Medical Ethics

Overview

Click on the links above for teaching schemes, activities and web links and other resources related to this topic.

Introduction
Opportunities for discussion and debate and for visits. This topic can also be taught in two separate parts, linking new medicines to antibiotics in Infectious disease and reproduction to Genetic diseases.

Timing
About 10 hours would allow time for debate

1 New medicines

• Ordering stages in the development of a new medicine. (see activities page)
• Reminder of infectious disease and the effect of antibiotics on death rates
• Discussion on which disease they think most needs a new drug, then compare with actual expenditure on research.

2 Use of animals

• Introduction to ethical principles using textbook
• Watching video such as from Animal Aid and discussion to identify the techniques used and the ethical points made. The use of two different short videos could provide contrast.
• Preparing for debate by assigning students to one of two groups with appropriate resource material. This often works best if they are in the group which has to argue a position contrary to their own opinion. Each student has to read and make notes on the points they wish to make.
• Debate on use of animals in medical research. It is worth recording some comments and discussing their ethical points afterwards.
• Visit to animal labs

3 Clinical trials

• Questions on data from trials, for example Zyban to stop smoking.
• Reading and discussion of the information given to a patient participating in a trial
• Reading personal account of what it is like to be involved in a trial
• Testing New Drugs on People ( from Ideas and Evidence CD, Collins and PRI)
• Ethics of drug trialling (see activities page)

4 Obligations of pharmaceutical companies

• Investigation of side effects of different medicines, using Mimm's or a popular book on medicines. Groups could choose different commonly used medicines, such as paracetamol, and report to the class.
• Ethical issues involved in trials in developing countries (could read Constant Gardener by John Le Carre for one point of view and link with critical account of reading)
• Comprehension exercise on the particular problems of medicines in developing countries using a current media story or information from www.who.int/infectious-disease-report/index.html

5 Reproduction
See genetic diseases