Ethics

What do you think about "chickenpox parties"? I don't recall if they're urban legend or something that actually takes place, but do you think it's ethical? For those of you who haven't heard of them, they are a gathering where a child that is infected with chickenpox (and is contagious) is allowed to play with uninfected children. Parents bring their young children to these parties in order to infect them while they're young. Sounds like a good idea, but is it ethical to do that?

The Nuremberg Code, #6: "No experiment should be conducted where there is an a priori reason to believe that death or disabling injury will occur; except, perhaps, in those experiments where the experimental physicians also serve as subjects." Do any of you agree with this? Disagree? Is it ok to perform deadly experiments given you use yourself as a participant?

I have done a significant amount of research into neural regeneration, and hypothetically it can(and I will) be abused to increase one's intelligence. If you combined an antibody against NOGO-A, with melatonin, and progesterone, it should induce neurogenesis, while at the same time allowing neural integration of the neurons. I am not getting into the mechanics at this time, due to the fact it's a specialized field, most people really wouldn't want to waste their time with sifting through the technicalities, I will post how these three compounds induce adult neurogenesis, if it is requested. Would it be ethical to use neural regeneration to alter ones intellige…

Anybody else following this travesty? It really is getting a bit ridiculous. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,150797,00.html Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped because of a chemical imbalance, and court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, says she told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents dispute that, and say she could get better. The court found that it was Terri Schiavo's wish not to kept alive in her current state and issued an order to remove the feeding tube Friday. Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Fe…

To whom it may concern, I am seeking to obtain information about the possibility of a lawsuit of myself vs. the Monsanto corporation. The Monsanto corporation is the corporation that introduced a product called Posilac. Posilac is a genetically engineered supplement given to diary cows to increase their milk production. Their claim on this product is this: “ POSILAC® bovine somatotropin has become one of the leading dairy animal health products in the United States and many other countries. Supplementing dairy cows with bovine somatotropin safely enhances milk production and serves as an important tool to help dairy producers improve the efficiency of their opera…

A doctor has just been jailed for faking some blood test results: http://society.guardian.co.uk/publichealth/story/0,11098,1378756,00.html For there to be anydoubt over whether this doctor will be struck off shows the incompetence of the GMC. The GMC really is just an old boys club which will be lucky to survive another few years. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society, which is both a regulatory and representative body has far better disciplinary procedures than the GMC (which is only regulatory.)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6875358/?GT1=6190 Could this have been a problem with the doctor's negligence?

The link. Thoughts and opinions? It seems a kind of damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario. Hard to believe we have a nursing shortage in this country. What happened to a formal caution anyway?

http://www.bonsaikitten.com Is that not ethical or is that not ethical?

Hi again, I was wondering if anyone believes eugenics, if applied in a manner most would accept as humane and ethical, would be a good idea. A few years ago when searching the internet for why I personally was not really that bright and had to stuggle in school and in college right now, while my sibling was extremely intelligent and quickly and without difficulty earned a Bachelor's Degree in science, I came across the site of http://www.neoeugenics.com/ I read about IQ, psychometrics, personality types, eugenics/dysgenics, genetic engineering, cloning, and similar topics. I found out that IQ is mostly genetic and that this is why I personally was not as succe…

In the debate , I identified far more with Kerry's position rather than that of Bush . Reason ? The act of termination of a non -sentient embryo is far different from that of doing it to an individual who might have anticipatory foreknowledge of his or hers pending termination ; perhaps by a deblitating disease . How is an embyo affected by its termination ? Don't say "it has been deprived of a right to life " because to be so deprived it would have to have continuing post mortem concious awareness of its situation .

I am currently undertaking some research into public thoughts on therapeutic cloning and stem cell research for my MSc. I would be grateful to you if you would spare a few minutes and respond to my online questionnaire about the subject. All information you provide is confidential and non-identifable. The link is: http://www.urbansea.com/s802/ and will be available for a couple of weeks from the date of this message. If you have any specific comments, either relating to the questions or your views on therapeutic stem cell research then please email them to me, at: scmail @ excite.com (removing spaces used to reduce spam). Many thanks, Steven

To me the following argument seems air tight logical but I never seem able to convince anybody as to is correctness . Any inputs from readers would be most appreciated . I tend to be pro choice on the abortion issue because I feel the act of termination in a sudden & painless manner and w/o anticipatory FOREKNOWLEDGE on the part of the victim does in fact do no harm or cause any suffering to that victim . Even if somebody suddenly killed me in a similar manner , they would have done no harm to ME . To believe otherwise is to ASSUME that one enters another realm of conciousness wherein one experiences everlasting regret at having been deprived of life . They may ha…

Recently I was watching a debate on TV about the pro's and cons of screening embryos for genetic defects. The debate then pointed out that certain places in the world are starting to use the process for so called 'family balancing' where the sex of the child is selected so they can have a boy if they have five girls or vice versa. Do you see the screening of embryos as wrong or merely as a by-product of consciousness evolving? For instance assuming aliens are much more scientifically advanced than we, they would have already mastered the art of genetic selection and have probably exploited it for the benefit of their race. Why shouldn'y we do the same. Sure consc…

Can't say I've won many converts to the idea, and certainly there are practical problems to be hashed out, but seems to me random sterilization, say of every third kid, would be one fine (and non-eugenic, just to forestall) way to stabilize the population...

Ok I will list a few scenarios and would like some people to answer whether they would be ethical and why. 1) A 13 year old girl is raped and becomes pregnant. Would it be ethical to have an abortion early in the pregnancy? 2) Full age adult becomes pregnant. Would it be ethical to have an abortion early in the pregnancy? 3) Full age adult becomes pregnant. Would it be ethical to have an abortion late in the pregnancy? 4) Full age woman has a partial birth abortion. 5) "Baby Doe" scenario. Potentially retarded born baby is refused life. 6) Normal born baby is "put down" 7) Retarded adult is "put down" At what point does a fetus become human…

Sorry for all the other attempts which didnt work but this is it; There is currently a Vaccine for AIDs, like the smallpox one, that is a weakened form of the disease. Animal testing has proved inconclusive, so the only way to see if we could vaccinate against this disease is to test on humans. However currently they cannot because 'it is too dangerous', if proper payment and legal documentation was done; Do you;

.Okay let's look at it this way.Cloning can cause genetic problems ,diseases,and mutations.Look at Dolly,the cloned sheep.She's been diagnosed with arthritis.I'm not saying that it HAS TO BE because of cloning.But some scientists do believe so. If we use stem cells to regrow damaged organs ..it's okay.In fact..nothing like it..but why reproduce an identical human being?What purpose does that serve in practical terms?It's a waste of resources.Science has helped create robots and high tech machines to do great work so why do u need cloned people?Cloning is good when it serves a meaningful purpose.I definitely agree with stem cell research and regrowth of organs because…

I suppose you all have heard that some sect in the US announced that the first cloned human has been born. 1. Do think that the baby was really born? 2. What do you think about the first cloned human? Do you see any ethical problems?

How do you feel about cloning?

This topic is frequenting the news more and more. Just recently I saw an australian company that marketed air-tight bags to place over your head to assist in suicide. Interestingly, alot of medical students change their views on this issue after medical school when they've seen first hand people who are living in hell. What do you guys think?

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/05/26/face.transplant/index.html Personally I don't see any ethical dilemma not rooted in overvalueing appearances, but what does everyone else think (noting the part where the procedure is designed only for those with severe disfigurement, had to add this comment for those bound to comment without fully reading the story)?

Hi all... I am a senior three student from Malaysia and a representative for the school debate team. Recently, we have been posed the topic "Should Medical Research be Limited by Ethical Boundaries?" I will really appreaciate all inputs both for and against this topic. I sincerely thank everyone for their help. Thank you.

Do you think Physicians treating prisoners should be obligated to inform prison authorities of their findings (i.e. drugs, etc)?

What do you guys think about using the data the Nazi's gathered during their experiments on live human subjects? Is it ethical and morally justifiable to use the data? Personally, I'm undecided. I mean, yes what they did was horrific, but is it so wrong if we use it to our benefit? from http://remember.org/educate/medexp.html Freezing Experiments: "The freezing / hypothermia experiments were conducted for the Nazi high command. The experiments were conducted on men to simulate the conditions the armies suffered on the Eastern Front. .... The icy vat method proved to be the fastest way to drop the body temperature. The selections were made of young healthly J…