Answer & Explanation:Ethics Assignment for MA 132
Choose one
of these cases and write a 200-250 word (approximately one-half page,
single-spaced) essay discussing the ethical issues involved. Indicate which
case you are writing about at the top of the page. Your essay answer will be
evaluated primarily on relevance, thoughtfulness, and understanding of the
ethical issues we addressed in class.
Case 1: Haiti refused a donation of
tens of thousands of doses of cholera vaccine
in late
2010. The vaccines could have helped limit the spread of an epidemic that
went on to
claim more than 6,600 lives. It was estimated that vaccinating
just 5% of
Haitians could have reduced the number of cases by 11%.
The
rejection was justified at the time by concerns over the social
tensions
that could be sparked by distributing limited quantities only to
some
Haitians. Do you think the justification is ethically correct?
Case 2: Long ago, doctors drew a blood
specimen from you as part of treating minor anemia.
Unknown to
you, the sample was stored. Now researchers plan to use stored samples from
you and many
other people to look for genetic factors that may influence anemia. It is no
longer
possible to ask your consent. Modern technology can read your entire genetic
makeup from
the blood sample. Your identity is not
attached to the blood sample; it is known only to come from (say
) a
20-year-old white female being treated for anemia. Is it OK for them to use
the sample for this research?
Case 3: A study randomly assigned
abandoned children in Romanian orphanages to move to foster homes or to remain
in an orphanage. All of the children would otherwise have remained in an
orphanage. The foster care was paid for by the study. There was no informed
consent because the children had been abandoned and had no adult to speak for
them. The experiment was considered ethical because people who cannot consent
can be protected by enrolling them only in minimal-risk
research,
whose risks do not exceed those of everyday life, and because the study aimed
to produce results that would primarily benefit abandoned, institutionalized
children. Do you agree?
Case 4: Students sign up to be subjects
in a psychology experiment. When they arrive, they are told that interviews are
running late and are taken to a waiting room. The experimenters then stage a
theft of a valuable object left in the waiting room. Some subjects are alone
with the thief, and others are in pairsthese are the treatments being
compared. The researchers want to know if the subjects will report the theft.
The students had agreed to take part in an unspecified study, and the true
nature of the experiment is explained to them afterward. Do you think this
study is ethically OK?