Ethical decision making

The utilitarian man is a basis for decision making in economics. And it is a description that is valid in most market situations in the western societies at least. But, the utilitarian ethics is something that few other social sciences can find as rational for human decision making outside the usual market setting, as described earlier. 

Mankind is already exposed to many carcinogens whose presence in the environment cannot be easily controlled. In view of the nature of cancer, the long latent period of its development, and the irreversibility of chemical carcinogenesis, it would be highly improper to expose the general population to an increased risk if the benefits were small, questionable, or restricted to limited segments of the population. Such benefit-risk considerations not only must be based on scientific facts but also must be ethical, with as broad a population base as possible used in the decision-making process. 

The unifying issue for this chapter is ethical decision making. An appreciation of the role of ethics in managerial decision making is essential to effective... 

How prepared are you to engender a culture for ethical decision making and practice in your organization What challenges and barriers must you face down to accomplish this endeavor ... 

Williams-Jones B, Burgess M. Social contract theory and just decision-making Lessons from genetic testing for the BRCA mutations. Kennedy Institute of Ethics J 2004 14 115-142. 

Chemistry, like any discipline, has a social structure. It relies on the interactions, behaviors, and expectations of individuals in order to function. Every social structure has a code of practices that constitutes its behavioral norms, that is, a set of rules governing what are acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. These rules are the moral philosophy of that social structure. When people find themselves in a situation in which there is a conflict or dilemma, the decision-making processes that they use to make the behavioral choices that follow are called ethical decision-making skills. Ethics, then, is the process whereby an individual, faced with a moral dilemma, arrives at a morally defensible decision. 

A scientist s past experience of ethical decision making is embedded in every value judgment he or she makes, large and small. Aspects of scientific enterprise that require ethical decision making encompass a broad range of responsibilities, including experiment design, the interpretation and report-... 

Many individuals have identified additional characteristics and responsibilities of a professional. For instance, Abraham Flexner first idenhfied the attributes of a profession in 1915, on which Isidor Thorner elaborated in 1942 (Buerki and Vottero, 1996). One of the attributes identified by Flexner and Thorner is that the profession provides a relahvely specific funchon that its practitioners depend on for their livelihood and social status. Professionals perform the necessary functions for society that society cannot provide for itself. In return for this service, society grants professionals special privileges, such as internal control and autonomy in decision making within their realms of experhse. In accepting this responsibility, professionals generally rely on a code of ethics (see Appendix A for the Code of Ethics for Pharma-... 

Use an ethical and nationally approved framework to support decision making and prioritizing needed in disaster situations. 

All of these can impinge, directly or indirectly, on the autonomy of patients, and deflect hospital care from the best principles of beneficence for each individual case. Furthermore, Bernard Lo,24 a physician and bioethicist at UCSF, discusses possible pitfalls of ethics committees There can be excessive pressure to reach agreement, impairment rather than improvement of decision making and the broader dangers of Group-think , that is attraction toward consensus overcoming the voicing of independent, and possibly discordant, points of view. 

The Encyclopedia of Bioethics defines bioethics as The systematic study of the moral-dimensions—including moral vision, decisions, conduct and policies—of the life sciences and healthcare, employing a variety of ethical methodologies in an interdisciplinary setting . Clinical ethics is considered to be a subspecialty of bioethics and refers to the daily decision making of those who care for the patient. 

ETHICAL THEORIES AND PRINCIPLES AS A FRAMEWORK FOR DECISION MAKING... 

Ethical and Judicial Affairs of the American Medical Association has written reports about age-base rationing, gender, and black-white disparities in clinical decision making. 

When a member of the REB has a personal interest in the project he or she cannot be present during the decision-making process, although disclosure of conflict and opportunity to rebut are allowed. All ongoing research must have a follow-up review proportionate to the level of risk. Such review often consists of evaluating the submission at an annual update. Ethics review must be performed by the appropriate REB of all involved institutions or jurisdictions. Ethics review must be per-... 

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