Lecture 10 Flashcards
What is medical bioethics?
The study of ethical issues that arise in the practice of medicine and biological research, including patient care, experimentation, and medical technologies
What are the main areas covered by modern medical bioethics?
- Beginning-of-life issues (e.g., abortion, fertility)
- End-of-life issues (e.g., euthanasia, MAiD)
- Mid-life issues (e.g., transplants, drug trials, lifestyle choices)
Why did the need for bioethics increase in the 20th century?
Due to rapid medical technology advances, human rights movements, and public concern over unethical scientific practices
What ethical guide was created by Hippocrates in the 6th century BCE?
The Hippocratic Oath—a foundational ethical code for practicing medicine
What are key promises made in the Hippocratic Oath?
- Prescribe for the good of patients
- Do no harm
- Avoid lethal drugs
- Preserve purity of life and medical practice
What was the Black Plague and how was it handled?
A 14th-century pandemic caused by Yersinia pestis, managed through religious rituals, social distancing, potions, and quarantines
What issues does modern medical bioethics address beyond just medicine?
- Poverty
- Torture
- Punishment
- Reproductive rights
- Population control
- Medical technology
- Social and political inequality
What are the four major areas of applied medical bioethics today?
- Education – Teaching ethics to students and professionals
- Research – Research ethics committees (e.g., REBs)
- Clinical – Hospital ethics boards and patient rights
- Policy – Triage and resource allocation decisions
Who is considered the “Father of Medicine”?
Hippocrates (6th century BCE)
What is the Hippocratic Oath?
An early ethical code for medical practitioners emphasizing “do no harm,” respect for life, and patient confidentiality
What ethical dilemma arose during the Black Plague?
Lack of understanding of disease led to a mix of religious, social, and pseudoscientific responses—some of which harmed marginalized communities
What was Social Darwinism in the late 19th century?
A misapplication of evolutionary theory to justify racial and social hierarchies—”survival of the fittest” in human societies
What was the Eugenics Movement?
A 20th-century campaign to selectively breed “ideal” humans, often through unethical means like forced sterilizations
What is an example of negative eugenics?
The Buck v. Bell case (1927), where the U.S. Supreme Court approved forced sterilization—“Three generations of imbeciles are enough.”
What were Nazi medical experiments during WWII?
Unethical research on prisoners involving torture, euthanasia programs, and racial “cleansing” under the guise of science
What was the Nuremberg Code (1947)?
The first international code for ethical research on humans, emphasizing informed consent, scientific validity, and beneficence
What ethical principle did the Nuremberg Code introduce?
That the well-being of research subjects must take precedence over scientific goals
What were the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments (1932–1972)?
A U.S. study where 400 Black men with syphilis were deliberately left untreated to study disease progression—without informed consent
Why was the Tuskegee study unethical?
- Deception
-No informed consent - Withholding treatment
- Targeted marginalized population
Who was Henrietta Lacks?
An African American woman whose cancer cells were taken without her consent in 1951, leading to the creation of the immortal HeLa cell line
What are HeLa cells?
A line of human cells that can reproduce indefinitely in labs, enabling breakthroughs in medicine (e.g., polio vaccine, cloning, IVF)
What ethical issues are raised by the HeLa story?
- Consent
- Medical exploitation
- Racial injustice in research
- Ownership of biological materials
Why has bioethics become more important in the 20th and 21st centuries?
Scientific and technological advancements (e.g., cloning, stem cells, AI) require ethical guidelines to manage new dilemmas
What is the concept of “dual-purpose” in science?
Scientific advances can both benefit and harm society—ethics is needed to guide responsible use
What role did the 20th-century medical disasters play in shaping modern bioethics?
They led to the development of regulatory frameworks, ethical review boards, and international codes of conduct
What are the core bioethical principles influenced by medical history?
- Autonomy
- Beneficence
- Non-maleficence
- Justice
What is triage and how is it ethically relevant?
Triage is the allocation of limited medical resources based on patient need and likelihood of benefit—raising ethical questions about fairness and prioritization
What are the challenges in applying bioethics in global health contexts?
Cultural differences, resource inequality, and historical injustices make universal ethical standards difficult to implement
