Please reply intelligently and concisely to the following post:
Listed in the Belmont Report Part B is the basic ethical principles. These principles heavily ensure the protection of human subjects. Within this report, there are the topics of respect for persons, beneficence, and justice (Office for Human Research Protections, 2018). These topics should be evaluated closely to ensure a healthy research study. Response to Post on the Belmont Report Essay Paper
The first subject of respect for persons relies on the researchers’ responsibility that people are autonomous in the process. If the individual does not have the capability of autonmy, their rights should be protected. An autonomous person is capable of making their own decisions. Given the induvial has the right to make their own decisions, they have the right to opt-out of a research study at any point in time. There are protected rights that need to be demonostrated within a study as far as nonautonomous human subjects. Examples of individuals who fit this criterion are people with mental disabilities and pediatrics. These individuals do not have the capability of making their own decisions. Harm versus benefit criteria should be looked at heavily before administering the research to the nonautonomous human subject. The second subject includes beneficence. When it comes to any research participant, including the vulnerable, it is essential not to harm these patients and provide them with the maximum benefits and minimum harm. The benefits should outweigh the risk within all studies conducted with human subjects. Within the basic ethical principles, the last subject is justice. Justice includes equal treatment for all. Human subject treatment should be fair in distribution (Office for Human Research Protections, 2018). Response to Post on the Belmont Report Essay Paper
The patient values are significant to consider when conducting research. Whenever there is a conflict with the patient’s values within the study, there should be an opt-out process. This opt-out provides the patient with the autonomy to make decisions. The role and responsibility of the researchers are to provide the same clinical judgment throughout the study. This philosophy ensures that every participant is treated the same throughout the research process.
Ensuring that these values are upheld during the human subject research studies will protect vulnerable and nonvulnerable population subgroups. It is the responsibility of all people involved in the research to ensure the patient is always protected.
Theoretical Frameworks and Models for Change: Response to Post on the Belmont Report of 1979
The post is a correct description of the spirit of the Belmont report published in 1979, in response to various historical anecdotes of human rights violations in biomedical research. One of the most prominent of these violations is that which involved Henrietta Lacks; an African American woman. When she had cervical cancer and was admitted at the Johns Hopkins University Hospital, her cancer cells were harvested for research without her consent or knowledge. These cells later on became known as HeLa cells and were circulated to scientists around the globe since they were reproducing at a rate never seen before (Ciaccia, 2010). The Belmont Report was written to guarantee the protection of human subjects of research in terms of their dignity and rights.
I agree with what is written in the post entirely. The spirit of the Belmont Report is captured by the four bioethical principles advanced by Beauchamp and Childress (OHRP, 2018). These are autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice (Haswell, 2019). Indeed, the first concern of the report is the respect for autonomy of the human research subject. Autonomy means that the subject is allowed to give informed consent without deception or coercion. They also have to agree to what will happen to them or their body parts. In the case of subjects who cannot directly exercise autonomy such as mentally-ill patient or children, I agree that it is the responsibility of the researcher to protect their rights. All human subjects of research need to have an option of opting out of research should they feel that they are uncomfortable at any moment. The research should only bring benefit to the subjects (beneficence) and no harm should befall the subjects (nonmaleficence or primum non nocere). Lastly but not least, I also agree that there should be equal treatment to all human subjects of research just as stated in the Belmont Report (OHRP, 2018). Vulnerable population demographics used in research must receive the same treatment as the non-vulnerable study subjects.
References
Ciaccia, L. (2010). The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, 83(3), 165. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2946133/
Haswell, N. (2019). The four ethical principles and their application in aesthetic practice. Journal of Aesthetic Nursing, 8(4), 177-179. https://doi.org/10.12968/joan.2019.8.4.177
Office for Human Research Protections [OHRP] (January 15, 2018). The Belmont Report: Ethical principles and guidelines for the protection of human subjects of research. https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/belmont-report/read-the-belmont-report/index.html .Response to Post on the Belmont Report Essay Paper