Thursday, September 29, 2011

The ethics of medical research

Is medical research the new imperialism?
Just thought I would share with you guys an extract from Tony Hope's book - "Medical Ethics, a very short introduction":
"Tomorrow's medicine is today's research. That is why the question of how we allocate resources to research is at least  as important as the question of how we allocate resources to healthh care itself. But this is not a question that you will find has been the focus of much ethical discussion. Most discussion about the ethics of medical research addresses the question of how research should be regulated. Indeed, medical research is in many ways much more strictly regulated than medical practice. From a perusal of the innumerable guidelines on medical research you could be forgiven for thinking that medical research, like smoking, must be bad for your health; that in a liberal society, since it cannot be altogether banned, strict regulation is needed to minimize the harm that it can do."
Do you agree with this so-called "strict regulation" imposed on medical research? - Would be intersting to hear opinions from both sides.

2 comments:

john.watson60 said...

Hi,
Great post.
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The wacky scientist said...

Hi! Thanks :) What are your views on this topic?