ethics in conservation medicine
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Ethics in Conservation Medicine. October 3, 2012. What are ethics?. “the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation” “a set of moral principles or a theory or system of moral values” - Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Morals. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Ethics in Conservation MedicineOctober 3, 2012
What are ethics? “the discipline dealing with what is good
and bad and with moral duty and obligation”
“a set of moral principles or a theory or system of moral values”
-Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Morals
“About morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.”
-Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon
Determinants of Ethics Personal moral values Personal responsibility Religion Culture Societal norms Professional code of conduct Laws, rules, regulations
Areas of Ethics Meta-ethics: ethical theory, ideas of
right and wrong (focus on meaning)
Normative ethics: studies how to take an ethical action (focus on actions)
Applied ethics: how to achieve an ethical outcome (focus on outcome)
What is ethical? How to determine right and wrong People are most comfortable with
dichotomous issue Often many sides to one issue Universal ethics: everyone agrees:
Don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t kill But…
Complicated Ethics Thou shalt not kill
Death penalty? Abortion? Human euthanasia? Self defense? Animals?
Defining Ethics in the Sciences Driven by professional values Concerns for values at different levels:
individual, patients, profession, society, scientific community
Mapping values helps define professional values
Identification of most troubling issues
Professional Value Mapping:Veterinarians Self oriented:
Monetary gain Personal satisfaction Recognition
Patient oriented: Alleviation of pain and suffering Promotion of patient health
Client oriented: Client’s monetary gain Satisfaction
Knowledge/Science/Theory Oriented: Scientific aspects of disease Promotion of basic research
Society oriented: Public health Individual human health Animal control
Enforcement of Ethics in Research Cannot rely on ethical code alone Numerous determinants of individual
ethics Some people are amoral or immoral Regulations introduced to safeguard the
rights of humans and animals
Ethical Review Boards Before 20th century, human and animal
research ethics left to individual researcher conscience
Professional codes of conduct Laws and customs of society Elaborate rules and regulations
developed: IACUC (animals) and IRB (humans)
IACUC Institutional Animal Care and Use
Committee Self regulating body required of all federally
funded research institutions to review and regulate animal research
Covers vertebrate animals IACUC reports to Office of Laboratory Animal
Welfare (OLAW) at the NIH
IACUC History 1963 – veterinarians form Animal Care
Panel and publish The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals
1966 – Animal Welfare Act – USDA 1971 – AWA revised – animal care
committee used for compliance 1979 – Public Health Service required
institutional committees 1986 – IACUC formally used – regulated
by PHS policy
IACUC Requirements Committee of at least 5 people Inspections of animal facilities every 6 mo Review research protocols Evaluate institutional animal care Report to OLAW at NIH yearly Maintain OLAW assurance Report noncompliance to OLAW Take institutional action to correct
compliance issues
IACUC at Tufts 2 committees for 3 campuses
(Boston/Grafton and Medford) Division of Teaching and Research
Resources (DTRR) – Grafton Campus Division of Laboratory Animal Medicine
(DLAM) – Boston campus
Tufts Research involving Animals
IACUC Protocols New protocols reviewed monthly Species and number with rationale Details of all procedures Details of anesthesia, pain relief,
euthanasia Efforts to minimize discomfort or distress Assurance that research does not
duplicate previous experiments Assurance no non-animal model exists
IRB Institutional Review Board Committee that reviews and approves
research protocols involving human subjects
FDA and DHHS Office for Human Research Protections regulate IRBs
IRB History 18th century BC - evidence of restrictions on
human use in experiments 1600s - laws pertaining to specific activities 1946 – Nuremberg Code – permissible
medical experiments after WWII 1964 – Declaration of Helsinki from World
Medical Association – governs research ethics and designs for human subjects
1966 – Public Health Service requires IRBs for federally funded research
IRB Requirements At least 5 members of different
professions Scientists and non-scientists Review research protocols involving
human subjects Ensure safety and safeguard the rights
and wellbeing of trial subjects Ensure informed consent
IRB at Tufts Provides guidance on consent forms, research training,
research guidelines, laws, institutional policies TUHS (Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University Health
Sciences) IRB Tufts Medical Center Floating Hospital for Children New England Eye Center Tufts School of Medicine Tufts School of Dental Medicine Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research
Center on Aging Friedman School of Nutrition
Tufts Institutional Review Board
HIPAA Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act Includes privacy rules for health
information Gives patients right to privacy of
personal health info Rule is balanced to permit disclosure
when needed for patient care
IRB Protocols Reviewed monthly Details of all procedures Informed consent forms HIPAA forms
IRB Forms
Environment Humans and animals protected, what
about the rest of nature? 1970 – first Earth day Dec 2, 1970 – EPA established
Ecological Ethics Values are given to non-human as well
as human nature A view not restricted to treatment of
humans Ethics focused on maintaining health of
the natural world
What are the values of conservation medicine?
Discussion of Articles
Advocacy, Ecology, and Environmental EthicsEcological Medicine Values
Biodiversity value Intrinsic value – an inherent or essential
value that is not dependent on good to humans
Demand value – value based on perceived usefulness
Ecosystem Services Water purification Air purification Carbon cycle Waste decomposition Seed dispersal Recreation
How do these services affect conservation medicine ethics?
Ethical Example: Logging A logging company has approval to
clear an old growth forest to convert to paper products. Is this ethical?
Ethical Example: Logging A logging company has approval to clear
an old growth forest to convert to paper products. Is this ethical?
Two sides: in favor of logging or not Is one side ethical, the other not? Driven by different values, thus different
ethics: Value of the trees, intrinsic vs demand Jobs, profit
Conservation Medicine Ethical Dilemmas
Taxonomic Chauvinism Parasites represent majority of species Play important ecological Many at high risk of extinction Often overlooked in conservation
medicine research and education Large vertebrates receive more
attention and more funding Ethical considerations?