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Case ReportFocus: Bioethics

Case Two: Experimental Blood Substitute on First Response Vehicles

Mia Rowland
American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science April 2008, 21 (2) 118-119; DOI: https://doi.org/10.29074/ascls.21.2.118
Mia Rowland
is lecturer, Department of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, North Dartmouth MA
MA, JD
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  • For correspondence: mrowland@umassd.edu
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  1. Mia Rowland, MA, JD⇑
    1. is lecturer, Department of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, North Dartmouth MA
  1. Address for correspondence: Mia Rowland MA, JD, lecturer, Department of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 285 Old Westport Road, Dartmouth MA 02747-2300. (508) 910-6097. (508) 990-9674 (fax), mrowland{at}umassd.edu.

Extract

Clinical trials in a number of countries are now underway to evaluate experimental, non-human blood substitute.1 One scenario calls for the blood substitute to be available on board emergency vehicles. This allows first responders the opportunity to provide transfusion support at an accident site and on the way to the hospital. However, many of the patients who would most benefit from the use of this material may be unconscious and unable to comprehend or sign an informed consent. One possible solution would be to eliminate the need for informed consent.

History testifies to the need for protecting human beings who serve as subjects of experimentation.1 Requiring voluntary informed consent is intended to protect the life, health, dignity, and autonomy of subjects. However, in the case of first responders, waiving informed consent is justified in some cases. Understandably, the mere thought of waiving the informed consent requirement causes the entire world to shudder. The prospect reminds us of the inhumane Nazi and Tuskegee experiments.

The Nazis performed heinous experiments that included freezing and thawing humans, testing various poisons and methods of sterilization, injecting humans with typhus and malaria, testing bone, nerve and muscle regeneration, and bone transplantation. There were seemingly fetishist experiments conducted under the supervision of researchers such as Josef Mengele.2 These experiments were justified by the “important information” they produced for furthering the German war effort, purifying the German race, and affirming German superiority. When the world learned of the horrors of these experiments, there was a collective determination…

    INDEX TERMS
  • autonomy
  • bioethics
  • informed consent
  • Kant
  • Mill
  • utilitarianism
  • © Copyright 2007 American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science Inc. All rights reserved.
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American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science: 21 (2)
American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
Vol. 21, Issue 2
Spring 2008
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Case Two: Experimental Blood Substitute on First Response Vehicles
Mia Rowland
American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science Apr 2008, 21 (2) 118-119; DOI: 10.29074/ascls.21.2.118

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Case Two: Experimental Blood Substitute on First Response Vehicles
Mia Rowland
American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science Apr 2008, 21 (2) 118-119; DOI: 10.29074/ascls.21.2.118
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More in this TOC Section

  • Case Three: Ethics of Coercion
  • Bioethics—Problems for Today
  • Case One: Patient Interests and Medical Paternalism
Show more Focus: Bioethics

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Keywords

  • autonomy
  • bioethics
  • informed consent
  • Kant
  • Mill
  • utilitarianism

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