Question

CHAPTER TEN WORKSHEET 1. Was the Tuskegee Experiment an ethical use of medical research? If not, why not? How would you have handled the ethical questions raised by the Tuskegee Experiment? 2. Why does Managed Care create ethical issues for the medical office? 3. What two types of clinical trials are available for medical research? What is the difference between the two types of clinical trials?

Answer 1

Answer 1) No, the Tuskegee experiment was not an ethical use of medical research. This is because the patients involved in this study were not treated for their disease (syphilis) even though the cure for the disease has been approved. In addition to the fact that the information was withheld from the patients and uninformed consents were procured, the biased nature of the researchers were also the highlights of this experiment as they believed that the affected race was responsible for having syphilis.

I would handle the ethical questions raised in the Tuskegee experiment by enforcing strict ethical laws and grant sanctioning rules. Also, I would emphasize the importance of the informed consent to the patients, proper communication about the disease diagnosis between doctors and patients, and unaltered filling of the results of the experiment.

Answer 2) Managed care creates ethical issues for the medical office because it involves providing cost-effective health care. This was observed that in attempting to make this program cost-effective the credibility of the physicians and staff involved in such programs have been compromised. These programs have to be more focussed on the needs of patients rather than just making money on the cost of better health of their patients.

Answer 3) Two types of clinical trials are observational trials and interventional trials. Observational trials are those in which the researchers notice the impact of different situations on the patients. In this type of study, the researchers can choose the patients for the study but they do not influence any decision about their treatment plans. Interventional trials are those in which the impact of any drug or treatment plan is studied on the patients. The patients taking the drugs or undergoing treatment are then compared with the placebo group for testing the effectiveness of the treatment plan.