This research was supported in part by a grant from the Sample Grant Program.
Abstract
Experts have opined that while conducting human experimentation, certain norms be followed that are accepted by the medical profession. These norms which are called the ethics of medical research(Tikveel, 1949), have created a clear divide between routine medical practice and medical research. The role of medical research ethics is to provide a reference point that will help a researcher find answers to ethical questions that might arise while doing medical research(Beauchamp, 2008).
Keywords: Ethics, Medical Ethics, practice, answers, medical research
- Ethical considerations for research project
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Three ethical principles apply to all medical research. The first of these principles is the principle of respect for persons. There are two parts to this principle, which are that individuals are treated as autonomous agents and that persons with less capacity to take decisions for themselves are given special protection. Persons who participate in medical research must provide full and free (without coercion) voluntary consent to participation, after an understanding of what the research involves. On the other hand, there are people who have diminished ability to take decisions for themselves, like children or elderly people. In such cases, special considerations should be given to protect them. The second principle of ethical research is beneficence. Here research participants are given an undertaking that they will not be harmed because of their participation in the research and all efforts will be undertaken to maximize benefits while reducing possible harms. The third principle of ethical medical research is the principle of justice.
Human participant selection for medical research should be carefully done, after due consideration of whether they would be beneficiaries of the subsequent applications of the research in practice. If participants are being selected for research simply because of their easy availability or vulnerability, and not for reasons directly related to the problem being studied, then there is a violation of the principle of justice(National Institutes of Health, 1979). Finally practice is defined as those activities that are designed to enhance the well being of the patient with a reasonable expectation of success and research is defined as an activity designed to test a hypothesis and arrive at a truth. The distinction between the two should be clear without overlap, while conducting research.
- Ethical Principle Useful For My Research
References
Beauchamp, T. (2008). The Belmont Report. The Oxford Textbook of Clinical Research Ethics, 1–10. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books? hl=en&lr=&id=vKFYAtcLAxgC&oi=fnd&pg=PA149&dq=The+belmont+report&ots=Ik-b2WdUi3&sig=47hU6RE074DjZSisJIZPdP_4a7s\nhttp://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=vKFYAtcLAxgC&oi=fnd&pg=PA149&dq=The+Belmont+Report&ots=Ik-b2WdUj5&sig=SZO0TZ8UPp-BuSBhzezjY_QJOuE
National Institutes of Health. (1979). The Belmont Report. The Belmont Report Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research, 4–6. Retrieved from http://www.salesianos-cadiz.com/Descargas/Escolar/ESO-Bachillerato/Bachillerato/2do Bachillerato/2do A/InformeBelmont.pdf
Tikveel, W. (1949). Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg military tribunals under control council law. U.S. Government Printinc Office, 2, 181–182.
