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At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Surrogacy: ethical, legal, and social aspects.

In considering the interrelated ethical, legal and social aspects of surrogacy we acknowledge that society has long accepted the delegation of various parenteral functions and explore the role of a surrogate in relationship to this as well as alluding to commoner comparisons with prostitution and adultery. In particular, the "birth mother" rule, the public antipathy to "commercial" surrogacy and restrictive legislation are explored and found to be inappropriate. It is concluded that the regulation, surveillance and assessment needed to ensure the best outcome for all concerned would perhaps be easiest achieved in programmes that are formally licensed under permissive legislation and adequately funded by "commercial" means.

Bioethics↗
PubMed1998

Health care allocation, public consultation and the concept of 'health'.

By comparing models of market-based allocation with state-controlled national health care systems, it will be suggested that the way in which different communities deal with the allocation of health care is central to their expression of what might be called a moral self-understanding. That is to say that the provision of health care may be expected to be a focus of communal debate, not simply about morally acceptable and unacceptable actions, but also about the community's understanding of what it is that makes for a worthwhile and morally defensible human life. This moral self-understanding is seen to be entwined with the different concepts of 'health' that are implicit in different systems of allocation. In conclusion, it will be suggested that decisions concerning health care allocation must be made in response to a continuing, public and open debate about what health and health care mean to a particular community.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1998

Curiosity, imagination, compassion, science and ethics: do curiosity and imagination serve a central function?

Curiosity and imagination have been neglected in epistemology. This paper argues that the role of curiosity and imagination is central to the way we think, regardless of whether it is thinking about problems of ethics or problems of science. In our ever more materialistic society, curiosity and reason are either discouraged or narrowly channeled. I shall argue that the role of curiosity and imagination for both science and ethics is so important that nurturing them can be seen as an ethical obligation and suppressing them as ethically problematic.

Capitalism↗
PubMed2003

Patients' health or company profits? The commercialisation of academic research.

This paper is a personal account of the events associated with the author's work at the University of Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children on a drug, deferiprone, for the treatment of thalassaemia. Trials of the drug were sponsored by the Canadian Medical Research Council and a drug company which would have been able, had the trials been successful, to seek regulatory approval to market the drug. When evidence emerged that deferiprone might be inadequately effective in a substantial proportion of patients, the drug company issued legal threats when the author proposed informing her patients and the scientific community. Until protests were made by international authorities in her field of research, the hospital and university did not adequately support the author's academic freedom and responsibilities as a medical practitioner. It is argued that underlying cause of this, and of other similar cases, is the political philosophy which is driving the commercialisation of universities and bringing about the deregulation of drug approval procedures. Together these changes constitute a serious threat to the public good.

Biomedical Research↗
PubMed1995

Ethical and legal issues in human embryo donation.

OBJECTIVE: To identify main ethical and legal issues that arise with donation of embryos left over from IVF treatments of infertility or created from separate gamete donations. DESIGN: Analysis of ethical commentary, advisory committee reports, statutes, court cases, and legal commentary relating to gamete and embryo donation and assisted reproduction to assess their effect on donation of created or leftover embryos. RESULTS: Donation of surplus embryos or embryos created from separate gamete donations would help a subset of infertile couples to form families. A program undertaking embryo donation will have to coordinate the donation of embryos from its own patients or other programs or arrange for separate gamete donations to form embryos. The main ethical issues concern the effect on offspring, consent and counseling of donors and recipients, avoidance of mixing embryos or gametes from different sources, and payment of donor expenses. The main legal issues concern whether embryo donation is viewed as gamete donation or adoption; the rearing rights and duties of donors and recipients in resulting offspring; liability; and compensation issues; and the legality of monetary compensation for donors. Donation of embryos for research raises separate issues. CONCLUSION: Human embryo donation is an ethically and legally acceptable way for infertile couples to form families.

Commodification↗
PubMed2003

'Double or quits': perceptions and management of organ transplantation by adults with cystic fibrosis.

Medical sociologists have often considered lay perceptions of the risks of medical interventions, yet in many empirical studies respondents are people who are not likely to be exposed to a particular intervention. Furthermore, it has been well documented that risk perceptions may change over time and with diminishing health state. This paper explores perceptions and management of the risks of organ transplantation amongst adults with cystic fibrosis (CF), the most common autosomal recessive genetic disease in the UK. Although the focus of medical research is now on providing gene replacement therapy to this group, transplantation is currently the last treatment that an adult with CF can be offered when all other treatment has failed to maintain their health. Thirty-one respondents with varying degrees of health state from a specialist CF centre were interviewed as part of a larger study concerning perceptions of health and risks of treatment. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and analysed using ATLAS-ti. During analysis respondents' transcripts were divided into two groups: firstly those who did not anticipate needing a transplant in the near future (if at all) and secondly those who were currently being considered for transplantation, on the transplant list, or who had already received donor organs. The paper focuses on themes arising from interview transcripts and finds that although the focus of risk differs between the two groups, the influence of luck is perceived as strong for both groups and emotion work features heavily in those undergoing the transplant process. Contrary to previous research, fears of inheriting donor characteristics are not found amongst adults with CF, but rather body components are commodified when talking of both giving and receiving organs.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

In quest of the perfect analogy for using in vitro fertilization patients as oocyte donors.

Whether painted in totalitarian terror, like the organ farm story and The Handmaid's Tale, the science-fiction reality of Make Room! Make Room!, the cinema noir urban tragedy of prostitution, or the portrayals of slavery (Afro-American, Nazi-European, and Russian), this series of resemblances, I hope, illustrates the power of analogy to surface sensitivity to ethical issues in the efficient, and possibly entertaining, texture demanded by medical personnel. Although my quest was quixotic from the start, I hope that this exercise will encourage your consideration of using analogy as an educational tool to heighten the awareness in medical personnel to many issues, to allow our better service of patients and society.

Commodification↗