A Bioethical Decision

708 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Interview with special needs person

Nathaniel Wu, a talented and dedicated microbiologist, should be hired for the Intercontinental Pharmaceutical Company (ICP) under certain conditions. Wu, who was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease, was seen as the ideal candidate for the employment position the IPC was offering until this inconvenience was unveiled. To offer Wu employment unconditionally is extremely risky for the medical costs and equipment damages he can bring to the company can be devastating; to deny Wu employment entirely is a violation of bioethics and discrimination, for he was already offered the job position conditionally before taking medical tests. By offering Wu employment under certain conditions, Wu can be part of the IPC and have him employment terminated as soon as his condition begins interfering with his work quality.
If Nathaniel Wu did not have the allele for Huntington’s disease, he would undeniably be the perfect scientist for the position in the eyes of the IPC. Wu is a 30-year-old microbiologist at one if the best research laboratories worldwide. After a series of interviews, the IPC was convinced his determination was not only factor that qualified him more in comparison to the other candidates; they realized that his potential “[is] likely to result in the type of discoveries for new drugs and treatments,” a goal that has not been reached since Dr. Peters’s incident. Wu is also known as a creative researcher and a hard worker, meaning that hiring him will likely result in a dramatic increase of earnings for the IPC. Considering that Huntington’s disease will most likely deteriorate Wu’s abilities, many may argue that it is not worthwhile to hire Wu; it is foreseen that the symptoms of Huntington’s disease begin to appear as soon as th...

... middle of paper ...

... between 11 to 24 repeats of the CAG allele; many people may argue that hiring Wu is an extremely risky decision since Wu has 72 repeats of the CAG allele when any amount above 42 appears to be correlated with an earlier manifestation of symptoms. However, nothing is certain and hiring or not hiring Wu is enough of a risk for the IPC already. The best path to take is to hire Wu with a contract that terminates Wu’s employment as soon as he begins to show symptoms and have an understudy ready to replace Wu after his leave. If the IPC decides not to hire Nathaniel Wu, they must solely base the decision from the qualifications of both candidates, otherwise the decision will have violated bioethics. Regardless of the decision the IPC makes, the company will inevitably face financial struggles; it is a matter of acting upon the stalemate that it has trapped itself within.

Show More
Related

  • Disclosure of Executive Health Information: Balancing Investor Rights and Executive Privacy

    1796 Words  | 4 Pages

    Though the Securities and Exchange Commission rules governing selective disclosure and insider trading contain no provisions relating specifically to the health of executives, publicly traded companies must nonetheless manage the potential implications of their key executives’ health on perceptions of the company’s future success as well as their propriety in disclosing information material to investors. This can be a difficult task, as an employer disclosing particulars about an employee’s health seems to run contrary to the special privacy protections given health information in the U.S., yet such information can undeniably affect investors’ decisions. Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission launched a probe to evaluate statements made by Apple, Inc. regarding the health of CEO Steve Jobs. While not yet a formal investigation, this unprecedented evaluation of health-related disclosures raises significant issues about how such information should be treated and how the rights of investors are to be weighed against the rights of executives. Additionally, if this practice becomes regular, it could lead to unfair and burdensome erosions of executives’ rights to privacy and medical autonomy.

    Read More

  • Bioethics

    1241 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bioethics was originated many centuries ago. Ethical theories in medicine are the basis of bioethics. There are many different ethical approaches which causes much dispute. The imperical question is, what makes an act right and which approach to follow. The Greeks addressed the virtue of ethics. They looked into the good of the person and the situation. Ethos in Greek means, disposition and trait. So consequently they looked at eh person’s skills, habits, and traits. Compassion and the meaning of suffering are some other issues in Bioethics that can be argued. Choosing an act because it is right and also looking at the consequences are some other concerns. Other things to consider are what the patient and their families want. Their religious beliefs are also a major concern. How far should someone go to help a dying suffering patient who wants to take their life? Is it right to intercept and help a patient to die? Medical technology is ever advancing. People are being kept alive for years on support. This is a major topic of debate in Bioethics. Deciding if it’s right or wrong to keep them alive even if they are brain dead is a major concern. What constitutes a person a person when they have Alzheimer’s or brain damage? Are they a person? These are some of the major topics discussed in Bioethics.

    Read More

  • Gender Selection for Non-medical Reasons is Ethically Defensible

    722 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Congratulations, you have a baby girl!” is what a doctor might exclaim after a woman has given birth to a daughter. Was this news a surprise to the woman? Did she know by ultrasound that she was expecting a daughter? Did she select the gender of her child to ensure she was having a daughter?

    Read More

  • the risk of the slippery slope

    693 Words  | 2 Pages

    When it comes to rare diseases some people tend to think that certain cures may not be ethical. Lisa Slater author of “Who holds the Clicker?” tells us the story about the first American psychiatric patient and the procedure he has to gone through. Mario suffers from OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder and in order to get cured he must be inserted with neural implants. With a rare cure involving neural implants people begin to question the procedure: “And psycho-surgery, by its very natur...

    Read More

  • Huntington's Disease

    1558 Words  | 4 Pages

    George Huntington first described Huntington’s disease in 1872, but it was only mentioned to the world in 1913, when “Huntington’s chorea,” the disease’s original name, appeared on the agenda of a Washington medical convention (Bakalar). In 1936, Huntington’s disease was mentioned twice, in two different letters about eugenics, “improving the species by regulating human reproduction,” (Bakalar). It appeared as one of five diseases that should be considered for voluntary sterilization (Bakalar). The first description appeared in an article titled, “Report on a Hereditary Illness,” that described the study of Huntington’s that had been published in a British medical journal (Bakalar). The study, which found the illness to be more widespread than thought, mentioned George Huntington and his original work and included a description of the disease’s symptoms and prevalence (Bakalar). On October 4, 1967, Huntington’s disease made an appearance in the obituary of well-known folk singer and composer Woody Guthrie, who suffered from the disease for thirteen years.

    Read More

  • Bioethics and Health Care

    1562 Words  | 4 Pages

    The controversy with community water fluoridation arises from moral, ethical, political and safety concerns with respect to water fluoridation. As far back as 1930, there was a relationship inversely between the levels of fluoride in drinking water and existence of dental caries. Any practice like fluoridation, which uses the public water supply to deliver the medicine violated the medical ethics. The ethical issues associated with the water fluoridation include- balancing risks and benefits, presence of any other interventions with the same outcome, the role of consent. Fluoridation violates the principle of informed consent. On the other hand, in public health practice the principle of beneficence has more weight than the principle of autonomy.

    Read More

  • The Four Ethical Lenses and The 4+1 Decision Process

    948 Words  | 2 Pages

    The method of ethical decision making which was developed by Dr. Cathryn A. Baird presented two components contained in all ethical decisions which are; The Four ethical Lenses and the 4+1 Decision process. The Four Ethical Lenses issue claims that different ethical theories and the means in which we tend to approach the situations which form part of our ethical traditions are looked at in four different perspectives. From each perspective there are different values on which to decide whether the action taken is either ethical or not and each lens also lays emphasis on determining whether the decision made is of ethical requirement. In the 4+1 Decision Process, people who are responsible for making final decisions in an organization do it using four specific decision making steps and eventually will end up with one extra decision which gives a chance to reflect. The 4+1 decision process allows the decision makers to give solutions when faced with complicated ethical issues (John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies, 2000).

    Read More

  • Medical Ethics

    776 Words  | 2 Pages

    Physician-assisted suicide refers to the physician acting indirectly in the death of the patient -- providing the means for death. The ethics of PAS is a continually debated topic. The range of arguments in support and opposition of PAS are vast. Justice, compassion, the moral irrelevance of the difference between killing and letting die, individual liberty are many arguments for PAS. The distinction between killing and letting die, sanctity of life, "do no harm" principle of medicine, and the potential for abuse are some of the arguments in favor of making PAS illegal. However, self-determination, and ultimately respect for autonomy are relied on heavily as principle arguments in the PAS issue.

    Read More

  • Medical Ethics and Accountability: A Case Study

    694 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the medical ethics case study given to me, Justin is new nurse at a hospital and has become great help to the other employees but he makes mistakes often. When it comes to medical ethics, it is important to do what you know is morally correct. We all want to be good Christians and make the right decisions but sometimes those decisions will affect others negatively. We may not always act how we ought to but those decisions do affect who we are.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Moral Absolutes When Making Decisions About Medical Ethics

    360 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Importance of Moral Absolutes When Making Decisions About Medical Ethics Some doctors would reject this claim, arguing that moral absolutes help decision making in medical ethics. For example, the rule ‘Do not kill’ is part of the oath taken by doctors. Some doctors would agonise over a decision whether to kill a terminally ill patient who has asked to die. These doctors might then feel guilty if the family turned out to have different wishes, or if a cure was later found for the illness. Having absolute moral rules helps doctors, because they don’t have to think about the individual circumstances or worry about possible consequences that are impossible to calculate or predict.

    Read More

  • Essay On Bioethics

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    The term bioethics refers to the moral principles used when one is making a decision while in the healthcare field. It is the moral compass that humans use to decide what is the right thing to do versus the wrong thing to do when faced with an ethical dilemma. These decisions may be based on principles, reasoning, personal beliefs, emotions, natural science, or other influential factors.

    Read More

  • Bioethics In Buddhist Teachings

    1280 Words  | 3 Pages

    Buddhist teachings and worshipping both have impacts on adherents and the Buddhist community. Both provide an insight into how to achieve the ultimate goal of enlightenment and reach Nirvana. Bioethics is a major topic in Buddhist teachings an the ethical regulations of Buddhist teachings are derived from the concepts of the Eightfold Path, karma, four noble truths and the five precepts. These are the ethics that judge human actions as morally right or wrong. Moreover, significant practices drawn from Temple Puja can be used to convey worship of the Buddha and offer Buddhists a greater understanding of their path to enlightenment. Such significant people like the 14th Dalai Lama, have contributed to the impacts of Buddhist teachings.

    Read More

  • Bioethicist Debate

    295 Words  | 1 Pages

    Unfortunately, there are also a few negative points regarding this practice from a scientific point of view. First and foremost, in a debate organised with many experts in different fields on the subject, Sheldon Krimsky (2013), bioethicist, argues against this practice by comparing the experience on humans to the experiences that have previously been conducted on crops and animals. Although some have been successful, thousands of trials failed before finding a solution. With crops and animals, the unwanted results were simply disposed of. With humans, it is not so easy to discard the failed tries not to mention, it would be condemning those who have been experimented on to a potentially disastrous quality of life. Additionally, Philip Ball

    Read More

  • Cause and Effect Essay: Unemployment

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    Other people can’t find jobs because of disabilities or health problems. If someone gets into a car accident and gets physically injured long-term or becomes disabled, it becomes difficult to do many types of jobs. In another case a person may become ill and not be able to work for a long period of time or at all.

    Read More

  • Bioethics Case Study

    2049 Words  | 5 Pages

    What is ethics? Ethics is a framework for human actions that forbids action against morality and humanity. So it is considered as a line that should not be stepped beyond to prevent any breach that could violate anything. Ethics for biotechnology and other biological field called “bioethics”. Even though those two terms sounds similar they are for different causes. Ethics is generally coined term but “bioethics” is specialized term in that particular field. “Biotechnology isn't something new - selective breeding to create more useful varieties of animals and plants is a form of biotechnology that human beings have used for thousands of years” (BBC, 2014). Bioethics is used in the connections between life sciences, biotechnology, drug, legislations,

    Read More

More about A Bioethical Decision

Open Document