New advancements in medicine are fast occurring. However, as this new millennium is bringing hope too many some medical entities appear to be bypassing crucial investigation doctrines, such as, quality innovations, FDA regulations, ethics and treatment benefits. The articles selected provide further insight on current research applications and ethical dilemmas regarding experimental trails. As previously discussed in chapters one and five there are certain ingredients required for a successful investigation but our priority is the benefit of human health.
The article by Rabin reviews robotic surgery devices as a fast expanding field with a growth of 400 percent during the 2007 to 2011 period. This increasing trend of new robotic technologies has forced doctors and nurses to adapt to the new machinery, even though the medical staff are not completely trained to fully work with such technology. For instance, the da Vinci system is robotic surgical device used in a variety of procedures, which has been in retail for the past ten years. Growing concerns of the da Vinci system are rising as reports of malpractice and death are accumulating due to unreported incidents to the FDA. Moreover, an anonymous surveyed revealed that about 56.8 percent of surgeons admitted to “experience irrecoverable operative malfunctions” with the device (Rabin 2013). Another worry is the lack of evidence supporting long-term advantages as well as the unknown negative affects of using the da Vinci system.
Another piece written by Beil reveals the unsteady fast-paced growing field of stem cell research in nonscientific settings under the umbrella of regenerative medicine. This eye-opening story reveals the wide international market of companies promoting “r...
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...guidelines to continue promoting human health rather than misleading patients into dead-end projects. Furthermore, supervision of ethical practices and more rigid regulation is required by the government to prevent false scientific settings to practice medicine and encourage more transparency in the biomedical field. Personally, as a consumer and upcoming medical representative it is worrisome that the regulations of the federal commission have such standards that leave unreported incidents, approve publishing of ambiguous scientific data and support wrongful practices, such as fake regenerative medicine, to continue operating without evidence of successful treatment. In addition, as a community we need to be informed of the proper medical information regarding any procedure we undergo and thus avoid the misinterpretations between treatment and experimental trial.
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)
Advancements in technology in surgery is leading to unmanned operations which is causing a lot of controversy between many people. Even though it saves time and labor, it’s not worth the risk yet because things such as the CT scan that has been around since the 1970’s, are still causing problems such as dangerous levels of radiation. The first surgery that was assisted by robots was in 1983 when “Arthrobot” assisted in orthopedic surgeries. It became FDA approved in August 2008 (Robotics in General Surgery 5). The new that thing that is receiving a lot of attention now is the Da Vinci Surgical System. This system was created by Surgical Intuitive in January of 1999 and was FDA approved in 2000 (Robotic Surgery 10). The Da Vinci Surgical System
The Da Vinci Surgical System is a large purpose-built robot controlled by a surgeon that performs minimally invasive surgical procedures on patients. The system incorporates an ergonomically designed surgeon's console, a patient-side module with four interactive robotic arms, each with interchangeable surgical instruments and a 3-dimensional endoscopic vision system. Powered by high-tech supercomputers, the surgeon's hand movements are scaled, filtered and then converted into precise movements of the surgical attachments. The designers of the system are a team of doctors, engineers and biomedical engineers at a company called Intuitive Surgical.
Appropriately, this motion picture correctly illustrates the amount of work, time, and money that actually goes into developing a medical innovation. In addition, this movie acts as a solid example of the grueling path one must take for permission in releasing a medical innovation to the public. Writing for the journal The Scientist, Jef Akst stated that the film acted as a good depiction of the “hard to swallow fiscal issues of drug development” (thescientist). However, this painfully hard process exists for good reasons; they must weed out the ideas that can not be safely practiced in modern society. Also, the regulations ensure that each innovation, whether drug, therapy, or procedure, will benefit the consumer more than the side effects could harm them. Moreover, the benefits of the innovations, as previously mentioned, must outweigh the costs for the patient and practicer for maximum
The Belmont Report distinguishes three center moral standards in regards to all human subject experimentation: autonomy, respect for persons, beneficence and justice. Autonomy alludes to the right of an individual to determine what they will or will not partake in. Respect for persons requires medical researchers to obtain informed consent from their subjects, which means that participants must be given precise information about their circumstances and treatment options so that they can decide what is best for them. Beneficence means that all test subjects must be informed about the advantages as well as all the possible risks of the treatment(s) they consent to participate in. The principle of justice includes individual and societal justice.
...s must be taken into consideration for ethical and scientific integrity of research. Increased harmonization among developed and developing countries is needed to address these concerns. There should be strict compliance with rules and regulations. Further to minimize concerns independent ethical review of all the protocols is necessary. Clinical trials in developing countries must meet all ethical and scientific standards of research trials conducted in developed countries.
Medical research involving human subjects is historically riddled with unethical experiments leading to harmful and even fatal consequences for participants. In order to avoid this in modern medical research, a system of medical ethics has been created. To properly review these standards for experimentation proposals, Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) were established in the United States. Although this system of ethics and review processes is tedious and difficult to appeal to, it is fundamental to ensuring the safety of all human participants consenting to medical research. Continuing medical research on human subjects, while conforming to the medical ethics and review processes deemed necessary by the government and the Internal Review
Advancements in medical technology can be associated in great part to human experimentation. It is widely known that medicine created for humans, in order to be proven effective, must undergo human clinical trials. When this form of experimentation is voluntary it benefits all of humanity. It just so happens that unfortunately, sometimes volunteers are misinformed of the dangers of the trial or are tested without their knowledge. This world wide issue has been attempted to be remedied through laws and regulations, but loopholes can still be found within them. Time has proved to the world that these laws are simply not enough. Stricter laws should be enacted to prevent the world's history of unethical human experimentation from repeating itself.
Since the beginning of time, human beings have been in search of ways to advance life as we know it. Every single day, somewhere in the world, technology is being transformed and an exciting new piece is birthed into society. Perhaps, one of the most influential advances is in our ever evolving medical profession. Thus, as technology continues to change the world as we know it, it is sweeping the medical field right along with it. Surgical procedures are being drastically improved with the use of robotic technology called da Vinci.
Millions of animals are used to test consumer products, but they also become victims to experiments for medical research. In The Ethics of Animal Research (2007) both authors state that there have been many medical advances with the development of medicines and treatments as a result of research conducted on animals (para 1). These medical i...
I chose the Da Vinci Surgical system as my topic because I am interested into going to physical therapy or into the orthopedics field after undergrad. Surgical equipment is highly important due to the hundreds of accidents that happen and also the high percentage of diseases. As these incidents occur it is important to consider the safety of the patient when it comes to cutting into their bodies. With the invention of the Da Vinci Surgical system it helped with vision and different viewpoints of the patient’s body and also improves precision. It is important to have a machine or tool for more than one type of surgery, one to use on patients with different injuries or diseases. Overall, this surgical system helps improve and help further research how precise and how in control a surgeon can be.
Stem cell research is not necessarily bad and this research can lead to a positive breakthrough in the medical field. Researchers and consumers have a mutual interest in distinguishing the good research from the bad.
The medical field has revolutionized the health and well being of society. Throughout the decades, the medical field has been through sweeping changes that leave society astonished. It seems like each year that passes by, there is a new technological advancement that modernizes the medical field. Not only do these advancements modernize medicine, but they in return aid doctors, nurses, and specialists by improving their effectiveness within the field. About ten years ago, the da Vinci Surgical System was introduced to hospitals and the medical field, in general because the FDA had finally approved the system within the United States (Dunkin). The da Vinci Surgical System, also known basically as robotic surgery, introduced the use of a surgical robot, which is operated by the doctor himself using a controlled manipulator (Declan et al.). Prior to the invention of robot-assisted surgeries, most surgeons simply did a typical laparoscopic surgery on a patient. Laparoscopic surgery is “a type of surgery performed through several small incisions, rather than one (or more) large ones as in standard "open" surgery” (Schmitz). Through the development of superior technology, such as the surgical robot; it brought about changes that effected doctors, patients, and the medical world.
Some doctors think that the main reason robotic surgery is used is due to the wow factor. These same doctors do not think that there is enough research to be able to say that robotic surgery is as good, or better than open surgeries. Robotic surgery has come a long way, but it is nowhere near perfect. The chief of robotic surgery at Langone Medical Center, Dr. Michael Stifelman, says, “We are at the tip of the iceberg. What we thought was impossible 10 years ago is now commonplace.”. Doctors in support of robotic surgery say that operations using robotic surgery are less tiring, robot hands don’t shake, the chance of less bleeding, and a possibly short recovery time. Some reports that have been filed against the da Vinci surgical system include a 2012 case where a woman died during a hysterectomy because the robot nicked a blood vessel, a New York man whose colon was perforated during prostate surgery, and during a colorectal surgery a robotic arm would not let go of tissue it had grasped during surgery, requiring a total system shut down. Despite the reported complications, robotic surgery is still on the rise. Dr. Stifelman’s hospital, Langone Medical Center, expected to do 1,200 robotic surgeries in 2013, compared to only 175 in
“It is a simple fact that many, if not most, of today’s modern medical miracles would not exist if experimental animals had not been available to medical scientists. It is equally a fact that, should we as a society decide the use of animal subjects is ethically unacceptable and therefore must be stopped, medical progress will slow to a snail’s pace. Such retardation will in itself have a huge ethical ‘price tag’ in terms of continued human and animal suffering from problems such as diabetes, cancer, degenerative cardiovascular diseases, and so forth.”