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| Paper details: | You will submit your Ethical Considerations draft. This portion of the Course Project will provide an evaluation of the ethical considerations associated with the student’s chosen technology in relation to its impact on humanity (roughly two pages, APA format). Following are the components needed for this section: • A detailed evaluation of the ethical considerations associated with the technology in relation to its impact on humanity. • An illustration of at least two specific ethical theories that differentiates their varying approaches in consideration of the questions raised by the selected technology. • At least ONE STATISTICAL GRAPH OR VISUAL AID that supports or provides value to the section • In-text, APA-formatted citations with a reference page. The assessment should be well written and should incorporate proper grammar and no spelling errors. It should incorporate an introduction, body, and a conclusion paragraph Analysis considers the impact of the technology on humanity. Analysis clearly utilizes two distinct ethical approaches, such as deontology or teleology, in evaluating the ethical nature of the technology. One statistical graph or visual aid is used. Use of introduction and conclusion paragraphs. In-text references are used and a reference page (in APA format) is included. |
Answer
Robotic Surgery
Name:
Institution:
Robotic Surgery
The health sector has for the longest time been accused of an exceedingly slow pace in terms of assimilating technology into functional practice. Yet technological advances have led to automation in many industries particularly processing and manufacturing. It is only recently that the health sector has put into serious consideration the potential of technology in improving outcomes. A case in point is robotic surgery, whose adoption is surrounded by far-reaching ethical issues and implications. The ethical challenges that arise from the adoption of this medical technology are greatly influenced by the ethical theories being applied.
To begin with, deontology is an ethical theory in which the concepts of right and wrong are of more superior importance than goodness. Moral obligations are regarded as self-explanatory and self-regulating. On the other hand, teleology links the rightness or wrongness of an action to the goodness or badness of the consequence. These two theories have been widely applied to different areas of medicine such as robotic abortion, surgery and cloning. Those in support of robotic surgery rely on the teleological theory while those against it look up to the deontological approach to justify their views. To put this issue into real-life perspective, it is imperative to provide statistical evidence of cost implications for different types of robotic surgery, examples of which are provided in the graph below. As shown in this graph, robotic surgery is more expensive than conventional surgery.
Nevertheless, robotic surgery holds great potential for improvement in efficiency and accuracy of surgical health. In many delicate procedures that have been prone to human errors and other human effects such as fatigue, the use of robotics has led to notably positive consequences (Shashoua & Hoyte, 2012). However, as more stakeholders continue to root for the full integration of robotic surgery, the ethical issues surrounding this subject will only continue to gain prominence in policy circles.
Firstly, as noted earlier the cost of this treatment is extremely high. The monetary and human resource capabilities invested in this technological shift are extremely high. In addition, industries that specialize in this production are limited by resources, comparative advantage and government regulation. The immediate result would be a translation of high cost of treatment to individual patients. This seems like a completely negative and counterproductive outcome considering the hard work and years that it has taken for stakeholders in the healthcare industry to push for the theme of affordable care for all people. Almost immediately after its adoption, health access would be limited to a few who would be able to cover these huge costs to save their lives (Devettre, 2010). Those who are unable to meet these costs would feel locked out and consequently lose trust in the health care system.
Secondly, the testing and approval processes for these treatments is extremely long and has a complex way of stagnating progress for treatments that are already accessible and are working fairly well. It seems extremely unethical to create differences in health access along the lines of economic endowment.
Another major ethical issue is the direction of accountability for these procedures (Heifetz, 1996). In some health and surgical procedures, negative results are inevitable even in the absence of robots and automated technology. Robotic surgery is a more extensive procedure that is based on human brain-like decisions being attributed to a machine. Thus, it becomes difficult to determine who takes accountability in such a situation. While professional liability could be directed towards the doctor or operator, the hospital and even the manufacturer, it is extremely difficult to draw up boundaries in this situation due to the participation of all these parties (Devettre, 2010). This could either lead to poor accountability or wrongful consequences being attributed to innocent stakeholders. More so, information sharing challenges would trigger constant conflicts among these parties.
Though beneficial, a positive intention such as robotic surgery could end up creating extreme consequences and constraints to an already struggling health sector. Even as efforts to remodel the global healthcare industry continue, the basic principles of affordability, accessibility and reliability must be maintained at all levels. Accordingly, a lot of focus should be on the adoption of small scale-tests before robotic surgery is fully rolled out.
References
Devettre, R. (2010). Practical Decision Making in Health Care Ethics: Cases and Concepts. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Heifetz, M. (1996). Ethics in Medicine. Amherst, MA Prometheus Books.
Shashoua, A. & Hoyte, L. (2012). Robotic Hysterectomy: The da Vinci Robotic Surgery System. Lavergne, TN: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
