scholarly journals Avoiding a spiral of precaution in mental healthcare

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Green
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Precautionary Principle ◽  
Critical Appraisal ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Face Validity ◽  
Clinical Protocols ◽  
The Precautionary Principle ◽  
Potential Risks

The precautionary principle has high face validity, but it can favour indeterminate future risks over potential current benefits. It can also have unintended consequences when applied to the design of clinical protocols and health policy. Contemporary pressures in mental healthcare may amplify the precautionary principle in practice. To mitigate against these disadvantages, we need trial designs that assess all risks (including the risk of no treatment) and also the possibility that potential risks may be successfully managed. Critical appraisal of clinical protocols and their impact are also necessary.

Balancing benefits and potential risks of vaccination: the precautionary principle and the law of unintended consequences

2021 ◽  
pp. bmjebm-2021-111773
Author(s):  
David Robert Grimes
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Precautionary Principle ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Public Confidence ◽  
The Precautionary Principle ◽  
Life Saving ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
Risk And Benefit

Vaccination is a life-saving endeavour, yet risk and uncertainty are unavoidable in science and medicine. Vaccination remains contentious in the public mind, and vaccine hesitancy is a serious public health issue. This has recently been reignited in the discussion over potential side effects of COVID-19 vaccines, and the decision by several countries to suspend measures such as the AstraZeneca vaccine. In these instances, the precautionary principle has often been invoked as a rationale, yet such heuristics do not adequately weigh potential harms against real benefits. How we analyse, communicate and react to potential harms is absolutely paramount to ensure the best decisions and outcomes for societal health, and maintaining public confidence. While balancing benefits and risks is an essential undertaking, it cannot be achieved without due consideration of several other pertinent factors, especially in the context of vaccination, where misguided or exaggerated fears have in the past imperilled public health. While well meaning, over reactions to potential hazards of vaccination and other health interventions can have unintended consequences, and cause lingering damage to public trust. In this analysis, we explore the challenges of assessing risk and benefit, and the limitations of the precautionary principle in these endeavours. When risk is unclear, cautious vigilance might be a more pragmatic and useful policy than reactionary suspensions.

The precautionary principle and unintended consequences

Kybernetes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holmes E. Miller ◽  
Kurt J. Engemann
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Precautionary Principle ◽  
Decision Model ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Decision Situation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Precautionary Principle

PurposeAll technologies have intended and unintended consequences, both favorable and unfavorable. Because the risks from implementing a technology may outweigh its rewards, the precautionary principle, illustrated by the maxim “better safe than sorry”, often is applied. Yet, the precautionary principle itself may have unintended consequences. This paper aims to discuss the precautionary principle and unintended consequences and present a model for analyzing the resulting implications.Design/methodology/approachA deficiency in applying the precautionary principle often is forgoing a quantitative analysis. In this paper, the authors apply decision analysis and decision analytic methodologies. Specifically, they present a decision model which can be used when analyzing the consequences of using the precautionary principle. The methodology incorporates decision-makers’ attitude in the determination of the preferred decision policy. The authors illustrate the methodology by determining a decision policy regarding the application of the precautionary principle in a situation with potential unintended consequences.FindingsThe findings indicate that a generic decision model structure for assessing the use of the precautionary principle, as illustrated in a decision tree, can be used when implementing a new technology. The results of the analysis indicate that a decision-maker’s attitude plays an important role in determining a preferred decision policy for this dynamic decision situation.Originality/valueThis research breaks new ground by proposing a decision analytic methodology where quantitative analysis can be applied to address problems where technologies are implemented with unintended consequences and where the precautionary principle is applied.

The Fate of Environmentally Relevant Chemical Compounds

KronoScope ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-229
Author(s):  
Jean M. Smolen
Keyword(s):  
Precautionary Principle ◽  
Marcellus Shale ◽  
Chemical Compounds ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Chemical Substances ◽  
The Precautionary Principle ◽  
Sources Of Pollution

Over the last few generations, our quality of life has improved with the development of specialized chemical compounds that have led to new products and new sources of pollution. Time is of the essence as we consider the prevalence of these compounds in the natural environment well past their intended lifetimes. The scientific community has gained insights into the reactivity and persistence of organic pollutants, insights that ought to allow society to make better decisions regarding the use and disposal of chemical substances in the future. History illustrates many examples of how using poorly understood substances can result in unintended consequences, reinforcing the need for the Precautionary Principle for decision-making under uncertainty. A case study examining drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale of the eastern United States exemplifies how a new use of multiple chemicals may have such consequences, a situation calling for application of the Precautionary Principle.

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