Biomedical Ethics

Ethics is the idea of conforming to standards set in place and accepted by experts. Ethics can also be defined as a set of moral rules to human activities. There are many types of ethics, such as ethics in medicine and biomedical research, also known as biomedical ethics. Biomedical ethics is the act of following set principles that aim to guide researchers and health professionals’ actions in medical and biomedical research (Hall, 2012). Biomedical ethics encapsulates both philosophical and scientific knowledge and is evolving along with medical technology. Biomedical ethics was officially introduced in the United States (U.S) in 1974 by the Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. The Commission outlined correct conduct and

Ethics in biomedical research keeps health professionals and researchers honest and allows them to have a set of skills to analyze and resolve ethical dilemmas (Mattick, 2006). Ethics also are essential in obtaining a positive relationship with patients and is essential for moral, sociologic, and legal reasons (Hall, 2012). Researchers who participate in unethical and questionable practices are wasting valuable resources and failing the public’s trust. Questionable and unethical research practices have harmed entire populations in the past, such as in World War II, when Jewish people were used against their will for research. Currently, patients have a legal right to consent, and this right protects them from potential harm or unwanted medical attention (Hall, 2012). To establish ethical research practice, regulations have been developed. The regulations and codes of conduct are helpful to ensure uniform ethical approaches despite differing moral compasses. This is especially important when biomedical research involves the lives of animal and human subjects (Hariharan,

Biomedical research has the ability to save lives just as easily as it can end a life if false data is used (Eckles, 2005). Scientific misconduct is the violation of ethical or conduct rules that damage an organization. Research misconduct is a serious offense with serious consequences, and different organizations have varying codes of conduct. Lab fraud differs slightly from scientific misconduct because lab fraud has legal consequences, and the labs actions are typically perceived as a harm (Eckles, 2005). Examples of a serious case of lab fraud would be a lab deeming a vaccine safe or deeming the local water safe based on false data. Both scenarios have the potential to cause human and animal harm or death and would result serious consequences. Researchers are directly impacting the publics health, national funding and the scientific community’s reputation when they participate in scientific misconduct. Consequences of lab fraud and scientific misconduct range from labs and universities and differ from country to country. Consequences also vary depending on the type of misconduct and those affected. Deceptive lab practices are practices that should not be used in a lab setting, such as improper calibration, incomplete recording, and/or inadequate