethical policy concerning the reporting and presentation of animal experiments.

A Decade of e-Cigarettes: Limited Research & Unresolved Safety Concerns

PubMed Central

Kaisar, Mohammad Abul; Prasad, Shikha; Liles, Tylor; Cucullo, Luca

2016-01-01

It is well known that tobacco consumption is a leading cause of preventable deaths worldwide and has been linked to major diseases ranging from cancer to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, atherosclerosis, stroke and a host of neurological/neurodegenerative disorders. In the past decade a number of alternative vaping products have hit the market, rapidly gaining consumers especially among the younger population. Electronic nicotine delivery systems or e-cigarettes have become the sought-after product due to the belief that they are much safer than traditional cigarettes. However, inadequate research and lack of regulatory guidelines for both the manufacturing process and the content of the vaping solution of the e-cigarette has become a major concern. Highly debated and unresolved questions such as whether e-cigarettes may help smokers quit and whether e-cigarettes will promote the use of nicotine among non-smokers add to the confusion of the safety of e-cigarettes. In this review article, we summarize the current understanding (and lack thereof) of the potential health impacts of e-cigarettes. We will also highlight the most recent studies (in vivo/in vitro) which seem to conflict with the broad safety claims put forward by the manufacturers. Finally, we provide potential solutions to overcome the research gap of the short and long-term health impact of e-cigarettes. PMID:27477296

Wilderness Therapy: Ethical Considerations for Mental Health Professionals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Becker, Stephen P.

2010-01-01

Wilderness therapy is a growing treatment modality for adolescents presenting with a variety of clinical concerns, and wilderness therapy clinicians and referring mental health professionals must carefully consider the ethical issues that are unique to this modality. Following an overview of wilderness therapy as a mental health treatment,…

The Ethical Issues of Privacy, Confidentiality and Privileged Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nunnelly, Diane T.

School psychologists and other educators should be concerned about the issues of confidentiality, privacy and privileged communication in regard to school records such as psychological reports and intelligence test scores. Confidentiality relates to matters of professional ethics, privileged communication refers to legal rights, and privacy is a…

Ethical Responsibilities in Training Marriage and Family Counselors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levitt, Dana Heller

2004-01-01

Graduate programs in marriage and family counseling must adhere to ethical codes and standards for training students. A question arises concerning the amount of specialized training that should be included within the larger counselor education discipline. This article addresses the standards for training and competence as set forth by the Council…

Counselors' Role in Preventing Abuse of Older Adults: Clinical, Ethical, and Legal Considerations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forman, Julia M.; McBride, Rebecca G.

2010-01-01

Mistreatment of older adults is commonplace. These individuals are subjected to abuse, financial exploitation, and neglect. The authors present an overview of the literature concerning mistreatment, with an emphasis on clinical, ethical, and legal considerations. Methods are proposed for prevention, including counselor education, advocacy, and…

17 CFR 200.735-11 - Statement of employment and financial interests.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... EXCHANGE COMMISSION ORGANIZATION; CONDUCT AND ETHICS; AND INFORMATION AND REQUESTS Regulation Concerning... the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, Pub. L. 95-521. Members and such employees need not also file... Fellowship Programs. (iii) All employees engaged in any aspect of Government contracting or procurement...

78 FR 45198 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Submission for OMB Review; Anti-Kickback Procedures

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-26

... INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Cecelia L. Davis, Procurement Analyst, Office of Governmentwide Acquisition Policy..., Contractor Business Ethics Compliance Program and Disclosure Requirements. Response: It is important to... business. In the normal course of business, a company that is concerned about ethical behavior will take...

Making an Ethical Decision: A Utilitarian Strategy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Price, Sandra J.

1992-01-01

By identifying and weighing the effects of an act on each constituency, a matrix based on John Stuart Mill's theories of utilitarianism illuminates and helps resolve complex ethical dilemmas. Application of the approach is illustrated with a simulated case study concerning the issue of reputation in a small private college. (Author/MSE)

[Ethical issues involved in communicating to a parent of a child's disability].

PubMed

de Broca, Alain

2011-01-01

Ethics are an ever-present concern in medicine, and never more so than when it comes to announcing a child's disability. The healthcare professional must adopt an appropriate and respectful attitude in order to ensure that information that will change several lives is properly understood.

Efforts To Modify Sexual Orientation: A Review of Outcome Literature and Ethical Issues.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Throckmorton, Warren

1998-01-01

Reviews successful efforts to modify patterns of sexual arousal from psychoanalytical, behavioral, cognitive, group, and religious perspectives. Presents an ethical analysis of the American Counseling Association's resolution expressing concerns about conversion therapy. Concludes that efforts to assist homosexuals who wish to modify their…

Conversion Therapy: Ethical Considerations in Family Counseling.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steigerwald, Fran; Janson, Gregory R.

2003-01-01

Explores the ethical and practical considerations of conversion therapy when counseling families and individuals within families with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transsexual concerns. Emphasis is placed on the need for counselors to assess personal biases in the area of working with sexual minorities. Presents a reflective exercise and case study…

Early Childhood Special Educators and the Hospital Ethics Committee.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lowenthal, Barbara

1989-01-01

The paper discusses issues of concern to early childhood special educators serving on hospital ethics committees to assist families with seriously ill and handicapped infants in neonatal intensive care units. Issues include infant euthanasia and the right to life, child abuse legislation, and possible effects on families. (Author/JDD)

Ethical Dilemmas in Qualitative Research Methodology: Researcher's Reflections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ngozwana, Nomazulu

2018-01-01

This article examines the ethical dilemmas that are specific to qualitative research methodology. These dilemmas concern the issues of withdrawal from the study, anonymity and confidentiality, which are discussed. Each aspect examines how it was dealt with using the researcher's reflections. The research was positioned within an interpretive…

Internet Ethics for Users and Providers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ben-Jacob, Marion G.

2017-01-01

This article deliberates concepts of Internet ethics from the perspectives of user and providers. It discusses concerns of the users from different disciplines. It addresses issues and corresponding regulations of service providers. It considers matters of privacy. The culmination is an exercise for students that incorporates usage of the Internet…

Identification of the Gifted Redefined with Ethics and Equity in Mind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCluskey, Ken W.

2017-01-01

Throughout his focus article, Robert Sternberg discusses the theoretical underpinnings and rationale behind his emerging Active Concerned Citizenship and Ethical Leadership (ACCEL) model. In the process, he raises several critically important issues, including the misuse of IQ testing as the major method for identifying gifted students, the need…

Exploring the Ethical Implications of MOOCs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marshall, Stephen

2014-01-01

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) represent a potentially exciting opportunity to use technology to realise many of the long-promised benefits of universal higher education. While there are many positive aspects to the MOOCs on offer and in development, there are also significant ethical concerns arising from various initiatives. These include…

Half a Tithe for Ethics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larson, Edward J.

1993-01-01

Two ethical concerns about the Human Genome Project, which aims to sequence all the DNA of a human cell, are discussed: (1) use of germ-line gene therapy to treat perceived hereditary defects or enhance supposed genetic attributes, and (2) personal privacy and potential discrimination arising from possession of individual genetic information. (MSE)

Academic Dishonesty: Perceptions of Business Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rakovski, Carter C.; Levy, Elliott S.

2007-01-01

Dishonest behavior at the college level, particularly by business students, is an ethical issue of concern to the academic and business communities. Corporate scandals and federal legislation have brought additional attention to the ethical behavior of business leaders and the role of higher education in training the leaders of tomorrow. If…

Educating Ethical Designers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haug, Anders

2017-01-01

In recent years, there has been an increased focus on bringing sustainability into design education. The focus of such education, however, mainly concerns providing design students with the knowledge and skills needed to create sustainable design, which, so this paper argues, may not be enough. Thus, with a basis in Aristotelian virtue ethics,…

Ethical Issues and Best Practice Considerations for Internet Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colvin, Jan; Lanigan, Jane

2005-01-01

With rapidly increasing public use of the Internet and advances in Web technologies, family and consumer sciences researchers have the opportunity to conduct Internet-based research. However, online research raises critical ethical issues concerning human subjects that have an impact on research practices. This article provides a review of the…

Good Conversations: An Enhanced Model to Teach Business Ethics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomson, Grace S.

2011-01-01

Business practices are a constant matter of discussion by ethical theorists concerned with the conflicts between profitability and justice (Cherry, Lee, & Chien, 2003). Business decisions are complex and hence likely to be compromised by low-quality or questionable strategies (Carpenter & Sanders, 2008). The line between misbehavior and…

Implementation of a Process for the Design of an Episodic Ethics Assessment Instrument.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DuFrene, Debbie D.; And Others

1993-01-01

Responses from 52 of 174 business faculty and 61 of 203 business practitioners rated important ethical concerns on a Kohlberg-influenced scale. A high degree of consistency between the two samples was found. Environmental, employment, and corporate/individual integrity issues ranked highest. (SK)

Ethical Decision Making: What Is Currently the Case?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Welfel, Elizabeth Reynolds; Lipsitz, Neal E.

This paper reviews the current empirical literature on counselor ethics, suggesting that it offers little guidance in understanding why unethical behavior occurs or how to remedy such behavior. The research literature is classified according to four basic areas of concern: (1) documenting the incidence of unethical practice; (2) identifying the…

The Schooling of Ethics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Brian V.

2014-01-01

Growing concern about a shrinking cultural consensus on values, coupled with religious pluralisation and the realisation that schooling is not, and cannot be, value-neutral, have led to proposals to teach ethics in schools, interpreted as a contribution of the discipline of philosophy to the common curriculum. To the extent that this approach is…

Ethical Leaders Resist: A Feminist Response to ACCEL

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brimager, Ashley

2017-01-01

This response to Sternberg's ACCEL (Active Concerned Citizenship and Ethical Leadership) model aims to provide a feminist perspective on the rationale and relevance of the model in mitigating harmful patriarchal gender expectations. Additionally, this response investigates potential barriers to the implementation of ACCEL as a model for gifted…

Values, Ethics and Teacher Education: A Perspective from Pakistan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zia, Rukhsana

2007-01-01

Values and ethics are automatically incorporated into any teaching/learning environment or endeavour, whether or not they are consciously stated objectives. The focus on "quality of education" has sharpened as people have become concerned about a perceived rise in materialism as standards of living have improved; materialistic ambitions…

A Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to Assess and Improve the Effectiveness of Post-Deployment Screening for Mental Illness

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

Committee (Ref 187/GEN/10, the King’s College London Psychiatry, Nursing & Midwifery Research Ethics Subcommittee (Ref PNM/10/10/11-112) and the US Army...Ministry of Defence Research Ethics Committee (Ref 187/GEN/1) and the King’s College London Psychiatry, Nursing and Midwifery Research Ethics...increase acceptability of mental health screening programmes in paediatric care [22,23]. Concerns about the practicalities of implementing screening

A Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to Assess and Improve the Effectiveness of Post-deployment Screening for Mental Illness

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-01

Defence Ethics Committee (Ref 187/GEN/10, the King’s College London Psychiatry, Nursing & Midwifery Research Ethics Subcommittee (Ref PNM/10/10/11-112...March 2011 by The Ministry of Defence Research Ethics Committee (Ref 187/GEN/1) and the King’s College London Psychiatry, Nursing and Midwifery Research...been found to increase acceptability of mental health screening programmes in paediatric care [22,23]. Concerns about the practicalities of

Institutional Ethics Resources: Creating Moral Spaces.

PubMed

Hamric, Ann B; Wocial, Lucia D

2016-09-01

Since 1992, institutions accredited by The Joint Commission have been required to have a process in place that allows staff members, patients, and families to address ethical issues or issues prone to conflict. While the commission's expectations clearly have made ethics committees more common, simply having a committee in no way demonstrates its effectiveness in terms of the availability of the service to key constituents, the quality of the processes used, or the outcomes achieved. Beyond meeting baseline accreditation standards, effective ethics resources are requisite for quality care for another reason. The provision of care to the sick is a practice with profound moral dimensions. Clinicians need what Margaret Urban Walker has called "moral spaces," reflective spaces within institutions in which to explore and communicate values and ethical obligations as they undergird goals of care. Walker proposed that ethicists needed to be concerned with the design and maintenance of these moral spaces. Clearly, that concern needs to extend beyond ethicists to institutional leaders. This essay uses Walker's idea of moral space to describe individuals and groups who are actual and potential ethics resources in health care institutions. We focus on four requisite characteristics of effective resources and the challenges to achieving them, and we identify strategies to build them. In our view, such moral spaces are particularly important for nurses and their colleagues on interprofessional teams and need to be expanded and strengthened in most settings. © 2016 The Hastings Center.

In the business of dying: questioning the commercialization of hospice.

PubMed

Perry, Joshua E; Stone, Robert C

2011-01-01

This article critically questions the commercialization of hospice care and the ethical concerns associated with the industry's movement toward "market-driven medicine" at the end of life. For example, the article examines issues raised by an influx of for-profit hospice providers whose business model appears at its core to have an ethical conflict of interest between shareholders doing well and terminal patients dying well. Yet, empirical data analyzing the experience of patients across the hospice industry are limited, and general claims that end-of-life patient care is inferior among for-profit providers or even that their business practices are somehow unseemly when compared to nonprofit providers cannot be substantiated. In fact, non-profit providers are not immune to potentially conflicting concerns regarding financial viability (i.e., "no margin, no mission"). Given the limitations of existing empirical data and contrasting ideological commitments of for-profit versus non-profit providers, the questions raised by this article highlight important areas for reflection and further study. Policymakers and regulators are cautioned to keep ethical concerns in the fore as an increasingly commercialized hospice industry continues to emerge as a dominant component of the U.S. health care system. Both practitioners and researchers are encouraged to expand their efforts to better understand how business practices and commercial interests may compromise the death process of the patient and patient's family--a process premised upon a philosophy and ethical tradition that earlier generations of hospice providers and proponents established as a trusted, end-of-life alternative. © 2011 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

Utilizing social media to study information-seeking and ethical issues in gene therapy.

PubMed

Robillard, Julie M; Whiteley, Louise; Johnson, Thomas Wade; Lim, Jonathan; Wasserman, Wyeth W; Illes, Judy

2013-03-04

The field of gene therapy is rapidly evolving, and while hopes of treating disorders of the central nervous system and ethical concerns have been articulated within the academic community, little is known about views and opinions of different stakeholder groups. To address this gap, we utilized social media to investigate the kind of information public users are seeking about gene therapy and the hopes, concerns, and attitudes they express. We conducted a content analysis of questions containing the keywords "gene therapy" from the Q&A site "Yahoo! Answers" for the 5-year period between 2006 and 2010. From the pool of questions retrieved (N=903), we identified those containing at least one theme related to ethics, environment, economics, law, or society (n=173) and then characterized the content of relevant answers (n=399) through emergent coding. The results show that users seek a wide range of information regarding gene therapy, with requests for scientific information and ethical issues at the forefront of enquiry. The question sample reveals high expectations for gene therapy that range from cures for genetic and nongenetic diseases to pre- and postnatal enhancement of physiological attributes. Ethics questions are commonly expressed as fears about the impact of gene therapy on self and society. The answer sample echoes these concerns but further suggests that the acceptability of gene therapy varies depending on the specific application. Overall, the findings highlight the powerful role of social media as a rich resource for research into attitudes toward biomedicine and as a platform for knowledge exchange and public engagement for topics relating to health and disease.

Publication ethics from the perspective of PhD students of health sciences: a limited experience.

PubMed

Arda, Berna

2012-06-01

Publication ethics, an important subtopic of science ethics, deals with determination of the misconducts of science in performing research or in the dissemination of ideas, data and products. Science, the main features of which are secure, reliable and ethically obtained data, plays a major role in shaping the society. As long as science maintains its quality by being based on reliable and ethically obtained data, it will be possible to maintain its role in shaping the society. This article is devoted to the presentation of opinions of PhD candidate students in health sciences in Ankara concerning publication ethics. The data obtained from 143 PhD students from the fields of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary reveal limited but unique experiences. It also shows that plagiarism is one of the worst issues in the publication ethics from the perspective of these young academics.

[Ethical issues in nursing leadership].

PubMed

Wang, Shu-Fang; Hung, Chich-Hsiu

2005-10-01

Social transition causes shifts and changes in the relationship between health professionals and their patients. In their professional capacity, it is important today for nurses to handle ethical dilemmas properly, in a manner that fosters an ethical environment. This article investigates the ethical concerns and decision processes of nurses from a knowledge construction perspective, and examines such issues as patient needs, staff perceptions, organizational benefits, and professional image. The decision making methods commonly used when facing ethical dilemma explored in this study include the traditional problem solving, nursing process, MORAL model, and Murphy's methods. Although decision making for ethical dilemmas is governed by no universal rule, nurses are responsible to try to foster a trusting relationship between employee and employer, health care providers and patients, and the organization and colleagues. When decision making on ethical dilemmas is properly executed quality care will be delivered and malpractice can be reduced.

The role of ethics in commercial genetic research: notes on the notion of commodification.

PubMed

Hoeyer, Klaus

2005-01-01

The emergence of exchange systems for new bodily entities such as organs, cell lines, and tissue samples has generated increasing ethical concern. Concurrently, the role of ethics is becoming contested. Some social scientists have sought to reveal ethics policies as veils for commercial exploitation, masking the crude commodification of the human body. Other social scientists and ethicists have attempted to carve out a role for ethics as a defense against such, presumably violent, market forces. This article seeks an alternative rout. In analyzing the commercialization of a particular Swedish biobank, it suggests that we are in fact witnessing a process of decommodification and that ethics policies do indeed play a central role in this. However, concomitantly, ethics can be seen to veil the commodification not of bodily entities but, rather, of research results. When approaching these processes it is suggested that we analyze the interrelatedness of moral reasoning and forms of exchange.

Health care ethics consultation: an update on core competencies and emerging standards from the American Society For Bioethics and Humanities' core competencies update task force.

PubMed

Tarzian, Anita J

2013-01-01

Ethics consultation has become an integral part of the fabric of U.S. health care delivery. This article summarizes the second edition of the Core Competencies for Health Care Ethics Consultation report of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities. The core knowledge and skills competencies identified in the first edition of Core Competencies have been adopted by various ethics consultation services and education programs, providing evidence of their endorsement as health care ethics consultation (HCEC) standards. This revised report was prompted by thinking in the field that has evolved since the original report. Patients, family members, and health care providers who encounter ethical questions or concerns that ethics consultants could help address deserve access to efficient, effective, and accountable HCEC services. All individuals providing such services should be held to the standards of competence and quality described in the revised report.

The ethical attitude of emergency physicians toward resuscitation in Korea.

PubMed

Bae, Hyuna; Lee, Sangjin; Jang, Hye Young

2008-05-01

This study was conducted to assess the various ethical attitudes of emergency specialists in Korea toward resuscitation. A questionnaire investigating the following key topics concerning the ethics of resuscitation was sent to emergency specialists in Korea: when not to attempt resuscitation, when to stop resuscitation, withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment, diagnosis of death by non-physicians, permission for family members to stay with the patient during resuscitation, and teaching with the body of the recently deceased patient. We found broad variation in medical practice at patient death and in the ethical considerations held and followed by emergency physicians (EPs) during resuscitation in Korea. Initiating and concluding resuscitation attempts were practiced according to ethical and cultural norms, as well as medical conditions. Guidelines for resuscitation ethics that are based on the Korean medico-legal background need to be developed. Education of EPs to solve the ethical dilemma in resuscitation is needed.

Molecular genetics research in ADHD: ethical considerations concerning patients' benefit and resource allocation.

PubMed

Rothenberger, Lillian Geza

2012-12-01

Immense resource allocations have led to great data output in genetic research. Concerning ADHD resources spent on genetic research are less than those spent on clinical research. But there are successful efforts made to increase support for molecular genetics research in ADHD. Concerning genetics no evidence based conclusive results have significant impact on prevention, diagnosis or treatment yet. With regard to ethical aspects like the patients' benefit and limited resources the question arises if it is indicated to think about a new balance of resource allocation between molecular genetics and non-genetics research in ADHD. An ethical reflection was performed focusing on recent genetic studies and reviews based on a selective literature search. There are plausible reasons why genetic research results in ADHD are somehow disappointing for clinical practice so far. Researchers try to overcome these gaps systematically, without knowing what the potential future benefits for the patients might be. Non-genetic diagnostic/therapeutic research may lead to clinically relevant findings within a shorter period of time. On the other hand, non-genetic research in ADHD may be nurtured by genetic approaches. But, with the latter there exist significant risks of harm like stigmatization and concerns regarding data protection. Isolated speeding up resources of genetic research in ADHD seems questionable from an ethical point of view. There is a need to find a new balance of resource allocation between genetic and non-genetic research in ADHD, probably by integrating genetics more systematically into clinical research. A transdisciplinary debate is recommended. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A narrative review of undergraduate peer-based healthcare ethics teaching.

PubMed

Hindmarch, Thomas; Allikmets, Silvia; Knights, Felicity

2015-12-12

This study explores the literature in establishing the value of undergraduate peer-based healthcare ethics teaching as an educational methodology. A narrative review of the literature concerning peer-based ethics teaching was conducted. MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, SCOPUS databases, and the Cochrane Library, were systematically searched for studies of peer-based ethics or professionalism teaching. Selected studies related peer-based teaching to ethics education outcomes. Ten publications were identified. Selected studies were varied in their chosen intervention methodology and analysis. Collectively, the identified studies suggest peer-based ethics education is an effective and valued educational methodology in training healthcare professionals. One paper suggests peer-based ethics teaching has advantages over traditional didactic methods. Peer-based ethics teaching also receives positive feedback from student participants. However, the limited literature base demonstrates a clear need for more evaluation of this pedagogy. The current literature base suggests that undergraduate peer based healthcare ethics teaching is valuable in terms of efficacy and student satisfaction. We conclude that the medical community should invest in further study in order to capitalise upon the potential of peer-based ethics teaching in undergraduate healthcare education.

Ill-placed democracy: ethics consultations and the moral status of voting.

PubMed

Fiester, Autumn M

2011-01-01

As groups around the country begin to craft standards for clinical ethics consultations, one focus of that work is the proper procedure for conducting ethics consults. From a recent empirical look into the workings of ethics consult services (ECSs), one worrisome finding is that some ECSs rely on a committee vote when making a recommendation. This article examines the practice of voting and its moral standing as a procedural strategy for arriving at a clinical ethics recommendation. I focus here on the type of clinical ethics conflicts that are most likely to lead an ECS to vote, namely, conflicts involving ethical uncertainty--or, in the Greek, aporia. I argue that in cases of aporia, voting on an ethics conflict is not a morally justifiable procedure. Then on the same grounds that I use to show that voting is ethically problematic, I raise broader concerns about the common practice of making recommendations by other procedures. In contrast to the standard approach of adjudicating between moral claims, I argue that ECSs can best resolve aporetic conflict through the process of clinical ethics mediation.

New measures of mental state and behavior based on data collected from sensors, smartphones, and the Internet.

PubMed

Glenn, Tasha; Monteith, Scott

2014-12-01

With the rapid and ubiquitous acceptance of new technologies, algorithms will be used to estimate new measures of mental state and behavior based on digital data. The algorithms will analyze data collected from sensors in smartphones and wearable technology, and data collected from Internet and smartphone usage and activities. In the future, new medical measures that assist with the screening, diagnosis, and monitoring of psychiatric disorders will be available despite unresolved reliability, usability, and privacy issues. At the same time, similar non-medical commercial measures of mental state are being developed primarily for targeted advertising. There are societal and ethical implications related to the use of these measures of mental state and behavior for both medical and non-medical purposes.

Part of the fabric and mostly right: an ethnography of ethics in clinical practice.

PubMed

Doran, Evan; Fleming, Jennifer; Jordens, Christopher; Stewart, Cameron L; Letts, Julie; Kerridge, Ian H

2015-06-15

To describe how ethics is practised in a health care setting, and to ascertain whether there was interest in establishing clinical ethics support services. Observations and interviews undertaken between April and November 2012 in a large NSW urban hospital with newborn care, maternity and oncology departments and analysed by coding and categorising the data. Key themes in the participants' attitudes to professional ethics were identified. Ethics is not typically an explicit feature of clinical deliberations, and clinicians tend to apply basic ethical principles when ethical problems are identified. They also discuss difficult decisions with colleagues, and try to resolve ethical differences by discussion. Participants judged the ethics of clinical practice to be "mostly right", primarily because ethics is "part of the fabric" of everyday clinical work that aspires to "optimising care". Nevertheless, most clinicians would welcome ethics support because ethics is integral to health care practice, is not always "done well", and may be the source of conflict. Ethics is very much a part of the fabric of clinical practice, and the ethical challenges that arise in patient care in this particular setting are generally managed adequately. However, many clinicians have concerns about the ethical aspects of some practices and decisions, and believe that access to expert ethics support would be useful. Helping clinicians to provide ethically sound patient care should be a priority for health care providers across Australia.

Ethical issues identified by obstetrics and gynecology learners through a novel ethics curriculum.

PubMed

Mejia, Rachel B; Shinkunas, Laura A; Ryan, Ginny L

2015-12-01

Obstetrics and gynecology (ob/gyn) is fraught with bioethical issues, the professional significance of which may vary based on clinical experience. Our objective was to utilize our novel ethics curriculum to identify ethics and professionalism issues highlighted by ob/gyn learners and to compare responses between learner levels to further inform curricular development. We introduced an integrated and dynamic ob/gyn ethics and professionalism curriculum and mixed methods analysis of 181 resulting written reflections (case observation and assessments) from third-year medical students and from first- to fourth-year ob/gyn residents. Content was compared by learner level using basic thematic analysis and summary statistics. Within the 7 major ethics and professionalism domains, learners wrote most frequently about miscellaneous ob/gyn issues such as periviability and abortion (22% of students, 20% of residents) and problematic treatment decisions (20% of students, 19% of residents) rather than professional duty, communication, justice, student-/resident-specific issues, or quality of care. The most commonly discussed ob/gyn area by both learner groups was obstetrics rather than gynecology, gynecologic oncology, or reproductive endocrinology and infertility, although residents were more likely to discuss obstetrics-related concerns than students (65% vs 48%; P = .04) and students wrote about gynecologic oncology-related concerns more frequently than residents (25% vs 6%; P = .002). In their reflections, sources of ethical value (eg, the 4 classic ethics principles, professional guidelines, and consequentialism) were cited more frequently and in greater number by students than by residents (82% of students cited at least 1 source of ethical value vs 65% of residents; P = .01). Residents disagreed more frequently with the ethical propriety of clinical management than did students (67% vs 43%; P = .005). Our study introduces an innovative and dynamic approach to an ob/gyn ethics and professionalism curriculum that highlights important learner-identified ethics and professionalism issues both specific to ob/gyn and common to clinical medicine. Findings will help ob/gyn educators best utilize and refine this flexible curriculum such that it is appropriately focused on topics relevant to each learner level. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ethics and the ethnography of medical research in Africa

PubMed Central

Molyneux, Sassy; Geissler, P. Wenzel

2008-01-01

The ethics of medical research have grown as an area of expertise and debate in recent years, with two broad approaches emerging in relation to transnational research: (1) the refinement of guidelines and strengthening of review, processes primarily to protect the right of individual research participants and strengthen interpersonal relations at the micro-level; and (2) considering more centrally, as crucial ethical concerns, the wider interests of whole populations, the functioning of research institutions, the processes of collaboration, and the ethics of inequitable international relations. We see the two areas of debate and action as complementary, and believe that social science conducted in and around transnational medical research environments can bring these two perspectives together in a more ‘situated ethics’ of research. To explore this idea for medical research in Africa, we organized a conference in December 2005 in Kilifi, Kenya. In this introduction we outline the two emerging approaches to medical ethics, summarise each of seven papers selected from the conference for inclusion in this special issue on ethics and ethnography, and finally highlight two areas of lively debate at the conference itself: the appropriateness and value of ethics guidelines and review boards for medical research; and the ethical review of social science research. Together, the papers and debates point to the importance of focusing on the ethics of relationships and on justice in both biomedicine and social science research, and on giving greater voice and visibility to the field staff who often play a crucial and under-supported role in ‘doing ethics’ in the field. They also point to the potential value of social science research on the range of relationships operating at different levels and time scales in medical research, including those surrounding community engagement activities, and the role and functioning of ethics review boards. We conclude by highlighting the ethical priority of capacity strengthening in medical research, social science and research ethics in Africa to ensure that local and national priorities and concerns are considered at both the micro and macro levels. PMID:18455856

Ethical and professional challenges posed by patients with genetic concerns: a report of focus group discussions with genetic counselors, physicians, and nurses.

PubMed

Veach, P M; Bartels, D M; LeRoy, B S

2001-04-01

Ninety-seven physicians, nurses, and genetic counselors from four regions within the United States participated in focus groups to identify the types of ethical and professional challenges that arise when their patients have genetic concerns. Responses were taped and transcribed and then analyzed using the Hill et al. (1997, Counsel Psychol 25:517-522) Consensual Qualitative Research method of analysis. Sixteen major ethical and professional domains and 63 subcategories were identified. Major domains are informed consent; withholding information; facing uncertainty; resource allocation; value conflicts, directiveness/nondirectiveness; determining the primary patient; professional identity issues; emotional responses; diversity issues; confidentiality; attaining/maintaining proficiency; professional misconduct; discrimination; colleague error; and documentation. Implications for practitioners who deal with genetic issues and recommendations for additional research are given.

Genetically engineered livestock: ethical use for food and medical models.

PubMed

Garas, Lydia C; Murray, James D; Maga, Elizabeth A

2015-01-01

Recent advances in the production of genetically engineered (GE) livestock have resulted in a variety of new transgenic animals with desirable production and composition changes. GE animals have been generated to improve growth efficiency, food composition, and disease resistance in domesticated livestock species. GE animals are also used to produce pharmaceuticals and as medical models for human diseases. The potential use of these food animals for human consumption has prompted an intense debate about food safety and animal welfare concerns with the GE approach. Additionally, public perception and ethical concerns about their use have caused delays in establishing a clear and efficient regulatory approval process. Ethically, there are far-reaching implications of not using genetically engineered livestock, at a detriment to both producers and consumers, as use of this technology can improve both human and animal health and welfare.

The ethics of using cybernetics and cyborg technologies: what every rehabilitation nurse should know.

PubMed

Moore, Linda Weaver; Rieg, Linda S

2005-01-01

Cybernetics and cyborg technologies are rapidly developing in the field of biotechnology. Such developments have yielded a wide variety of devices and prosthetics that have promoted the quality of life for many individuals with physical limitations and generally have been applauded by society and the rehabilitation field. However, such rapid developments have given rise to multiple ethical concerns. Understanding these ethical concerns and the implications they have for rehabilitation nurses is imperative. While the potential benefits of advances in technology are great for those with disabilities and chronic conditions, ethicists suggest that skepticism must be balanced with the zeal that often accompanies cutting-edge developments. As Hook notes, "We must show not a fear of technology, but a courageous control of technology, and refuse to let technology control us" (2002, p. 67).

[Drug evaluation in healthy volunteers. Legislative and ethical aspects].

PubMed

Warot, D

1991-01-01

Studies in healthy volunteers have been legalized since December 20th 1988 in France. The healthy volunteer is employed for a variety of studies in phases I and IV of drug development. This type of research can equally be called nontherapeutic in nature. Every experiment involving healthy volunteers should be approved by the Ethics Committee. Using volunteers within the department, company or other organisation, while offering advantages for the investigator should be prohibited as freedom of concept might not be safeguarded. As well, financial incentives may over-persuade individuals, including students, who have low incomes and promote the "professional volunteer". To avoid this problem, French law planned a national register. The potential benefits of such a disposition are still unknown. Having been given appropriate information concerning the drug trial, his obligations and rights, the healthy volunteer gives his written consent. Specific recommendations for nontherapeutic assessments of drug effects are given concerning prisoners, the mentally handicapped, women with a risk of frequency, children. Ethical considerations concerning research on a healthy population must go beyond the law recently promulgated in France.

Ethical analyses of institutional measures to increase health care worker influenza vaccination rates.

PubMed

Zimmerman, Richard K

2013-12-16

Health care worker (HCW) influenza vaccination rates are modest. This paper provides a detailed ethical analysis of the major options to increase HCW vaccination rates, comparing how major ethical theories would address the options. The main categories of interventions to raise rates include education, incentives, easy access, competition with rewards, assessment and feedback, declination, mandates with alternative infection control measures, and mandates with administrative action as consequences. The aforementioned interventions, except mandates, arouse little ethical controversy. However, these efforts are time and work intensive and rarely achieve vaccination rates higher than about 70%. The primary concerns voiced about mandates are loss of autonomy, injustice, lack of due process, and subsuming the individual for institutional ends. Proponents of mandates argue that they are ethical based on beneficence, non-maleficence, and duty. A number of professional associations support mandates. Arguments by analogy can be made by mandates for HCW vaccination against other diseases. The ethical systems used in the analyses include evolutionary ethics, utilitarianism, principalism (autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice), Kantism, and altruism. Across these systems, the most commonly preferred options are easy access, assessment and feedback, declinations, and mandates with infection control measures as consequences for non-compliance. Given the ethical imperatives of non-maleficence and beneficence, the limited success of lower intensive interventions, and the need for putting patient safety ahead of HCW convenience, mandates with additional infection control measures as consequences for non-compliance are preferred. For those who opt out of vaccination due to conscience concerns, such mandates provide a means to remain employed but not put patient safety at risk. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ethics Instruction in Undergraduate Astronomy and Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pilachowski, Catherine A.; van Zee, L.; Bacher, A. D.; Durisen, R. H.

2009-01-01

Instruction in research ethics is now included as part of the formal undergraduate curriculum in astronomy and physics at Indiana University. Traditionally, students learn research ethics through informal mentoring by research advisors. However, a more formal approach is encouraged by funding agencies, professional societies, and common sense. Following the booklet, "On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research" (1995, National Academy Press), our ethics program is built around a "case study" approach using scenarios involving real life situations that students are likely to encounter as undergraduates or beginning graduate students. Students discuss possible resolutions of the ethical questions involved. Discussion topics include reporting data, data rights, credit for ideas, and professional behavior. Scenarios for graduate students involve ethical concerns more appropriate for their career stage, including conflicts of interest, authorship, and collaboration. The answers are not clear-cut, and students must grapple with shades of gray to help them define what the limits of ethical behavior are. The scenarios are available on the Web at www.astro.indiana.edu/education/ethics.html