SUBJECT: Health Science Research
Please use 250 words for the initial post and 100 per reply. Also 1 reference per. Thank you!
Initial Post:
Review the Belmont Report (https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/belmont-report/index.html) and answer the following discussion question:
What is the purpose of the Belmont Report?
What are the three basic ethical principles presented in the Belmont Report and how do they relate to human research?
First Reply:
The Belmont report was created is to summarize the basic ethical principles that should apply to biomedical and behavioral research involving human subjects, these principals consist of respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. The report’s primary purpose is to protect subjects and participants in clinical trials or research studies, it also sets forth guidelines to assure these principles are followed throughout the research process.
The basic ethical principals presented in the report are respect for persons, which discusses the need to treat individuals as autonomous agents and that any person with diminished autonomy is entitled to protection. In human research, respect for persons demands that subjects enter into the research voluntarily with correct information. Beneficence is the second ethical principal, and it’s stated that persons are to be treated in an ethical manner, but efforts must also be made to secure their wellbeing, it is an obligation to do no harm and maximize possible benefits. It relates to human research because it involves considering if the research will be of greater benefit than risk to humans. Justice is the third ethical principal; this takes into consideration who ought to receive the benefits of research and bear its burdens. This principal refers to the fairness in distribution, guaranteeing that a benefit or a burden isn’t imposed unfairly on the human subject.
Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP). (2021, June 16). Read the Belmont Report. HHS.gov. Retrieved February 28, 2022, from https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/belmont-report/read-the-belmont-report/index.html
Second Reply:
The purpose of the Belmont Report is to protect human subjects within biomedical and behavioral research with principles and guidelines to follow on ethical practices associated within this type of research. By developing these principles and guidelines, the human subjects in the research is protected from immoral harm. The three main principles include respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. Respect for persons relates to a persons autonomy or the requirement to respect and protect those with diminished autonomy. In human research, respect for a persons’ decisions, or knowing and understanding when they don’t have the ability to make a decision for themselves is an ethical principle that should be followed. Also, informing the persons’ so they have all the information in order to make the correct decision is vital. Beneficence in the sense of human research is an obligation to do no harm and to maximize possible benefits and minimize possible harms. In other words, in medicine in general, first we do no harm. However, when conducting research, we may not know what may cause harm or what harm can also pose some benefits. Therefore, the ethics of maximizing possible benefits and minimizing possible harms is a good practice and guideline in human research. Finally, justice is deemed as “fairness in distribution” or “what is deserved”. In human research, injustice happens when someone who is a great fit for a benefit is denied, or when someone has been tasked with something unfairly. Justice in human research is an ethical claim to keep the benefits and burdens fair between everyone.
References:
Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP). (2021, June 16). Read the Belmont Report. HHS.gov. Retrieved February 28, 2022, from https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/belmont-report/read-the-belmont-report/index.html (Links to an external site.)