BOOMY's blog: "ETHICAL ISSUES"

Freedom for life, liberty and death... California Compassionate Choices Act (C³ Act)is based on the simple principle that people should be free to make important end-of-life decisions based on their own values and beliefs (Compassionate Choices, 2006). The Act is similar to the Death with Dignity Law that Oregon passed in 1998. Since the law was passed, in Oregon there were a little under 300 assisted deaths compared to the 86,000 natural deaths. The act legalizes assisted suicide for those who are terminally ill. The patient is given a lethal pill that they can take when they feel it is the right time. Many groups are against this Act. The Catholic Church is against the Act because the Catholic faith is against assisted death. Activist predict insurance companies will press for terminally ill patients to take this route to save money. The ethical issue faced is should it be legal for the terminally ill to hasten their death? ...Maybe Kevorkian was right??? Give me your 2 cents... http://www.caforaidindying.org/index.php

If you can prevent your daughters from developing one of the leading cancer killer of women, would you? Some states are adding the HPV vaccine as a required inoculation for girls before entering the 6th grade. This has outrages many communities and religious groups. California, for example, is in the process of passing a bill to mandate it for girls entering the 6th grade. Why is it so controversial? HPV is a sexually transmitted virus. Parents, abstinence advocates and religious groups argue that the vaccine will cause a false sense of security for young girls into becoming sexually active. Facts about HPV... The Human Papillomavirus is the leading cause of Cervical Cancer. 80% of women will come in contact with a strain of this virus before the age of 50. 10,000 new infections are documented in the US, of those 3,700 are in the precancerous state. HPV usually is undetected and clears up on its own. In some cases women may develop either genital warts or cervical cancer. Strain 16 and 18 are known to cause cervical cancer, also known as high-risk strains. Strain 6 and 11 cause genital warts, also known as low-risk strains. LINKS http://www.tell-someone.com http://www.gardasil.com/

The case of the “pillow angel” has drawn worldwide attention. The case refers to Ashley a mentally disabled 9-year-old girl with the mental capacity of a 3 month old. She is neurologically and cognitively impaired. To keep her manageable her parents consulted geneticists, pediatricians and many other doctors to decide on available treatments to improve the quality of life of their child. Each treatment was decided upon and discussed with lawyers and an ethics committee of 40 people. A combination of treatments were decided upon including a hysterectomy, breast bud removal and an appendectomy. Then high-doses of estrogen were administered over the course of 2 years to keep her at small stature - 4’5”. Reasoning of Treatments Hysterectomy – To keep Ashley from having menstrual cycle and the pains associated with menstruation and to prevent the possibility of pregnancy. Breast Bud Removal – Big breasts run on both sides of Ashley’s family, the removing of the breast buds will alleviate discomfort and the need for future breast tissue removal. Appendectomy – Ashley is unable to express when she is feeling pain or discomfort, since 5% of the population will have appendicitis her parents took the precaution to have the operation done. Estrogen Therapy – Ashley was administered estrogen to keep her of small stature and 65 pounds in weight. This will alleviate her from getting bedsores and pressure ulcers. The parents also state this will keep Ashley manageable and easier to bathe and strapped into her wheelchair. Problem The treatments have been argued by ethicists to benefit the parents and not Ashley. Several opinions litter the internet in regards to this issue. Is keeping a child from developing the answer to dealing with mentally disabled children? What if there was a misdiagnoses or a treatment was found in the future? Here is a direct quote from Ashley’s Parents Blog… "Even though caring for Ashley involves hard and continual work, she is a blessing and not a burden. Unless you are living the experience ... you have no clue what it is like to be the bedridden child or their caregivers." On the Net: Ashley's blog: http://ashleytreatment.spaces.live.com News Story: http://www.saukvalley.com/articles/2007/01/05/news/state/353008164366814.txt Attenuating Growth: http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/160/10/1013

Genetically modified food has it been in your body? If you have ever bought those vine ripened tomatoes that look super red and pretty in those fancy plastic containers you have eaten gm food. Those tomatoes originate from flavr savr the first FDA approved gm food. The Flavr Savr tomato ripens on the vine – resulting in fuller flavor. It is modified so that it remains firm after harvesting. A modification of this gm food is still in the market. You think it ends in tomatoes? Most soybeans, cotton, corn and canola in the US are GM in one way or another. Unlike organic, and treated foods gm food DO NOT need labels. The soybean has been gm with DNA from leeches to give it the chewier consistency. That is why those veggie burgers all those health nuts like have the consistency of meat. GM Disaster... The tryptophan disaster in the end of the 1980-ies and beginning of 1990-ies killed 37 and permanently disabled 1.500 people in the US in a very painful disease called eosonophil myalgia syndrome (EMS). It was caused by one or more extremely poisonous substances present in a tryptophan food supplement, which was produced by genetically engineered bacteria. GM Benefits... GM has produced crops that are resilient to bacteria and insects. Most genetic modifications benefit the farmer not the consumer. Crops... Some GM crops are sugar beets, oilseed, carnations, chicory, cotton, maize, melon, papaya, potato, rice, soybeans, sunflowers and tomatoes. Final Thoughts... 34,000 products in the US and CANADA use some form of GM food as an ingredient.

For my MBA program I have to discuss a current ethical issue each week for class. Some of the things we've discussed are pretty interesting and I'm going to blog them here for discussion, comments and reactions. This will be a weekly project.