Present the evidence both pro and con and follow up how using your ethical theory is the best way to determine whether or not your stance is really ethical

W4 Animal Research reflection Scenario

 

Hello everyone thank you for joining our session on the ethics of animal research because animals share many physiological and genetic similarities with humans medical research that issues animal testing can be tremendously helpful for furthering medical science. But do we have the right to subject animals to the imprisonment pain and suffering that this research often entails? This topic is tricky as opinions range from agreeing with all research as it currently stands to completely outlawing any kind of animal research as unnecessary and unethical. is there a reasonable middle ground? And atmosphere punctuated by extremists on both sides may make animal rights advocates seem like unreasonable obstructionists and likewise may make the medical community look cruel and apathetic with regard to the plight of test animals. The truth and possibly a reasonable solution may lie somewhere between these polls.

Our speakers today are Dr Nguyen I and Dr. Miller. We will begin with Doctor Nguyen.

Dr. Nguyen: thank you I’ll tell you right now that I’m taking the American Medical association’s line on this. There are too many antiscience rights advocates who want to do away with all testing and that is neither practical nor reasonable. A fair percentage of animal testing does either no harm or minimal harm given the potential benefits. why listen to extremists who have no background in science? They want us to do away with extremely valuable work that yields result that saves human lives it’s completely unreasonable.

Dr Miller’s opinion: Too many assumptions, Doctor Nguyen, and backing up the AMA maybe the easiest thing for us to do, given our ties to the industry, but that doesn’t make it ethical default. Many animal rights advocates professing more moderate views exist even in the medical community I should know as I am one of them. And much of the research and testing causes pain and suffering to animals often for products that definitely do not save human lives. Dr. Nguyen we know each other and I know that you have a dog can your dog suffer? would you want your dog subjected to a randomly selected currently legal test?

Dr. Nguyen: No, I would not. If your point is that we can do better, I agree. we can do better if you are advocating better oversight and more humane regulations, I can get behind that but strongly believe that human rights trump animal rights. I also believe that we do save lives with animal research in many cases. That doesn’t mean we ought to endorse inhumane treatment of test subjects or the use of test subjects in non-essential tests, as for shampoos.

Dr. Miller; Good, we need some common ground. I’m not in favor of abolishing all testing-certainly not non harmful testing, and possibly not minimally harmful testing if there is a good chance that such tests will yield results that will save lives. We might also keep in mind some testing potentially saves conspecific lives, even when it doesn’t save human lives, and is therefore not immediately useless on those grounds alone. But if we also agree that animals have rights to life without suffering then we have a long way to go and a lot of changes to make.

We have a question from the audience for you doctor why can’t alternatives such as computer simulations replace tests on animals?

Dr. Nguyen – Many cases they have but computers do have limitations. they are only able to provide models using known data because medical research often seeks answers to unknowns. A computer can’t simulate how a certain cell might interact or react with a new drug. Researchers must study actual living systems to understand the potential benefits and dangers of the treatments being tested. Federal law requires us to evaluate all new drugs devices and procedures in animals before beginning clinical human trials.

We have another question from the audience. doctor Miller how many animals are used in research in the United states?

Dr. Miller – In 2014 government statistics put the number of laboratory animals used in research at 834,453, a 6.4% drop from 2013.

 

 

Reflective Journal Template – Topic Reflection

 

Topic	Animal Research Scenario and Reflection
What are the key points of contention on this topic?
What side of the argument (stance) do you take on this topic?
What strong points does the other side of this topic have?
What were the three most important things you took away from the topic?   1.   2.   3.
Which ethical theory (of the 6 approved ones ONLY – Kant; Act Utilitarianism; Rule Utilitarianism; Care Ethics; Virtue Ethics; and Social Contract) would you apply to this topic to defend your stance? Explain fully. 250 words A)   In this reflection you must first define the key terms of the debate and what are the different types B)    Define and explain the ethical theory you chose (show me you know exactly what the theory is and does – in your own words) C)    Present the evidence both pro and con and follow up how using your ethical theory is the best way to determine whether or not your stance is really ethical D)   Conclusion – any final thoughts and opinions would go here E)    2 to 3 resources as support for your evidence (text book counts as 1)     Textbook Pence, E. G. (2021) Medical ethics: Accounts of ground-breaking cases 9th ed. New York: McGraw Hill Education.