Ethics Transplants? Addressing the Risks and Benefits of Guiding International Biomedicine

摘要

In agreement with Wolpe (2017), we cannot find that the planned body-to-head transplant (B-H-T) procedure meets key standards of research ethics. Ren and Canavero (2017) argue that the extraordinary opportunity presented by this avant-garde experiment is more compelling than any moralistic orthodoxy. They also claim that ethical conservatism can be discounted due to medical ignorance, media malpractice, and cultural prejudice. Canavero’s previous accounts of his project had emphasized its tentative nature, as a procedure based upon limited experimentation in animal models, and laden with technical and ethical questions and concerns. Engagements with ethicists were presumed, on issues such as obtaining consents informed about postoperative consequences, and guaranteeing continuity of care with medical resources and services.