Conflict Between Research and Ethics

Running Head : CONFLICT BETWEEN RESEARCH AND ETHICS

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Introduction

Conflict between research and ethics arises from a conscious awareness of perceived social consequences of research actions on the community . A genuine conviction exists within the medical fraternity across the board , that anything that can be done to enhance the lives and well being of people is a core duty . But that is set against another ethical claim , that we should do no harm . Right there is the conflict . This aims to look at

this conflict

It becomes essential then , in light of this , to measure the benefits vis-a-vis the demerits

One method is to conduct a risk /benefit analysis to determine which action produces the greater benefit (good ) while limiting harm (evil (military medical ethics , volume 2 Pp 541

Various ethical issues are of concern to the moralists . One of them is the patients ' informed consent . A free and informed consent from a participant of a research , prior to the experiments is crucial . Plomer cites the Helsinki Declaration of 1964

In any research on human beings , each potential subject must be adequately informed of the aims , methods , sources of funding , any possible conflicts of interest , institutional affiliations of the researcher , the anticipated benefits and potential risks of the study and the discomfort it may entail . The subject should be informed . After ensuring the subject has understood the information , the physician should then obtain the subjects freely given informed consent , preferably in writing . If the consent cannot be obtained in writing , the non-written consent must be formally documented and witnessed (Plomer , 2000

There is every sense in ensuring the subjects know all the details concerning the research as this affects critical decisions on participation or non-participation . In the case of Tuskegee Syphilis study for example , the subjects were misled to believe they were to receive free medical care (read tests ) and that the purpose of the experiment was to test for bad blood (a term used to describe a variety of illnesses then . They were not told , once tested , that they had syphilis or that the purpose of the test was to study the effects of untreated syphilis on living subjects (Jones 1981 . All the myriad of misinformation that was supplied to the Black-American men intended for the study was intentionally intended to hoodwink them to think that the research was intended to benefit them , a far cry from the truth

In the Tuskegee case study , we also realize that the subjects were pressured or felt coerced to be part of the study . The use of doctors nurses , community leaders , black leaders and plantation owners were all aimed at this objective . People like doctors and other medical practitioners are all perceived as authorities in medical research issues . The community leaders are also opinion leaders . Use of all these people therefore , does nothing but pressurize subjects to agree to be part of the studies . Some of these leaders may even blackmail or arm twist their people to...