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Medical advances using animal testing
The importance of animal testing in medicine
Pros and cons of animal testing in medical research
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Recommended: Medical advances using animal testing
Ethics in Healthcare Research
From Bench to Bedside
Animal testing or vivisection can be traced back to the time of the Greek philosophers. Since the twentieth century, the practice has extensively been utilized in research involving therapeutic, hygiene, and cosmetic products, regardless of the ethical concerns that have been raised against the use of animal subjects in biomedical research (Shamoo and Resnik, 2003). In Biomedical research, animal testing is followed by clinical trials that involve various phases prior to the approval of a therapeutic intervention. The Medical Ethics Manual stipulates the usefulness of laboratory animals and human subjects in studying pathophysiological processes that are encompassed in the process called bench to bedside. It involves translational research, whereby basic
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Informed consent form is signed by the subject to attest to the truth that they have given their voluntary informed consent to participate in the research study (Gallin and Ognibene, 2012; Ravina, 2012). Patient autonomy is governed by an informed consent during clinical research. This involves respecting the humans as autonomous individuals. In addition, biomedical researchers have to adhere to the principle of beneficence (to do good) and nonmaleficence (do not harm) and justice that prioritizes the interests of the patients. This ensures that integrity of research is upheld and a valid informed consent is obtained. This involves a process that must provide adequate information as to the subject’s comprehension of the information by the individuals who have a decision-making capacity and the voluntary making of decision or choices with no coercion (Ravina, 2012). Information should be provided in simple, understandable language. The subjects should make autonomous decisions that should be respected by researchers (Gallin and Ognibene, 2012; Ravina,
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political, and bioethical reasoning. Inside these connections, it is the limit of a sound individual to make an educated, unpressured decision. Patient autonomy can conflict with clinician autonomy and, in such a clash of values, it is not obvious which should prevail. (Lantos, Matlock & Wendler, 2011). In order to gain informed consent, a patient
Informed consent is the basis for all legal and moral aspects of a patient’s autonomy. Implied consent is when you and your physician interact in which the consent is assumed, such as in a physical exam by your doctor. Written consent is a more extensive form in which it mostly applies when there is testing or experiments involved over a period of time. The long process is making sure the patient properly understands the risk and benefits that could possible happen during and after the treatment. As a physician, he must respect the patient’s autonomy. For a patient to be an autonomous agent, he must have legitimate moral values. The patient has all the rights to his medical health and conditions that arise. When considering informed consent, the patient must be aware and should be able to give a voluntary consent for the treatment and testing without being coerced, even if coercion is very little. Being coerced into giving consent is not voluntary because others people’s opinions account for part of his decision. Prisoners and the poor population are two areas where coercion is found the most when giving consent. Terminally ill patients also give consent in hope of recovering from their illness. Although the possibilities are slim of having a successful recovery, they proceed with the research with the expectation of having a positive outcome. As stated by Raab, “informed consent process flows naturally from the ‘partnership’ between physician and patient” (Raab). Despite the fact that informed consent is supposed to educate the patients, it is now more of an avoidance of liability for physicians (Raab). Although the physician provides adequate information to his patient, how can he ensure that his patient properly ...
Autonomy is philosophical and psychological concept that expresses the capacity of a person to adopt norms without external influence or pressures. The principle of autonomy is essential and should be respected as a norm. In a medical scope, an Informed Consent is the maximum expression of the principle of autonomy and should represent the patients right and a medical obligation, because the patient’s preferences and values should be the priority from an ethical point of view. The medical objective should be respect this autonomy, because is about the patients health. The decisions made by an adult patient who is mental competent and posses sufficient information about this matter, should be ethically unbreakable. (Fundacion pro-derecho a morir dignamente,...
To begin, to those who may wonder what informed consent is, it is a legal and ethical prerequisite for clinical research on humans (Bristol, par 2). The purpose of informed consent is to ensure that patient autonomy is respected in decisions about their healthcare (Susilo, 1). Many people say that the term was first used in 1957. There was a malpractice case with Salgo v Leland Stanford Jr. The California Supreme court stated that no patient can submit to a medical intervention without having given “informed consent”. Even though the courts had said this, inf...
According to Medical Dictionary (2003) ‘consent’ is an ‘act of reason’, voluntary agreement to proposed treatment made by a mentally capable person upon receiving relevant information. Patients’ consent is closely associated with individuals’ liberty, person’s autonomy and the right to decide about themselves and their body with assumption of taking full responsibility for decision and its consequences (Frith and Draper, 2004).
Animal testing has been in practice since the early 300’s BCE, often used by ancient philosophers to advance the very little knowledge at the time in the field of biomedicine. Some of these philosophers who began animal testing are well known, such as Aristotle and Erasistratus. Another scientist named Ibn Zuhr came up with the idea of using animals to test surgical procedures on animals before beginning them on human patients (Hajar). Rachel Hajar, M.D., states that animal testing began to undergo criticism from animal welfare and protection groups because of the inhumane procedures inflicted on the animals. These groups had laws passed in many countries that gave the animals more protection when being researched upon. Scientists who support animal testing insist that it is necessary to expand our knowledge in the science and medicine world. Claude Bernard, a physiologist, says “Experiments on animals are entirely conclusive for the toxicology and hygiene of man. The effects of these substances are the same on man as on animals, save for differences in degree” (“Animal Testing and Medicine”). Because of the large amount of debate ...
Millions of animals are used to test consumer products, but they also become victims to experiments for medical research. In The Ethics of Animal Research (2007) both authors state that there have been many medical advances with the development of medicines and treatments as a result of research conducted on animals (para 1). These medical i...
Experimentation on animals in the twenty-first century has unearthed many great findings but also resulted in detrimental consequences to the lives of human beings today. A few positive results of animal testing include: new medicines, surgical procedures, cosmetic products, and many important medical discoveries. Some of these discoveries altered the way we, as humans, will live forever, but most of the experimentations performed to these animals constitute cruel and inhumane. For instance, the barbaric testing of animals in the medical and cosmetic industry causes the unnecessary suffering and death of millions of animals every year. The harsh horror inflicted upon laboratory animals may be easily avoided and replaced with more effective, moral alternatives.
Ethics refers to the values and customs of a community at a particular point in time. At present, the term ethics is guided by the moral principles that guide our everyday actions. These moral principles guide the researcher into deciding what is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. The foundation of medical ethics is governed by two philosophical frameworks that are deontology, and utilitarianism. However ultimately the ethics committees need to balance the risks, and benefits for the participants and the community associated with the particular research proposal. This balance is quite important as the well being of participants is at risk.7
Ethics in Research Research is one of the most successful means of obtaining a wide variety of information concerning limited or broad topics. However, abundant as this information may be, it is important to maintain an ethical outlook to all research topics. As research and its subsequent experimentations advance in light of new generations, the idea of ethics becomes a more prominent issue. Researchers must be aware of the conflicts that their research may bring about. They must know how to address their findings in a moral way appealing to the pro and cons.
Informed consent is a very serious decision a patient has to make when it comes to their health and consenting to procedures that are believed to cure or treat their current health status. It is important to address the effectiveness of the role a physician play in the informed consent process assuring that the patient has given truly informed consent and what safeguards can be put in place to assure the patient is exercising informed consent. Informed consent is based on the fact that the person consenting is a rational individual that is aware of the action to which he/she is consenting. Allen and McNamara (2011) notes that "On the standard understanding, the important elements of informed consent are the provision of information, the voluntariness of the choice and the competence of the chooser to make the choice— so the potential research participant should be provided with information relevant to the decision to participate, they should be able to choose freely about their participation and they should be competent to decide.
The individual must educate himself or herself and not be afraid to ask questions to the nurse or researchers. Participants must evaluate risks, benefits, time commitment, and other factors that may be involved before committing to a particular study. From a researcher’s standpoint, it is important to respect the participant’s autonomy for liability reasons. The researcher should inform participants about the risks, benefits, side effects, etc. of the study so the patient fully understands the commitment before participating. Autonomy not only protects the individual’s rights, it also benefits the
Animals have held an important spot in many of our lives. Some people look at animals as companions and others see them as a means of experimental research and medical advancement. With the interest to gain knowledge, physicians have dissected animals. The ethics of animal testing have always been questioned because humans do not want to think of animals on the same level as humans. Incapable of our thinking and unable to speak, animals do not deserve to be tested on by products and be conducted in experiments for our scientific improvement. Experimentation on animals is cruel, unfair, and does not have enough beneficial results to consider it essential.
Every year, millions of animals experience painful, suffering and death due to results of scientific research as the effects of drugs, medical procedures, food additives, cosmetics and other chemical products. Basically, animal experimentation has played a dominant role in leading with new findings and human advantages. Animal research has had a main function in many scientific and medical advances in the past decade and is helping in the understanding of several diseases. While most people believe than animal testing is necessary, others are worried about the excessive suffering of this innocent’s creatures. The balance between the rights of animals and their use in medical research is a delicate issue with huge societal assumptions. Nowadays people are trying to understand and take in consideration these social implications based in animals rights. Even though, many people tend to disregard animals that have suffered permanent damage during experimentation time. Many people try to misunderstand the nature of life that animals just have, and are unable to consider the actual laboratory procedures and techniques that these creatures tend to be submitted. Animal experimentation must be excluded because it is an inhumane way of treat animals, it is unethical, and exist safer ways to test products without painful test.
Ethics is the study of moral values and the principles we use to evaluate actions. Ethical concerns can sometimes stand as a barrier to the development of the arts and the natural sciences. They hinder the process of scientific research and the production of art, preventing us from arriving at knowledge. This raises the knowledge issues of: To what extent do moral values confine the production of knowledge in the arts, and to what extent are the ways of achieving scientific development limited due to ethical concerns? The two main ways of knowing used to produce ethical judgements are reason, the power of the mind to form judgements logically , and emotion, our instinctive feelings . I will explore their applications in various ethical controversies in science and arts as well as the implications of morals in these two areas of knowledge.