Weeks 6-9 Flashcards
Why do we Conduct Research
Research involving humans is based on a fundamental moral commitment to advancing human wellbeing, knowledge, and understanding to examine cultural dynamics
3 Purposes of Research Ethics
- Correct past problems and abuses
- Prevent new problems and abuses
- Law is not enough
Which 2 major past atrocities lead to the advancement of healthcare ethics?
- Nazi science
- Tuskegee Institute (Alabama)
- study the untreated syphilis patient from the beginning of the disease to the death of the infected person
- no informed consent
- risky & inhumane treatment
- study the untreated syphilis patient from the beginning of the disease to the death of the infected person
Declaration of Helsinki (1964)
- physician and treatment focused
- the World Medical Association established recommendations guiding doctors to protect the rights of research participants
Therapy vs Research
Patient vs research subject
Patient is treated, research subject is used to find outcome
- As a patient, your consent should be respected
- As a research subject, your consent must be scrutinized and (in the right cases must) be rejected
Right to Standard of Care (Declaration of Helsinki Amended in 1996)
Every patient including those of a control group, should be assured of the best proven diagnostic and therapeutic method
Do not expose them to tremendous risk
Right to Standard of Care (Declaration of Helsinki Amended in 1996)
Every patient including those of a control group, should be assured of the best proven diagnostic and therapeutic method
Do not expose them to tremendous risk
TPS (Tri-Council Policy Statement) - AKA “Tri-Council Code”
Joint policy expresses the continuing commitment of the three Councils to the people of Canada, to promote the ethical conduct of research involving human subjects
Tri-Council Code 4 basic principles
- Respect for persons - actively respect patients autonomy
- Non-maleficence
- Beneficence
- Justice
9 Guiding ethical principles
Human dignity
Free and informed consent
Vulnerable persons
Privacy and confidentiality
Jhusticeand inclusiveness
Balancing harms and benefits
Non-maleficence
Minimizing harm
Maximizing benefits
Researchers responsibilities
The researcher is obligated to examine your consent for hidden reasons
If one becomes apparent, the researcher should refuse you
Your consent to experimentation is not the same as it is for medical treatment
Coercion
Expectation of favour - reference for parole, example of good behaviour coincides with treatment
Vulnerable populations
Groups who have structural/systemic vulnerability to the powerful who may want to research using them
Why are vulnerable populations more susceptible to influence/coercion?
- Institutionalized disparity of power
- An inability to respect their own interests
Inducement
Reward received , but ultimately your choice
ex. something, a gift, a reward etc
- Seems irresistible
- Inducement causes taking unusual risk
- the risk- taking creates unethical or risky situations
Coercion vs. Inducement
Coercion = Forcibly, against your will
Inducement = offering someone a reward, to persuade them to make a certain choice (ultimately your choice)
Characteristics of valid informed consent
Potential participants should understand the…. risks, potential benefits, procedures, and alternatives
3 facts participants must understand
1) research contribution - those who enroll in the study will be contributing to a project designed to gather generalizable knowledge to benefit others in the future
2) research relationship - the investigators will rely on participants’ efforts to gather the generalizable knowledge to benefit others
3) research impact - the extent to which participating in the study will alter what participants do and what happens to them
Purposes of Informed Consent
The requirement for informed consent allows competent individuals to decide whether participation in research is consistent with their interests
- allows individuals to decide for themselves whether they will enroll in the study in question
Speciesism
The unequal and unjust treatment or consideration of individuals who are not part of a particular species without valid justification.
3 reasons why Speciesism needs to be refined
- Speciesism can discriminate against those who do not belong to a single species
- Speciesism is exclusion-oriented
- it only focuses on discrimination against non-favored species and does not include discrimination against disregarded species
- The concept of species is difficult to define
Lappé’s Protein Theory
Her central thesis in the book is presented as dietary advice but also has a strong moral tone to it
Protein Theory
1. Scarcity of food in the world
2. Animals are fed excessive protein in order to grow meat protein
3. Humans don’t need to eat animal protein to be healthy
Conclusion: eating animals is short-sighted, ultimately harmful to us and others
How much meat do we consume on average ?
Chicken 30.6 kgs
Beef 30 kg
Pork 28.1 kgs
Turkey 4.3kg
Veal 1.1kgs
Lamb 1.0 kgs
96.8 kgs of meat per person per year
Is meat more popular now or in the past?
Meat is more popular now than ever - since 1972 chicken consumption has increased 84% and everything else has stayed the same
Ecological impacts of animal farming
- Overpopulation of cattle and methane expulsions effect the ozone
- Fecal run off into water supplies
- Grazing lands for cattle causing permanent damage to land surfaces (we can’t grow anything else on that land, even after the beef farm disappears)
Benefits of organic farming
- Limits exposure to pesticides and anti-biotic resistant bacteria
- Limits exposure to chemicals - better for health
“Inhumane” Conditions in “Factory Farming?”
- Production of animal products
- Treatment of animals in factory farms
- High density farms
Trying to save money and being efficient = inhumane animal treatment
What does factory farming often lead to?
A lot of animals in one place - worries about animal diseases
The emergence of Zoonotic Infections - SARS, bird flu, etc
Pathogens exposed to humans from animals
Peter Singer theory
- Believes that “personhood” could include higher-order mammals but also exclude some disabled or damaged humans→any person had always been human however not all humans are all people
- Equality is about the equal consideration of interests, but humans ignore the interests of higher order mammals in order to suit their own comforts and pleasures.
- Singer is a strict utilitarian (greatest good for the greatest number).
- All he is doing is expanding the membership of the “greatest number” – instead of just humans, it is mammalian persons
Speciest
Someone who discriminates against another’s rights based on their membership to a different (non human) species
Singer’s Concept of Personhood
A person is any creature (Human or non-human) who meets all of the following criteria:
1. Feel pain
2. Make own decisions
3. Foresee a future
4. Able to communicate
5. Ability to reason
6. Self-aware
7. Autonomous
Claims about animals supporting singers theory
- Sheep developed deep friendships
- Cows are problem solvers
- Animals have both reason and emotions in a relationship that is similar to our own
- Cows brains show signs of anticipation and excitement while waiting for a food reward in classic conditioning experiments
Could a severely brain damaged person be a person?
A severely brain-damaged man wouldn’t be a person, but an animal could be
Singers conception of personhood on abortion
Acceptable, he feels that humans don’t reach personhood until at least 3 months after birth
Singers conception of personhood on euthanasia
Acceptable and encouraged - humans who are below personhood status should not occupy resources which could be used for people
