The heightened popularity of CCSVI treatments for MS patients is increasing in spite of the many ethical issues presented by it. As such, the Canadian government has a moral obligation to consider the implications brought on to Canadians seeking this treatment as well as the rest of its’ public. In this paper I will argue that due to increased media attention, multiple stakeholder desires, and different future health repercussions; the Canadian government needs to find some sort of regulatory measures to increase the ethical obligations warranted in such an experimental procedure while still maintaining the agency of its public.
The basis of the CCSVI procedure requires opening up blocked veins (McClure, 2011). The theory states that narrowed or blocked veins in the neck called stenosis will drain the blood that the brain needs and this turns into chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (McClure, 2011). This condition is what has been claimed by Zamboni to cause symptoms of MS (McClure, 2011).
For those such as Linda Stewart who used experimental treatments unavailable in Canada who had a positive experience, the need for regulation is less supported (O’Connor, 2012). However, this does not mean that research should be negated. There are multiple recorded deaths of MS patients linked to the experimental CCSVI procedure (McClure, 2011). In one case, a woman who used the procedure came out with very high blood pressure (McClure, 2011). After she was dismissed with medication, symptoms of headache and nausea occurred (McClure, 2011). Not long after she was taken off life supporting machinery due to brain damage that could not be reversed (McClure, 2011). Her husband stated that these risks were never communicated to them bef...
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Sipp, D. (2010). “Hope Alone Is Not an Outcome: Why Regulations Makes Sense for the Global Stem Cell Industry” The American Journal of Bioethics. Volume 10. Issue 5.
Turner, L. (2012). “Beyond "Medical Tourism": Canadian Companies Marketing Medical Travel.” Globalization and Health. Volume 8. Issue 16.
Weeks, C. (2011). “An Uncertain Future Lies Ahead for Zamboni's MS Theory and its Potential Patients” The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/an-uncertain-future-lies-ahead-for-zambonis-ms-theory-and-its-potential-patients/article584981/.
Weeks, C. (2011). “Patients Flex Muscle in 'War' Over MS Treatment.” The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/patients-flex-muscle-in-war-over-ms-treatment/article579615/.
However, I am not going to spend a long time describing the nitty-gritty of this because there is an elephant in the room. Both of these writings are on a terrible chronic disease affecting millions of people worldwide. What’s worse is that millions and millions more do not even know that this disease exists. I remember when I sprained my ankle while playing baseball, it was so bad that I needed crutches for two weeks and had to keep my foot wrapped for multiple weeks after. The incident took me out for the rest of the season, where my little league team got very close to going into the postseason but fell short. Due to my absence, I felt partly responsible for my team’s loss. I cannot begin to fathom the effect that MS would have in my life
Southam’s practice, beginning with the Code’s number 1 rule, “The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential.” Other rules under the Nuremberg Code were broken as well, however all of these egregious behaviors of researchers, more so than just Southam, have influenced the tight research protocols in place today. As Dr. Hardy shared information on research protocols, she consistently referred back to a strict system of regulations that, at times, may seem a little extreme. The alternative, a system permitting researchers like Southam, would be a far harder bullet to bite. In the end, I am glad these systems are in place to try to ensure a trust between patients and
In the United States, the basis for ethical protection for human research subjects in clinical research trials are outlined by the Belmont Report developed in the late 1970’s. This document, published by the Nation Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, highlights three important basic principles that are to be considered when any clinical trial will involve human research subjects. They are; respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. (Chadwick & Gunn, 2004)
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is generally thought to be an autoimmune disease that attacks the myelin sheaths, or oligodendrocytes that cover nerve axons in the central nervous system (PubMed Health 2013). This immune response causes inflammation, which triggers immune cells to destroy axons “along any area of the brain, optic nerve, and spinal cord” (PubMed Health 2013). When the myelin sheath “is damaged, nerve signals slow down or stop” thus hindering the propagation of action potentials and limiting function (PubMed Health 2013).
Schechter, Jody. "Promoting Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research: A Comparison of Policies in the United States and the United Kingdom and Factors Encouraging Advancement." Texas International Law Journal 45.3 (2010): 603-29. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 13 Jan. 2012.
Today, Canadians are concerned with many issues involving health care. It is the responsibility of the provincial party to come up with a fair, yet reasonable solution to this issue. This solution must support Canadians for the best; it involves people and how they are treated when in need for health care. The Liberal party feels that they have the best solution that will provide Canadians with the best results. It states that people will have the protection of medicare and will help with concerns like: injury prevention, nutrition, physical activity, mental health, etc. The Canadian Alliance Party’s plan is to make several policy-developments to benefit Canada’s health care. They believe it will serve the security and well-being best for all Canadians. The last party involved in this issue is the NDP Party; who indicate that they are fighting hard for a better Health Care system in our economy. The NDP Party states that the income of a family should not dictate the quality of health care.
Patients are presented with Multiple Sclerosis in various different forms and experience symptoms to different degrees – mild, moderate or severe. While some patients’ predominately experience emotional or cognitive dysfunction, others may be presented with loss of muscle control, and/or visual, balance and sensation symptoms. Other symptoms include fatigue, bladder and bowel problems.
Multiple sclerosis, also known as MS, is one of the humankind’s most mysterious diseases. Multiple sclerosis has the ability to affect nearly 3 million people worldwide. This disease tends to be more common in individuals of northern European descent and women are more than twice as likely to develop multiple sclerosis as men are. Of those 3 million people, most of them are between the ages of 20 and 50 years old. Even though multiple sclerosis is a mystery disease, scientists are working to determine the exact cause and treatment.
Monroe, Kristen, et al., eds. Fundamentals of the Stem Cell Debate: The Scientific, Religious, Ethical and Political Issues. Los Angeles/Berkley: University of California Press, 2008. Print
Robertson, J. (2010). Embryo stem cell research: ten years of controversy. Journal Of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 38(2), 191-203. doi:10.1111/j.1748-720X.2010.00479.x
These patients are desperate and are vulnerable, often consenting to research studies without fully understanding the potential outcome. Therefore, it is imperative to educate the patients, public, and regulatory agencies regarding the pros and cons of these therapies.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating disease that affects approximately 400,000 Americans. It occurs two to three more times in women than in men and is most prevalent in women in their early thirties which makes researcher believe hormones play a significant role in developing MS. Patients can go through periods of relapse and remission with the possibility of the symptoms getting progressively worse with each occurrence. Statistics show that eighty percent who have MS will live twenty or plus years after its onset. Even with all the recent medical advances and research, MS is an overwhelming diagnosis to encounter.
The author explains how randomized clinical trials put physicians in ethically intolerable positions of choosing between the good of the patient and that of society. A kantian argument is formed when the author explains how the physician has the duty to tell the truth and not use the patient as a mere means to satisfy the needs of a majority. The well being of the patient is far more important than that of the society when it comes to treatment by personal physician, the Author suggests that there should be alternatives to randomized clinical trials to deal with observer bias and patient selection. The overall message of the article stresses the importance of a patient’s well being over the well being of a society because the physician has the duty to help the patient improve his/her health.
Miller, F. (2003). Therapeutic Misconception in the Ethics of Clinical Trials,. The Hastings Center Report.