Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
19.
Informed consent is one of the essential factors in permitting humans to participate in
medical experiments. What ethical principles are satisfied by informed consent? What should
be done to ensure it is truly voluntary? What information should be given to human subjects?
20.
What are the distinctions between feasibility studies and emergency use?
21.
In the practice of medicine, health care professionals use medical devices to diagnose and
treat patients. Therefore, the clinical staff must not only become knowledgeable and skilled in
their understanding of human physiology, but they must also be competent in using the
medical tools at their disposal. This requirement often results in litigation when a device fails.
The obvious question is, “Who is to blame?”
Consider the case of a woman undergoing a surgical procedure that requires the use of a
ground plate—an 8
11-inch pad that serves as a return path for any electrical current that
comes from electrosurgical devices used during the procedure. As a result of the procedure,
this woman received a major burn that seriously destroyed tissue at the site of the ground
plate.
(a)
Discuss the possible individuals and/or organizations that may have been responsible for
this injury.
(b)
Outside of seeking the appropriate responsible party, are there specific ethical issues
here?
Suggested Readings
N. Abrams, M.D. Buckner (Eds.), Medical Ethics, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1983.
J.D. Bronzino, V.H. Smith, M.L. Wade, Medical Technology and Society, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1990.
J.D. Bronzino, Management of Medical Technology, Butterworth, Boston, 1992.
A.R. Chapman, Health Care and Information Ethics: Protecting Fundamental Human Rights, Sheed and Ward,
Kansas City, KS, 1997.
N. Dubler, D. Nimmons, Ethics on Call, Harmony Books, New York, 1992.
A.R. Jonsen, The New Medicine and The Old Ethics, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1990.
J.C. Moskop, L. Kopelman (Eds.), Ethics and Critical Care Medicine, D. Reidel Publishing Co., Boston, 1985.
G.E. Pence, Classic Cases in Medical Ethics, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1990.
J. Rachels, Ethics at the End of Life: Euthanasia and Morality, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1986.
J. Reiss, Bringing Your Medical Device to Market, FDLI Publishers, Washington, DC, 2001.
E.G. Seebauer, R.L. Barry, Fundamentals of Ethics for Scientists and Engineers, Oxford Press, NY, 2001.
