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Belmont Report: Moral Responsibility

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As a development in Deontological Pluralism, the Belmont Report offers a series of moral duties to consider in medical research and procedure. The Belmont Report considers Respect for Persons, Beneficence, and Justice to be the morals to uphold in medical research. These three moral obligations determine the morality of decisions and allow a deliberation on actions. In the scenario of Troy and Kim, I will consider each moral obligation in terms of applicability and importance in order to determine the most moral action for the couple. As a member of the medical ethics committee deciding whether it is morally permissible to refuse to remove Kim’s birth control implant, I argue it is not morally permissible primarily on the grounds of Respect …show more content…

Comparing the benefits and consequences of child rearing is relatively straightforward, since the listing of positives and negatives of the scenario can be listed and discussed. The main argument of Beneficence is whether the risks outweigh the benefits of allowing the procedure, and I have argued that the risks are reduced in this scenario due to the intentions of Troy, Kim, and their support group. Respecting the moral obligation of Justice is similarly straightforward, since treating Troy and Kim in the same manner as others wanting to raise a child is the expected response. The complication comes from Respect for Persons in terms of Troy and Kim’s mental disabilities. The level of protection for Troy and Kim depends on their mental faculties. Their caregivers have educated and informed Troy and Kim of the responsibility of parenting several times. At this point, the dilemma of their situation is whether informed consent outweighs the possibility of harm. Harm may include the stress of the birth control removal, the stress of pregnancy and child rearing, the negative impacts on the child due to possible parenting mishaps, and the stresses for Troy and Kim’s support network as they witness and support the child and parents’ care. Respect for Persons and Beneficence are the competing morals at this …show more content…

Both Troy and Kim have a persistent desire to raise children. Based on the Respect for Autonomy Argument, which we discussed in class in regards to “wannabes,” Troy and Kim’s desire must be respected. Wannabes are individuals with an informed and persistent desire to have one or more healthy limbs removed, and we formulated an argument based on autonomy in the class discussion of addressing wannabe’s desires (Bayne and Levy 75). The Respect for Autonomy Argument was used to justify wannabe’s desires, but this argument is applicable to Kim’s medical procedure. The Respect for Autonomy Argument for Troy and Kim’s situation is as

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This essay uses the book“ The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot to investigate the requirements of informed consent ,by informing the patients through every steps Henrietta’s story is an example on informed consent. On one hand theorists such as, Dale Keigner argue that informed consent should be notified by the doctor to the patient and the patient should be knowledge on the proceeding that the doctors will maintain. On the other hand , Lewis Soloman contends that the doctors should be able to take any specimens from the patient after operating without consent for scientific reasons and research. . He also asserted that doctors should be able to deduct any specimen that will be able to help in the science research. Others maintain

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After reading this case I was terribly shocked about the fact that something like this could happen in our medical history. I couldn’t believe how a patient could be neglected so much. Based on the material that we have learned the lack of ethical theory of deontology in Dr. Evan was disturbing. As a doctor Dr. Evan’s role is to care for patients, keep them away from harm and prolong their life. Though in the trial he stated as if he didn’t care.

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In A Defense of Abortion Thompson presents an argument against the morality of abortion by showing the superiority of women’s rights through several different analogous cases. The case of focus will be case eight, “ A Selfless Brother’s Box of Chocolates.” In scenario one, Thompson argues that an older brother has a box of chocolates while his younger brother has nothing; the question of appeal is does the younger brother automatically have a right to these chocolates? The box of chocolates represents a woman’s body while the younger brother represents the fetus. Although it would be nice for the older brother (mother) to share his box of chocolates (mothers body) he is not obligated to share them with anyone even if he is perceived as a selfish, greedy, or a stingy person.

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One of the main objections to autonomy-based justifications of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) that Gill talks about is that many people believe it does not promote autonomy, but instead is actually taking it away (366). First, it is important to clarify what autonomy means. According to Gill, it is the ability of a person to make big decisions regarding their own life (369). Opponents of PAS argue that it takes away a person’s ability to make these big decisions and so it is intrinsically wrong for them to choose to take their own life.

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Moral code and medical ethics are an essential theme throughout “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” especially concerning the distinction between the right and wrong decisions that were made during the period after Henrietta’s death. Many of the journalists, and some of the doctors and medical researchers lacked the moral code to let Henrietta and her family know of their findings of the HeLa cell, which lead to significantly changing the code of ethics in medicine. Since Henrietta was dead, many researchers and doctors were unaware they were still breaking her confidentiality, and the Lacks family’s confidentiality also becomes an afterthought. Rebecca Skloot says, “It wasn’t illegal for a journalist to publish medical information given

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With regard to coercion, North Carolina’s Commissioner of Public Welfare urged the state to follow up with people who were receiving assistance from the Aid to Dependent Child Program (243). This program targeted people who were already sterilized to see if other family members would also benefit (243) as was the case with Ann. These people were taken advantage of and their natural ability to have children was taken away from them under the guise of ridding the population of unfavorable characteristics that these people just so happened to have. They were also subject to immense psychological, emotional, and physical harm for seemingly no reason. Doctors must recite and uphold the Hippocratic Oath which states that one must “do no harm” and ethics was a large topic of debate during the 1960s and early 70s after a slew of unethical experiments had taken place i.e. The Humphreys, Stanford, and Milgram’s studies.

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Deborah Lacks, eldest daughter of Henrietta Lacks, emphasizes the actuality that there needs to be a certain standard in medical ethics to protect one’s basic human rights, “Everybody knew black people were disappearing cause Hopkins was experimenting on them!” (169). Skloot implies to the reader that basic human rights were compromised because of the lack of clearly stated medical ethics. Thereby patients undergo unethical experimentation that can be harmful to them because medical ethics are not clearly stated and the doctors have found mischievous ways to perform unethical experiments. Thereby black people are disappearing because doctors are more worried about themselves than their patients thus allowing them to pass away when they are able to be saved.

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Such considerations fundamentally shape human life and family relationships. A women needs to be aware of the various psychological and social factors that contribute to the decision such as “that human parents, both male and female, tend to care passionately about their offspring, and that family relationships are among the deepest and strongest in our lives—and, significantly, among the longest lasting.” These key intrinsic goods- in this case factors such as human life, parenthood, and family relationships- are ultimately worthwhile are not to be taken without due

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I am reminded of two sisters who found themselves in a similar situations to Jig and Sheri, with an unwanted pregnancy. The eldest of the two, in a relationship with man with the attributes of the American and the youngest with a man with the attribute of Lane Jr. The youngest decided not to have the baby because of her desire to follow her career path, as I believe Sheri did in "Good People". The Eldest chose to carry and have the baby despite the odds stacked against her, as I believe Jig did in "Hills Like White Elephants", they both were faced with a decision that would affect the remainder of their lives. The younger would wonder what it would have been like to raise and see the progression on the child she so willingly aborted and the eldest knowing that she made not only the right decision but also the best decision, to allow life to come forth because of love, which may be rocky but it is still

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The authors also wrote this book with reference to societal issues faced at the time that the piece was published, and some of which still persist today, in order to appeal to a wide range of people who appreciate knowing more unique details about current problems. When addressing the “crime rate [that] began falling in the early 1990’s” (119), Levitt and Dubner are appealing to a large audience of individuals who lived through this unforeseen occasion. Through the presentation of data to support that the legalization of abortion is the leading cause of the crime drop, the audience becomes more interested in the topic due to the believable-yet-abstract explanation. Another current issue addressed in this book that appeals to many parents or prospective parents is the “vast and diverse flock of parenting experts [that] has arisen” (147) and caused an influx of worthless parenting advice.

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Evans and the Ohio Department of Corrections failed Tomcik in applying basic ethical theories. Normative and applied ethics were not followed because the minimal standard of care in this case called for palpitation of the breasts, which was not done. If the physician knew that palpitation of the side of Tomcik’s breasts was the correct minimal procedure to detect cancer and he did not complete it, he failed to apply the theory of how he should behave. Deontological ethics were failed as the doctor was duty-bound to “do no harm or injustice”. (Greek Medicine, 2012)

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Medical professionals can restrict a patient’s autonomy in several troubling methods. One of the most frequent ways is to lie to their patients. This is usually done subtly, Collins states, “the art of medicine consists of mixing flasehoods and the truth” (Collins, 199). It is very damaging to lie to patients, even if the physician’s intentions are good. Bok gives an example of a young girl struggling with her feelings.

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The patient is a 35-year old woman in her first pregnancy. She was very committed to a natural delivery for her daughter. The fetus’s sex had been identified on ultrasound examination and provided to the patient at her request. At 36 weeks gestation, the patient was diagnosed by ultrasound examination by her primary obstetrician to have complete Placenta Previa.

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An ethical dilemma today in society is that of abortion, which one would define as a deliberate end to a pregnancy. Various arguments exist questioning if an abortion is morally justifiable. Some say the state should decide on the legality of an abortion, some politicians say the federal government should decide, and many believe it should be up to the women since it pertains to their body. In this paper, I will analyze what a utilitarian’s perspective on abortion would be. First, let’s get a clear understanding of utilitarianism.

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Teen pregnancy is a communal problem, a family problem, and a personal problem all rolled into one. It frequently goes hand in hand with premarital sex. Problems come when the news needs to breach each parent’s party. After which, these impressions simply serve no purpose but to put them off, and deduce to mere nuisance to them when the truth of their situation slowly sinks in. How do they provide for the child if their parents cut them short financially?

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