Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Ethical dilemma on vaccines
Ethical dilemma on vaccines
Ethical dilemma on vaccines
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Ethical dilemma on vaccines
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is a retrovirus infecting approximately 35.3 million people worldwide that leads to the development of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV-1 selectively infects certain host immune cells, including CD4+ T cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells, resulting in the continual depletion of the host immune system (Global Report, 2013). More specifically, HIV-1 prevalence is concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and other developing countries worldwide. In recent years, there has been much effort devoted to developing an effective vaccine against HIV-1. The vaccine clinical trials are typically held in these developing countries where HIV-1 prevalence is highest. The dilemma that continues to plague vaccine trials in developing countries pertains to the standard of care that should be provided to the participants who inevitably become infected with HIV-1 during the trial (Bloom, 1998). This standard of care debate revolved around topics such as what type of treatment should be provided to the participants, how long should the treatment continue, will treatment continue after the trial has concluded, who has the obligation to ensure the standard of care protocols are enforced, what are the repercussions in failing to do so, and most importantly, who is paying for all of this (Berkley, 2003). The Declaration of Helsinki clearly endorses the view that all trial participants are entitled to the worldwide best standard of care (Lie et al, 2004). Unfortunately, efforts to devise an accepted standard of care have continued without success since the 1990s (Berkley, 2003).
The root of the problem revolves around the expenses associated with treatment. This is an especially difficult ...
... middle of paper ...
...
7. Lie RK, Emanuel E, Grady C, Wendler D. (2004). The standard of care debate: the Declaration of Helsinki versus the international consensus opinion. J Med Ethics 30: 190-3.
8. Macklin R. (2008). Standard of care: an evolution in ethical thinking. The Lancet 372(9635): 284-5.
9. Scott BR, Tsevat J. (2006). Is antiretroviral therapy cost-effective in South American? PLoS Medicine 3(1): 14.
10. Shapiro K, Benatar SR. (2005). HIV prevention research and global inequality: steps towards improved standards of care. Journal of Medical Ethics 31: 39.
11. Specter, M. (2003). The vaccine. The New Yorker 78(45): 56.
12. The Kaiser Family Foundation. Health expenditure per capita (PPP; $US). 2002. 2007.
13. UNAIDS/WHO, 2007 WHO/UNAIDS. Ethical considerations in biomedical HIV prevention trials: guidance document. Geneva: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.
Standards are important aspects of nursing that a nurse must learn and implement every day for the rest of their nursing career. These standards provide for a nurse’s competence in the quality of care they deliver to the public. Standards offer a necessary guidance to nurses everywhere in an effort to ensure that people are treated correctly and ethically. Patients expect nurses to have a general knowledge of the medical realm and to know exactly what it is they –as nurses- are responsible for. Nurses need to have a sense of professionalism that enable the patient to feel safe and secure, knowing that a competent person is caring for him. A lack of professionalism does the opposite, making it impossible for a patient to trust or respect the nurse caring for him. Standards of nursing, if utilized correctly, give the nurse that sense of professionalism the patient is expecting. It insures for the safety of the patient and allows the nurse to provide quality health care that is expected of a medical professional.
While the data was collected by identifying patients with the highest medical costs, lowering medical costs was never Brenner’s goal; “he was more interested in helping people who received bad health care” (Gawande, 2011). Although a clearly defined list of action steps is not outlined in the literature (Gawande, 2011; “Jeffrey C. Brenner,” 2013; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2014) Brenner clearly began by using his funds to hire a staff and increase his pool of data, identified the most vulnerable patients by health care cost and emergency room and hospital visit frequency, met with the most vulnerable patients, acquired information about all of the factors affecting the patient’s health through forming relationships, and then based on the client’s needs, utilized a custom case plan to improve the delivery of health care services to the patient (Gawande, 2011; “Jeffrey C. Brenner,” 2013; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,
A powerful speech given by Don Berwick on December 2004 explains ways in which healthcare industries needs to implement in order to save lives and to reduce the mortality death rates that occur in the healthcare (i.e. no needless death). In his speech entitled “Some Is Not A Number…. Soon Is Not A Time” invites all healthcare care organization U.S. and the world to come together to save 100,000 lives by June 14th 2006 at 9am exactly 18 months from the day of the speech. In order to achieve this goal Dr. Berwick suggests there should be a high standards protocol that will help improve care and reduce patients harm.
The facts bear out the conclusion that the way healthcare in this country is distributed is flawed. It causes us to lose money, productivity, and unjustly leaves too many people struggling for what Thomas Jefferson realized was fundamental. Among industrialized countries, America holds the unique position of not having any form of universal health care. This should lead Americans to ask why the health of its citizens is “less equal” than the health of a European.
PCCEF. (2001, November 8). Physicians for Compassionate Care Friend of the Court Brief on Oregon v. Ashcroft et al. Physicians for Compassionate Care Education Foundation. Retrieved October 9, 2011, from http://www.pccef.org/articles/
Healthcare providers must make their treatment decisions based on many determining factors, one of which is insurance reimbursement. Providers always consider whether or not the organization will be paid by the patients and/or insurance companies when providing care. Another important factor which affects the healthcare provider’s ability to provide the appropriate care is whether or not the patient has been truthful, if they have had access to health, and are willing to take the necessary steps to maintain their health.
The patients should receive safe and appropriate care in return for payment equal to the level of care received (“What is Value-Based Care”, 2016). For providers, this means using affordable and proven treatments while also catering to the patient’s needs (“What is Value-Based Care”, 2016). Additionally, this model is built upon measurement which when relayed to the patient will inform them of the scope and cost of their care. Examples of measures that are tracked, provided by the article “What is Value-Based Care,” include: procedural complications, hospital-acquired infections, and readmissions; providers face penalties if these metrics are unacceptable (“What is Value-Based Care”,
AIDS is slowly becoming the number one killer across the globe. Throughout numerous small countries, AIDS has destroyed lives, taken away mothers, and has left hopeless children as orphans. The problem remains that funding for the diseases’ medical research is limited to none. In the country Brazil, HIV/AIDS has been compared to the bubonic plague, one of the oldest yet, most deadly diseases to spread rapidly across Europe (Fiedler 524). Due to this issue, Brazil’s government has promised that everyone who has been diagnosed with either HIV or AIDS will receive free treatment; however, this treatment does not include help in purchasing HIV medications, that “carry astronomical price tags” (Fiedler 525). Generic drug companies have been able to produce effective HIV medications that are not as costly if compared to the prices given by the huge pharmaceutical companies. In contrast, the U.S. government has now intervened with these generic companies hindering them from making HIV medications, which may not be as efficient if made by the pharmaceutical companies. Not only are these drug companies losing thousands of dollars against generic drug companies, but also tremendous profit that is demanded for marketing these expensive drugs as well. “How many people must die without treatment until the companies are willing to lower their prices, or to surrender their patients so generic makers can enter market? (Fiedler 525).” With this question in mind, what ways can we eliminate the HIV/AIDS epidemic across the world? With research, education, testing, and funding we can prevent the spread of HIV to others and hopefully find a cure.
..., M., Thomas, E., Smolowitz, J., & Honig, J. (2007, Dec 07). Essential health care: affordable for all?. Retrieved from www.cinahl.com/cgi-bin/refsvc?jid=374&accno=2004209136
Makarenko, J. (2007, April 1). Romanow Commission on the Future of Health Care: Findings and Recommendations | Mapleleafweb.com. Mapleleafweb.com | Canada's Premier Political Education Website!. Retrieved January 26, 2011, from http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/romanow-commission-future-health-care-findings-and-recommendations
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was first recognized as a new disease in 1981 when increasing numbers of young homosexual men succumbed to unusual opportunistic infections and rare malignancies (Gallant49).During this time, many people were contacting this disease because it was not discovered yet and people did not have knowledge about it.Scientists believe HIV came from a particular kind of chimpanzee in Western Africa. Humans contracted this disease when they hunted and ate infected animals. A first clue came in 1986 when a morphologically similar but antigenically distinct virus was found to cause AIDS in patients in western Africa (Goosby24). During this time, scientists had more evidence to support their claim about this disease. Once discovered this disease was identified as a cause of what has since become one of the most devastating infectious diseases to have emerged in recent history (Goosby101). This disease was deadly because it was similar to the Black Death, it was killing majority of the population. Since its first identification almost three decades ago, the pandemic form of HIV-1 has infected at least 60 million people and caused more than 25 million deaths ...
Spink, Gemma. "AIDS." AVERTing HIV and AIDS. 23 Dec 2009. Web. 11 Jan 2010. .
Steinbock, Bonnie, Alex J. London, and John D. Arras. "Rule-Utilitarianism versus Act-Utilitarianism." Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine. Contemporary Readings in Bioethics. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013. 12. Print.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) first came to light in 1981. There has been a long and arduous global effort on the prevention of HIV/AIDS. HIV is a virus that is spread through body fluids that affect the specific T-cells of the immune system. Without treatment HIV infection leads to AIDS and there is no cure for AIDS. HIV infection can be controlled and the importance of primary pre...
The emergence of HIV/AIDS is viewed globally as one of the most serious health and developmental challenges our society faces today. Being a lentivirus, HIV slowly replicates over time, attacking and wearing down the human immune system subsequently leading to AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) at which point the affected individual is exposed to life threatening illnesses and eventual death. Despite the fact that a few instances of this disease have been accounted for in all parts of the world, a high rate of the aforementioned living with HIV are situated in either low or medium wage procuring nations. The Sub-Saharan region Africa is recognized as the geographic region most afflicted by the pandemic. In previous years, people living with HIV or at risk of getting infected did not have enough access to prevention, care and treatment neither were they properly sensitized about the disease. These days, awareness and accessibility to all the mentioned (preventive methods, care etc.) has risen dramatically due to several global responses to the epidemic. An estimated half of newly infected people are among those under age 25(The Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic). It hits hard as it has no visible symptoms and can go a long time without being diagnosed until one is tested or before it is too late to manage.