After consultation with a number of experts as well as other parents who have be

Question

After consultation with a number of experts as well as other parents who have been offered Vosoritide for their children, the parents-to-be decide not to enroll their child in any trials of Vosoritide. They are very concerned about the unknown long-term consequences of this treatment and the lack of data on benefits to adults who’ve received the treatment. They are also concerned with their ability to care for a baby (e.g. one in diapers) who would quickly outgrow them while still in early childhood.

4) Please identify two of the four principles of biomedical ethics that are applicable in this situation. Explain why these are applicable and what they suggest about the morality of the parental decision (Note: this is another place where some Google searches and citations might be helpful).

Explanation / Answer

According to the information the two basic principles of biomedical ethics which are applicable in this situation and their suggestiveness about morlity of parental decisions can be found as below:

1. Principle of autonomy: Accordingly, this principle suggests that the patient must have the right to decide about the nature of treatment modality for himself according to his will and capability to undergo that treatment. The patient is supposed to think rationally after knowing all pros and cons about the treatment and then decide what is best for him/her. Here, a child cannot take such a decision for himself and hence the parents are morally bound to understand all the aspects of treatment and then decide if they should go for such a treatment for their child or not.

2. Principle of non-maleficence: According to this priniciple, it is the duty of the healthcare providers to provide a non-life threatening and non-harming treatment modality to the patient which can help him/her sustain a better life. The moral obligation of parents is very important here in this case because the parents are supposed to understand the possible and unknown/un-explored harms of the particular treatment and then decide whether they want their kids to undergo this treatment or not.

Thus, the principles of biomedical ethics are very critically involved in this treatment modality and parents are morally bound to follow these principles for their kids.

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