Intro to Bioethics

Riddles Higg’s Pigs Farmer Higgs owns three pink pigs, four brown pigs, and one black pig. How many of Higg’s pigs can say they are the same color as another pig on Higg’s Farm? Mary’s father has 5 daughters – Nana, Nene, Nini, Nono. What is the fifth daughters name? A: Not Nunu, it’s Mary A: None, Pigs can’t talk

Intro to Bioethics Learning Goal: Be able to define Bioethics, identify the key steps to answering ethical issues, and distinguish between the 3 types of ethical questions. Ethics: Study which seeks to determine what a person should do, or the best course of action, and provides the reasons why. It also helps people decide how to behave and treat one another, and what kinds of communities would be good to live in. Bioethics: an ethical study which addresses questions which arise with respect to biological advances.

Ethical Questions raised by advances in Biology: Should all students be required to have vaccinations? If you take a genetic tests, who should know the results? Should doctors provide fatal medicines to terminally ill patients who want to end their own lives? Should scientists clone pets or animals for food? How should doctors distribute scare flu vaccines? Whom should scientists test new medicines on?

Examples of Current Ethical Issues: Use of untested drugs to control Ebola epidemic Requiring current vaccinations for all school attending children Should Coal be used as a power source? Should there be limits to how much people can modify the natural world Should Genetically Modified foods be labeled?

Ethical: conforming to accepted standards of conduct; morally good or correct Unethical: lacking moral principles; not in accord with the standards of a profession; unwilling to adhere to proper rules of conduct

Example Scenario: Duke University has a nationally recognized college basketball team (they just participated in March Madness). Players of Duke’s team countless hours practicing, training, and playing collegiate sports. Some people believe that Duke’s players should receive monetary compensation ($$$) for all of their hard work, time, and achievements because big universities make hundreds of millions of dollars a year off of these sports directly (tickets, merchandise, concessions, and television deals) and indirectly (popular schools receive more student applications from non-athletes). Others disagree because these athletes receive sports scholarships which save them and their families’ large sums of money and upon completion of their courses provides them a bachelor’s degree at little to no cost to them. Another argument against paying these athletes is college athletics are supposed to be an amateur event and paying the players would turn them into professional events.   Think-Pair-Share- Should College Athletes receive a paycheck for their time and accomplishments from their University?

Above all, providing well thought out and sound reasons is the key to understanding ethical issues. Simply stating “because it’s wrong”, or “I think it’s ok and that’s just what I believe” isn’t enough. Why is studying Bioethics Important? Because it helps people study issues that affect individuals; as well as members of communities. Discussing conflicting ideas helps people to arrive at the best answer.

Steps to answering ethical questions: 1. Distinguish the type of question 2. Apply the 4 key questions 3. Evaluate Ethical Considerations 3 Types of Questions: 1. Ethical vs. Scientific Ex: In deciding whether to ban steroids (ethical question), one would want to know how safe they are (scientific question).

2. Ethical vs. Legal Ethical standards focus on ideals whereas legal standards focus on the minimum standards by which someone must adhere. Ethical questions should take legal context and local laws into consideration, but something can be illegal yet ethical, or legal but unethical. Ex: With respect to enhancement and sports (steroids, blood transfusions, etc.), some interventions may be considered unethical even if they are not yet illegal.

3. Ethical vs. Personal ­Your cultural attitudes towards something are matters of preference, custom, or habit but they may not be ethical issues. A key distinguishing feature of ethical questions as opposed to personal preference questions, is that ethical questions typically arise when individuals or groups might be harmed, disrespected, or unfairly disadvantaged. Ex: Your culture might prefer a high degree of privacy in the doctor’s office, while your friend’s culture might be unaccustomed to a private office and is willing to discuss their medical affairs publically.

Video: CNN- Should College Athletes Be Paid? Journal #2 What are your reactions to the video about paying college athletes? What are you most surprised by? (Explain) What are you least surprised by? (Explain) Thinking about the definitions of ethical and unethical and all of the pros and cons you’ve heard, in your opinion… Is it ethical or unethical for athletes to be paid? Explain (in detail) why/why not (provide examples)