Journal Assignment Entry 7
Ethics in Health Science
MSCI 640
Liberty University
As the integrity officer, I would have to hold the responsibility of ethics and integrity on
the research community. After hearing with Dr. Sakar said to Dr. Dickenson about the allegations
openly, I would have to pull them both aside and have a conversation with them to understand
their viewpoints and reasoning. I would not be able to hear these concerns and obligations and do
nothing about them as the integrity officer. Dr. Sakar would need to know that these allegations
or rumors that are going around could put Dr. Dickensons' reputation in jeopardy even if he is
not at fault. Another thing that I would want to do is confirm if the rumors and allegations held
by Dr. Sakar about Dr. Dickenson were true. There needs to be an investigation done about this
matter however until then, I would need to talk to Dr. Sakar and Dr. Dickenson and remind them
that they are professionals in the workplace, and not to mention affects the trainees want to stay
in this environment.
The next case study seems to show scientific misconduct being done. Being that Joshua
and Dr. Fang are both trying to leave information out, it is wrong and goes against scientific
conduct. I do not think that they should edit the figures/pictures or the data. I also do not think
that Dr. Fang should think about cropping the image in order for the data not to be seen. It seems
that Dr. Fang wants to only show what he wants people to see even though it is not the whole
truth. Even though Joshua has good intentions, along with Ellen having good intentions, I do still
believe that this is scientific misconduct. I would want Joshua to take Ellen’s advice in order to
avoid a needed explanation for the images being altered and tampered with. I do not think that
Joshua should add the data analysis at all if he intends to tamper with the results and image. If
Joshua were to do this, his actions would not be ethical nor demonstrate integrity.
The Wagner text question one, it asks if fetal genetic testing is unethical. After reading
some students' replies, I have thought through both sides and agree with most of them because
fetal genetic testing is justified however can be unethical. A classmate wrote that fetal genetic
testing is both justified and ethical because the parents would want to know their baby’s future
and if there are some mutated genes, then the parents would not have to waste their time and
money if that is not the kind of baby that they wanted. I would agree with this classmate financially
and wanting a perfect baby, however, I cannot ignore the fact that the baby’s genetics plays a
factor to if they should live or not. There are some extremes to genetic testing and unfortunately,
deciding to whether a fetus should live or not based on the genetics both parents gave them is not
ethical at all. I understand that if a fetus were to have serious birth defects that diminish its quality
of life, but I feel as if it is up to the baby if they want to experience life that way or not. There are so
many cases where babies have a serious birth defect but still manage to make the most of their life
and the parents are happy. I do not think that it should be up to the parents to decide if they want
the baby to live or not. The parents should not be able to pick and chose what kind of baby they
want and I doubt that the parents would love their child less even if they did have a birth defect.
However, the reason that I think that fetus genetic testing can be useful is if the testing is done for
the right reasons, perhaps wanting to check up on the baby or to even prepare themselves for how
the baby will turn out. There need to be good intentions when doing this kind of testing.
The next question in this week’s discussion is if this relates to neo-eugenics.
Neo-eugenics is nearly genetic manipulation for the sake of improving the human race using
desired qualities. I think that any process like this plays God and His plan for all of us. I think
that it also dehumanizes life and what life is all about. Being that this process seems fairly new to
people, I would think that some kind of mutation or new diseases would sprout from this. I feel
as though this is nearly genetically mutating people for the “greater good” as if being themself is
not good enough. If anything, I think that if parents want a “perfect” child, they would need to
find someone that they find perfect and want their baby to have the qualities that they love in the
other person. I also would think that finding a lover or love itself would be changed just because
everything would be about bettering the human race by science and not with love. I will be
honest, I feel as though sperm banks are even borderline unethical. I understand that women
want to have a baby with a well-groomed, intelligent man, but it just seems like they are
choosing what their baby will look like by searching through a catalog. Not to mention that the
occupation is listed in those catalogs and somewhat determines if the baby will be smart or not.
Speaking on the matter, I think this is even manipulation to improve the human race. There will
be no more diversity if this became a thing.
Is sex selection ethical? I do not think that this is ethical because, once again, it goes
against God’s plan and can also be seen as playing Him. God will give you what you need, not
what you want. There is an old saying in my family that if a mother receives a boy, then the
mother lacks confidence, if a mother receives a girl, then the mother needs maturity. There is no
saying if sex selection becomes a worldwide theme. It also goes against nature. It is popular for
women to want a boy first and then a girl as the second child. If everyone decides to do this,
what will happen in creating offspring? Not saying that this would actually happen, but as an
example, there would be thousands of men the same age and not many women in the same age
range. If speaking more hypothetically, then men would have to choose to have babies with
either an older woman or a younger one. I am a firm believer that what happens, is meant to
happen and I do not think anything about a fetus or sex selection should be tampered with.
Is surrogacy ethical? This is a hard question to answer because I want to say that I agree
with both sides however I do not. A classmate stated in their response that it is ethical to an
extent because it is the only way that a person could have a child however this type of pregnancy
is a luxury. Though there are cases where the parent does not want to have the child themselves
because of selfish reasons like maintaining their bodies. I think that in some ways this is a selfish
act but it really depends on the parent's reasoning. I also think that if the woman is too old to
have kids, then maybe they should not think about having another one because it is not in God’s
plan for them. In cases like this, where the mother is too old to bear a child themselves, then
chances are they are not of age to have one at all. Where will the mother be when the child gets
older? Will they have passed or unhealthy? Age plays a big factor in a child’s life. I believe that a
child needs a parent who is able to get up and play with them outside or be around when they hit
puberty or even attend their wedding. The parent may want this for their own sake but thinking
about the child’s future and mental issues that could potentially arise from this is unethical. I do
not think that people should have babies just because they want one, they need to understand
how this concept affects their child. Scientifically speaking, there are a bunch of chemicals that
release from the brain when going through child-birth. The mother will miss out on all of these
experiences with their baby. Not to mention that a deep connection occurs when the baby is
forming or birthed. Along with the chemicals that come from the surrogate and in my opinion, I
think that being a surrogate is like putting up their child for adoption. I tried relating to and
understanding both sides of this topic however I still believe that surrogacy is unethical.
References
1.Macrina. (2014).
research(Fourth edition.). ASM Press.
2.Wagner. (2008).Biomedical Ethics.Greenhaven Press.
Scientific integrity: text and casesin responsible conduct of
