Biomedical ethics and the biomedical engineer: a review.
Biomedical engineering is responsible for many of the dramatic advances in modern medicine. This has resulted in improved medical care and better quality of life for patients. However, biomedical technology has also contributed to new ethical dilemmas and has challenged some of our moral values. Bioengineers often lack adequate training in facing these moral and ethical problems. These include conflicts of interest, allocation of scarce resources, research misconduct, animal experimentation, and clinical trials for new medical devices. This paper is a compilation of our previous published papers on these topics, and it summarizes many complex ethical issues that a bioengineer may face during his or her research career or professional practice. The need for ethics training in the education of a bioengineering student is emphasized. We also advocate the adoption of a code of ethics for bioengineers.
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Department of Bioengineering, Clemson University, SC 29634-0905, USA.
Saha
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D000826:Animal Testing Alternatives; D000827:Animal Welfare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D000818:Animals; D000830:Animals, Laboratory; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D001698:Biomedical Engineering / Q000193:education; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D016265:Conflict of Interest; D003361:Cost Allocation; D004865:Equipment and Supplies, Hospital / Q000191:economics; D004995:Ethics, Professional / Q000193:education; D006805:Human Experimentation; D006801:Humans; D010348:Patient Care Team; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration
D001672:Biocompatible Materials