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Ethical Consequences (ethical + consequence)
Selected AbstractsNEUROIMAGING IN PSYCHIATRY: EVALUATING THE ETHICAL CONSEQUENCES FOR PATIENT CAREBIOETHICS, Issue 6 2009ALISON C. BOYCE ABSTRACT According to many researchers, it is inevitable and obvious that psychiatric illnesses are biological in nature, and that this is the rationale behind the numerous neuroimaging studies of individuals diagnosed with mental disorders. Scholars looking at the history of psychiatry have pointed out that in the past, the origins and motivations behind the search for biological causes, correlates, and cures for mental disorders are thoroughly social and historically rooted, particularly when the diagnostic category in question is the subject of controversy within psychiatry. This is obscured by neuroimaging studies that drive researchers to proclaim ,revolutions' in psychiatry, namely in the DSM. Providing neuroimaging evidence to support the contention that a condition is ,real' is likely to be extremely influential, as has been extensively discussed in the neuroethics literature. This type of evidence will also reinforce the pre-existing beliefs of those researchers or clinicians who are already expecting a biological description. The uncritical credence given to neuroimaging research is an ethical issue, not in its potential for contributing to misdiagnosis per se but because of the motivations that often drive this research. My claim is that this research should proceed with an awareness of presumptions and motivations underlying the field as a whole, in addition to an explicit focus on the past and potential future consequences of classification and diagnosis on the groups of individuals under study. [source] IS EDUCATIONAL POLICY MAKING RATIONAL , AND WHAT WOULD THAT MEAN, ANYWAY?EDUCATIONAL THEORY, Issue 5 2009Eric Bredo In Moderating the Debate: Rationality and the Promise of American Education, Michael Feuer raises concerns about the consequences of basing educational policy on the model of rational choice drawn from economics. Policy making would be better and more realistic, he suggests, if it were based on a newer procedural model drawn from cognitive science. In this essay Eric Bredo builds on Feuer's analysis by offering a more systematic critique of the traditional model of rationality that Feuer criticizes, a more critical evaluation of the procedural model that he favors, and a recommendation that the situational model he does not consider may have some benefits over both. This analysis shows that the traditional model presupposes an actor that cannot learn or develop. While the actor in the procedural model can learn, Bredo contends that it cannot develop, that is, it cannot outgrow its initial assumptions and values. Only the situational model allows for learning and development, important in a model to be used in the field of education. Bredo also considers in his analysis the social-relational assumptions built into the traditional, procedural, and situational models and the likely ethical consequences of acting on them. [source] Operations research and ethics: development trends 1966,2009INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS IN OPERATIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 4 2010Fred Wenstøp Abstract The paper tracks development trends in the literature on operations research (OR) and ethics from Kenneth Boulding's vision in 1966 of OR as a tool for benevolent decision making, and up to today's constructive papers in this special issue of ITOR. Although this review does not intend to give a complete picture of the relevant literature, two main themes stand out clearly: "Guidelines for the practice of OR" and "How can OR be applied for good purpose?" The first issue is about ethical principles and the second about ethical consequences. Although there is a continued interest in guidelines, few OR societies follow up with their own guidelines, and only a limited number of papers report on the ethicality of real OR applications in relation to guidelines. On the other hand, there is an increasing interest in OR as a tool for benevolent decision making, as we can witness in this special issue of ITOR. [source] Problems and Risks of Unsolicited E-mails in Patient-Physician Encounters in Travel Medicine SettingsJOURNAL OF TRAVEL MEDICINE, Issue 3 2001Andreas Sing Background: International travel and use of modern information technology are expressions of modern life style. Seeking on-line travel health advice via E-mail for preventive (teleprevention) or diagnostic reasons may become increasingly popular among patients with financial resources and Internet access. This study was undertaken to compare the behavior of travel clinic or tropical medicine physicians and other providers of travel-related medical information services toward unsolicited E-mails from fictitious patients in pretravel and post-travel scenarios. We also wanted to test the potential of E-mail advice for preventive medicine (teleprevention), and to find out how the "Good Samaritan Law" is observed. Methods: Two different E-mails were posted to E-mail addresses of 171 physicians (members of travel health and/or tropical medicine societies) and services offering advice on travel health issues identified by an AltaVista search. These E-mails, from two different fictitious travelers, were asking for advice regarding malaria prophylaxis in a pretravel scenario and describing symptoms suggesting acute malaria. Results: Of the contacted addresses 43.3% and 49.7% respectively, replied to the pre- and post-travel E-mail. Of those suggesting antimalarial chemoprophylaxis in the pretravel scenario, 13.2% proposed inadequate regimens, and at least 3.5% of the post-travel replies were inappropriate. The "Good Samaritan Law" was observed by a significant number of physicians. Conclusions: Both patients and physicians have to be aware of the limitations of E-mail communication. Guidelines protecting physicians against legal and ethical consequences of this new communication technology are urgently needed. [source] Rethinking Research Ethics in Contemporary Applied Linguistics: The Tension Between Macroethical and Microethical Perspectives in Situated ResearchMODERN LANGUAGE JOURNAL, Issue 4 2008MAGDALENA KUBANYIOVA The prominent current tendency in applied linguistics to situate its theory and research has seen parallel shifts in the type of research methodologies being employed. Increasingly, decontextualized laboratory methodologies are giving way to more holistic approaches, and these, in turn, involve a significant shift in the researchers' roles, relationships, and ethical responsibilities. By providing examples of specific ethical dilemmas that arose in the process of a longitudinal classroom-based research project, I aim to illustrate that adherence to general "macroethical" principles established in professional codes of ethics may be inadequate for ensuring ethical research in the situated era, which warrants the expansion of the ethical lenses and consideration of alternative microethical models. I conclude with a call for developing a more contextualized code of practice that would integrate both perspectives and recognize the ability to reflect on the ethical consequences of research practice as a core competence of applied linguists. [source] Flaws in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Rationale for Supporting the Development and Approval of BiDil as a Treatment for Heart Failure Only in Black PatientsTHE JOURNAL OF LAW, MEDICINE & ETHICS, Issue 3 2008George T. H. Ellison The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) rationale for supporting the development and approval of BiDil (a combination of hydralazine hydrochloride and isosorbide dinitrate; H-I) for heart failure specifically in black patients was based on under-powered, post hoc subgroup analyses of two relatively old trials (V-HeFT I and II), which were further complicated by substantial covariate imbalances between racial groups. Indeed, the only statistically significant difference observed between black and white patients was found without any adjustment for potential confounders in samples that were unlikely to have been adequately randomized. Meanwhile, because the accepted baseline therapy for heart failure has substantially improved since these trials took place, their results cannot be combined with data from the more recent trial (A-HeFT) amongst black patients alone. There is therefore little scientific evidence to support the approval of BiDil only for use in black patients, and the FDA's rationale fails to consider the ethical consequences of recognizing racial categories as valid markers of innate biological difference, and permitting the development of group-specific therapies that are subject to commercial incentives rather than scientific evidence or therapeutic imperatives. This paper reviews the limitations in the scientific evidence used to support the approval of BiDil only for use in black patients; calls for further analysis of the V-HeFT I and II data which might clarify whether responses to H-I vary by race; and evaluates the consequences of commercial incentives to develop racialized medicines. We recommend that the FDA revise the procedures they use to examine applications for race-based therapies to ensure that these are based on robust scientific claims and do not undermine the aims of the 1992 Revitalization Act. [source] Ethical perspectives of the Australian live export tradeAUSTRALIAN VETERINARY JOURNAL, Issue 9 2005CJC PHILLIPS Objective To examine the ethical perspectives of the Australian live export trade. Design and method The perspectives of farmers and other industry personnel, overseas consumers, the Australian public, veterinarians and the assumed interests of transported animals are compared in relation to the ethical consequences. Animal welfare, societal, personal and professional ethics are identified and the ratification of different perspectives considered. Results and conclusions There are positive and negative aspects of the trade for each stakeholder group, and the overall position adopted by any individual reflects their perspective of the balance of these components. The debate as to whether Australia should continue with the trade will be best served by consideration of the interests of all parties in the trade, including the consumers and animals, which are among the most affected by the trade. There is a need for further research to address the major welfare problems for the animals, an openness to inspection on the part of the trade and balance in media reporting. [source] | |||||||||||||