Slide 1 : 1 Bioethics – What does it mean? bioethics : biology + ethics
bioethics looks at the difficult decisions which have to be made in the areas of biology and medicine. What does ethics mean?
What difficult ethical decisions do doctors and medical researchers have to make?
Slide 2 : 2 Bioethics – Blood donation Have you ever donated blood or had a blood transfusion?
Are people paid to donate blood in your country?
Should people be paid to donate blood?
Some people think it is wrong to donate or receive blood. Why? blood bank
to donate blood
a blood donation
blood type, group
transfusion
Slide 3 : 3 Bioethics – Organ transplants Would you like parts of your body to be used for transplants after you die?
Should living people be allowed to donate organs and should they be paid for these organs?
There is a shortage of organ donors. Should laws be passed which allow doctors to take organs from dead people without the permission of the patient or family?
Scientists are experimenting with animal transplants. What do you think about getting a kidney from a pig? Is it a good idea to breed animals for ‘spare parts’ for people? transplant: to move something from one place/body to another
organs: heart, kidneys, lungs and so on
organ donor: someone who gives their organs
donor cards
live donor
Slide 4 : 4 Bioethics – Unnecessary procedures In some countries, especially where medical insurance is common, doctors have been accused of the following:
over-prescribing drugs
unnecessary tests and surgical procedures
prescribing drugs from companies which give the doctors gifts, such as free holidays.
Do you think this happens in your country?
Slide 5 : 5 Bioethics – Magic Formula Do weight loss programs really work?
Can we take a tablet to lose weight?
What protection do consumers in your country have against false advertising of medical products? An American court recently found three leading manufacturers of weight loss pills guilty of false advertising. A Superior Court Judge found that the company had not only exaggerated the findings of clinical trials, but had also pressured some researchers into falsifying results that were published in scientific articles.
Slide 6 : 6 Bioethics – Telling the truth? A 10 year old girl is diagnosed with cancer. Her father died of cancer 4 years earlier.
Her mother tells the doctor that she doesn’t want her child to be treated. Her husband became very depressed when he found out he had cancer. He also became very sick after having chemotherapy treatment and died of the cancer anyway. The mother doesn’t want her daughter to suffer in the same way. What should the doctor do?
Can a 10 year old girl make her own decisions about her treatment?
Slide 7 : 7 Does the doctor have a responsibility to tell the family?
Do you think the family would want to know? Bioethics – Doctors’ responsibilities A man is sick and needs a new kidney. His adult children may have suitable kidneys for transplant. So the doctor tests them. When he tests them, he finds that one of the children is not the child of the patient who needs the transplant.
Slide 8 : 8 Bioethics - Designer babies What decisions would you make in the following situations?
A couple want to choose the sex of their baby.
A couple want to have an abortion because they have found out that their baby will be a girl.
The birth of a child with the right DNA would save the life of its elder brother who has a fatal illness. Would you help the couple?
Slide 9 : 9 Bioethics – Deciding priorities A lot of medical treatment is partly paid for by the sick person and partly paid for by the taxpayer. Research is paid for by pharmaceutical companies, charities and the government. There is a limited amount of money. If we can’t help everyone, who should we help – the old, the young? How can we decide?
What are the most important health issues today? Where should research money be spent ?