Medical Ethics

ISSN Print 2713-0894 ISSN Online 2713-0908

BIOMEDICAL JOURNAL OF ERMC EASTERN EUROPEAN

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Kubar OI

This work is the author's commentary on events and documents that are important for the correct interpretation of the history on bioethics and the search for a moral basis for preventing ethical catastrophes in the future. The real reason for turning to the subject of the article was an in-depth study of the roots of the formation of ethical self-awareness and ethical legal awareness in Russia, which we presented earlier in the previous issue of the journal of Medical Ethics (2021, V. 9, No. 1.). The historical memory of the Nuremberg trial and the realities of the humanitarian catastrophe of the COVID-19 pandemic certainly give a special impetus to the development of this topic. Important issue is a special request of the journal editors to write this particular article. The reason is the author's discovery and presentation of the unique and forgotten documents of extraordinary importance, as well as the strategic focus of the journal's policy on an objective presentation of the facts of national ethics / bioethics in order to form the integrity of the role and influence of Russia and to improve the quality of education in this area.

Received: 2021-04-21

Published online: 2021-10-15

DOI: 10.24075/medet.2021.018

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VIEWS 1200

Kartashova MK, Kiseleva YaV, Semenistaya MCh, Pavlov ChS

The article elaborates on the principles and modern methodology of evaluating vaccine safety, efficacy and effectiveness. The main parameters and criteria of successful immunization are described in plain and concise language. Special attention is paid to the analysis of clinical and epidemiological aspects of vaccination against Covid-19. The article provides the most recent epidemiological statistics on this disease. A report of the efficacy and safety of the BNT162b2 vaccine is given as an example.

Received: 2021-04-08

Published online: 2021-10-14

DOI: 10.24075/medet.2021.017

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VIEWS 1357

For many centuries, infectious diseases have posed a serious threat: epidemics and pandemics claim lives and multiply the burden on health systems and countries' economies. Humanity managed to defeat a number of infections only thanks to specific preventive measures, i.e., vaccination. In 2020, society faced the new COVID-19 virus that has swept the whole world. The situation required swift and decisive action, including in what concerned vaccine development. It has also raised a number of ethical issues. The article analyzes ethical issues related to clinical trials and vaccination against COVID-19 by studying the regulations, literary sources and bioethical incidents. The key problems identified are: human participation in clinical trials during a pandemic, availability and, simultaneously, voluntariness of vaccination, public confidence in the SARS-Cov-2 vaccines approved for clinical practice. The study showed that the basic principles of clinical trials, voluntariness and awareness, are violated. It was revealed that despite all the efforts of public organizations and WHO initiatives in the world, there is a pronounced imbalance in the availability of the developed vaccines, while the vaccination voluntariness principle is violated by application of various mechanisms to put pressure on people, and public confidence in the developed vaccines can be called insufficient. In general, the problem of vaccination against COVID-19 remains relevant and requires comprehensive discussion.

Received: 2021-04-12

Published online: 2021-10-14

DOI: 10.24075/medet.2021.016

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VIEWS 1323

This article analyzes the book "Bioethics: Bridge to the Future" by Potter VR as a personal message, a manifesto of an intellectual, a display of spiritual search against the backdrop of a crisis of ideologies, then looks into the factors that shaped the bioethical concept and establishes the significance this work and the bioethical concept have in the 21st century.

Received: 2021-05-21

Published online: 2021-10-13

DOI: 10.24075/medet.2021.015

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VIEWS 1346

Pavlov ChS, Varganova DL, Svistunov AA, Gluud C

In the age of information technology development, healthcare professionals around the world have the opportunity to simultaneously access advanced scientific developments, modern achievements, and the results of new clinical trials. The clinical guidelines of the international medical communities are based on the results of meta-analyses of clinical trial data. As new medical challenges emerge, clinical trial data are reviewed and re-analyzed. Unfortunately, to date, the results of not all studies are made public, or are presented selectively, indicating the positive effects of a particular technology (intervention), which makes it difficult to critically evaluate the results of work and makes the task of assessing the true effectiveness of the intervention more difficult. The problem of transparency of research data with the preservation of personal data of participants remains relevant for decades. This article is focused on possible ways of solving this problem and the analysis of the current situation in the world.

Received: 2021-05-02

Published online: 2021-10-13

DOI: 10.24075/medet.2021.014

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VIEWS 1343

Bryzgalina EV, Gumarova AN

Neuroethics is an interdisciplinary field of study that considers ethical issues raised by increased understanding of how the brain works and development of technologies of research and influence the brain function. In addition, neuroethics is understood as the study of neural processes of moral decision-making. Originally, the problems of neuroethics have developed in bioethical context. With the expansion of the set of questions and the emergence of a separate discussion of the ethics of neuroscience, as well as the development of research on classical issues of ethics using neuroimaging technologies, neuroethics is becoming a separate field of study. In the article, the authors consider two approaches to the relationship between neuroethics and bioethics: (1) neuroethics as a special area of bioethics and (2) neuroethics as an independent discipline that has its specific features. Understanding neuroethics as a part of bioethics predetermines the consideration of its problems as a study of the social consequences of the achievements of neurosciences and the normative regulation of medical and research practice. The approaches that define neuroethics as an independent field emphasize the combination of multidirectional study (ethics of neuroscience and neuroscience of ethics) as a specific feature of the discipline. These studies are related by their common object of research – the brain. The approach of reductionism underlying the dominant research in neuroethics is noted in the article as a factor of a shift of neuroethics from the humanitarian context of bioethics towards neuroscience.

Received: 2021-05-21

Published online: 2021-10-13

DOI: 10.24075/medet.2021.013

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VIEWS 1627

Grebenshchikova EG, Chuchalin AG

In this article, the authors review the role of bioethics in the processes of risk communication and socio-humanistic support for innovative development of technoscience, and analyze its commitment to the concepts of precaution and prevention. More focus is put on certain ethical challenges of the 21st century associated with the development of artificial intelligence, deep learning in medicine, genome editing and ‘new parenthood’ practices. They have exploited the potential of bioethics in ethical and axiological reflection on the prospects of healthcare far-reaching reforms and in sociohumanistic assessment of transformed ideas about the human nature, family connections and established social order. It is shown that the experience of complex problem discussion and solving alongside with advisory mechanisms and bioethical procedures respond to pressing challenges of biotechnoscience and will be in demand in future.

Received: 2021-04-08

Published online: 2021-10-12

DOI: 10.24075/medet.2021.012

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VIEWS 1609

The article discusses the global problem of obesity as a socio-ethical phenomenon in the context of UNESCO’s program on bioethics, the ethics of science and artificial intelligence. The article also explains the stigma of obesity, or, in other words, the discrediting social identity assigned to an overweight person, and describes the consequences of such stigmatization. The author explores the socio-ethical causes of obesity and points out the link between obesity and some of the challenges addressed by the Sustainable Development goals, including hunger and social inequality.

Received: 2021-02-08

Published online: 2021-10-11

DOI: 10.24075/medet.2021.011

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VIEWS 1355