scholarly journals Ethical Issues in the Management ofHelicobacter pyloriInfection

2003 ◽  
Vol 17 (suppl b) ◽  
pp. 62B-64B ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Axon

Medical ethics are not absolute; they change according to social attitudes, technological advances and alterations in the doctor/patient relationship. The discovery ofHelicobacter pylorihighlighted entrenched attitudes in academia and the pharmaceutical industry that were not always appropriate. The explosion of research that followed was ethically controlled by local research ethics committees and the system of peer review and editorial responsibility. Now that effective treatments are available, the control arm in trials of new therapy should be either placebo (giving the option of effective treatment later) or a first-line treatment; mono and dual therapy should not be employed because of the risk of inducing bacterial resistance. Ethical issues that still remain include whether always to test patients forH pyloriat endoscopy and what information should be given when they test positive. The most important issue is the approach of the medical profession to the high death rate carried byH pyloriinfection. Peptic ulcer and gastric cancer together account for a large number of deaths worldwide, and the medical profession and public health services have not yet grappled with this problem, neither advocating universal testing and treatment nor funding or research to determine whether this approach would be effective.

Author(s):  
Michelle McCarron

Ethics in Qualitative Research (Miller, Birch Mauthner, & Jessop, 2012), now in its second edition, uses a feminist framework to present a variety of issues pertinent to qualitative researchers. Topics include traditional challenges for qualitative researchers (e.g., access to potential participants, informed consent, overlapping roles), as well as those that have garnered more attention in recent years, particularly with regard to uses and consequences of technological advances in research. The book is critical of committees whose function it is to review proposed research and grant research ethics approval (e.g., University Research Ethics Committees [URECs], Research Ethics Boards [REBs], and Institutional Review Boards [IRBs]). The authors of this book are situated within the United Kingdom. The editors take the position that ethics oversight by the researchers themselves is preferable and that such boards and committees are not well equipped to review qualitative research. A rebuttal to this position is presented within this review. Ethics in Qualitative Research provides a good overview of ethical issues that researchers face and is effective in merging theory with practice. It would be strengthened by avoiding the debate over URECs or by offering concrete suggestions for how URECs can improve their reviews of qualitative research.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Carlson ◽  
J. Aaron Hipp ◽  
Jacqueline Kerr ◽  
Todd Horowitz ◽  
David Berrigan

BACKGROUND Image based data collection for obesity research is in its infancy. OBJECTIVE The present study aimed to document challenges to and benefits from such research by capturing examples of research involving the use of images to assess physical activity- or nutrition-related behaviors and/or environments. METHODS Researchers (i.e., key informants) using image capture in their research were identified through knowledge and networks of the authors of this paper and through literature search. Twenty-nine key informants completed a survey covering the type of research, source of images, and challenges and benefits experienced, developed specifically for this study. RESULTS Most respondents used still images in their research, with only 26.7% using video. Image sources were categorized as participant generated (N = 13; e.g., participants using smartphones for dietary assessment), researcher generated (N = 10; e.g., wearable cameras with automatic image capture), or curated from third parties (N = 7; e.g., Google Street View). Two of the major challenges that emerged included the need for automated processing of large datasets (58.8%) and participant recruitment/compliance (41.2%). Benefit-related themes included greater perspectives on obesity with increased data coverage (34.6%) and improved accuracy of behavior and environment assessment (34.6%). CONCLUSIONS Technological advances will support the increased use of images in the assessment of physical activity, nutrition behaviors, and environments. To advance this area of research, more effective collaborations are needed between health and computer scientists. In particular development of automated data extraction methods for diverse aspects of behavior, environment, and food characteristics are needed. Additionally, progress in standards for addressing ethical issues related to image capture for research purposes are critical. CLINICALTRIAL NA


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blessing Silaigwana ◽  
Douglas Wassenaar

In South Africa, biomedical research cannot commence until it has been reviewed and approved by a local research ethics committee (REC). There remains a dearth of empirical data on the nature and frequency of ethical issues raised by such committees. This study sought to identify ethical concerns typically raised by two South African RECs. Meeting minutes for 180 protocols reviewed between 2009 and 2014 were coded and analyzed using a preexisting framework. Results showed that the most frequent queries involved informed consent, respect for participants, and scientific validity. Interestingly, administrative issues (non-ethical) such as missing researchers’ CVs and financial contracts emerged more frequently than ethical questions such as favorable risk/benefit ratio and fair participant selection. Although not generalizable to all RECs, our data provide insights into two South African RECs’ review concerns. More education and awareness of the actual ethical issues typically raised by such committees might help improve review outcomes and relationships between researchers and RECs.


2020 ◽  
pp. medethics-2020-106224
Author(s):  
Saroj Jayasinghe

Sponsorship of medical conferences by the pharmaceutical industry has led to many ethical issues, especially in resource-poor developing countries. The core issue in these instances is to reduce or avoid conflicts of interests (COIs). COI is a set of circumstances that creates a risk that professional judgment or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by secondary interests. Disruption of social trust should also be considered. This deontological approach should be complemented by a consequentialist approach. Towards this, the concept of distal interests (DI) is introduced. DI lies beyond the immediately visible COIs and the consequences of immediate decisions. They are ‘distal’ in time or place: ‘DI in time’ means consequence of the decision in future scenarios, while ‘DI in space’ means those that impinge on other institutions or bodies. In judging the consequences, it is also necessary to consider the reality of the existing relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and organisers of conferences. In more developed countries, these relationships are governed by stricter regulations, adherence to codes of conduct by both parties and stronger institutional oversights. In contrast, developing countries such as Sri Lanka the regulatory environment is lax and the demarcation of interests between the pharmaceutical industry and the medical profession is considerably blurred. Therefore, establishing clear rules of engagement between the stakeholders should be considered as an attempt to clear the muddy waters. The paper proposes a set of guidelines to capture these approaches.


2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 537-540
Author(s):  
John R. Stone

The heart-rending story of Mrs. J raises many complex ethical issues. Key elements include suffering, disagreement, culture, religion, perspective, and facts. Overarching concerns include whose voices and stories should count, the connection of pain with suffering, and how healthcare ethics committees should respond.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Springer Loewy ◽  
Erich H. Loewy ◽  
Faith T. Fitzgerald

So rapidly has the field of health care ethics continued to grow that, when recently “googled,” the term produced 28.2 million hits. The challenge is to address the ethical and social issues in medicine in this very limited article space. It remains an impossible task to present more than a superficial discussion of these complex issues and the complicated cases in which they are to be found. Like good medicine, good ethics cannot be practiced by algorithm. The authors have opted to provide an operational guide to help clinicians sort through the ethical and social quandaries they must face on a daily basis. To that end, the authors have chosen to divide this chapter into the following sections: 1. A brief description of the biopsychosocial nature of ethics and how it differs from personal morality 2. A method for identifying and dealing with ethical issues 3. A discussion of the role of bioethicists and ethics committees 4. The professional fiduciary role of clinicians 5. Listings of some of the common key bioethical and legal terms (online access only) 6. A very brief discussion of the terms cited in the above listings (online access only) This reviews contains 4 tables, 8 references, 1 appendix, and 20 additional readings. Keywords: Ethical, social, right, wrong, good, bad, obligation, moral authority, critically reflective, and multiperspectival activity, Curiosity, Honesty, Patience, Open-mindedness


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Springer Loewy ◽  
Erich H. Loewy ◽  
Faith T. Fitzgerald

So rapidly has the field of health care ethics continued to grow that, when recently “googled,” the term produced 28.2 million hits. The challenge is to address the ethical and social issues in medicine in this very limited article space. It remains an impossible task to present more than a superficial discussion of these complex issues and the complicated cases in which they are to be found. Like good medicine, good ethics cannot be practiced by algorithm. The authors have opted to provide an operational guide to help clinicians sort through the ethical and social quandaries they must face on a daily basis. To that end, the authors have chosen to divide this chapter into the following sections: 1. A brief description of the biopsychosocial nature of ethics and how it differs from personal morality 2. A method for identifying and dealing with ethical issues 3. A discussion of the role of bioethicists and ethics committees 4. The professional fiduciary role of clinicians 5. Listings of some of the common key bioethical and legal terms (online access only) 6. A very brief discussion of the terms cited in the above listings (online access only) This reviews contains 4 tables, 8 references, 1 appendix, and 20 additional readings. Keywords: Ethical, social, right, wrong, good, bad, obligation, moral authority, critically reflective, and multiperspectival activity, Curiosity, Honesty, Patience, Open-mindedness


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 452-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Samuel ◽  
W. Ahmed ◽  
H. Kara ◽  
C. Jessop ◽  
S. Quinton ◽  
...  

This article reports on a U.K. workshop on social media research ethics held in May 2018. There were 10 expert speakers and an audience of researchers, research ethics committee members, and research institution representatives. Participants reviewed the current state of social media ethics, discussing well-rehearsed questions such as what needs consent in social media research, and how the public/private divide differs between virtual and real-life environments. The lack of answers to such questions was noted, along with the difficulties posed for ethical governance structures in general and the work of research ethics committees in particular. Discussions of these issues enabled the creation of two recommendations. The first is for research ethics committees and journal editors to add the category of ‘data subject research’ to the existing categories of ‘text research’ and ‘human subject research’. This would reflect the fact that social media research does not fall into either of the existing categories and so needs a category of its own. The second is that ethical issues should be considered at all stages of social media research, up to and including aftercare. This acknowledges that social media research throws up a large number of ethical issues throughout the process which, under current arrangements for ethical research governance, risks remaining unaddressed.


Cancers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edyta Marta Borkowska ◽  
Tomasz Konecki ◽  
Michał Pietrusiński ◽  
Maciej Borowiec ◽  
Zbigniew Jabłonowski

Bladder cancer (BC) is still characterized by a very high death rate in patients with this disease. One of the reasons for this is the lack of adequate markers which could help determine the biological potential of the tumor to develop into its invasive stage. It has been found that some microRNAs (miRNAs) correlate with disease progression. The purpose of this study was to identify which miRNAs can accurately predict the presence of BC and can differentiate low grade (LG) tumors from high grade (HG) tumors. The study included 55 patients with diagnosed bladder cancer and 30 persons belonging to the control group. The expression of seven selected miRNAs was estimated with the real-time PCR technique according to miR-103-5p (for the normalization of the results). Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves and the area under the curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the feasibility of using selected markers as biomarkers for detecting BC and discriminating non-muscle invasive BC (NMIBC) from muscle invasive BC (MIBC). For HG tumors, the relevant classifiers are miR-205-5p and miR-20a-5p, whereas miR-205-5p and miR-182-5p are for LG (AUC = 0.964 and AUC = 0.992, respectively). NMIBC patients with LG disease are characterized by significantly higher miR-130b-3p expression values compared to patients in HG tumors.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document