Identifying the Facts
Dr. Normal has been developing his drug aimed at curing hypertension for some time. He seeks the help of a prison warden named Simpson to procure some inmates to participate in the final phase of testing the drug voluntarily. Normal is aware of the great risks associated with the drug such as lung failure and death but considers as minimal because the benefits will be more than the life of the inmates. Having worked at the prison for over five years and earned respect among the inmates, Simpson faces the moral/ethical dilemma to influence the participation of the inmates. If he agrees, the inmates’ lives will be harmed and they will die. If he refuses, Dr. Normal’s drug may fail to come into the market and will lose funding from NIH.
Relevant Values and Concepts
Ethics is a pattern of morality, which exists among members of a social structure. It is all about how people behave concerning social and personal values, practices, and beliefs. Individuals normally make ethical decisions by desiring to behave in an upright and moral way. Therefore, ethics is determining what is right or wrong. However, when people are undecided about what decision to make when confronted with life challenges, then, ethical dilemmas arise.
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Possible Moral Dilemmas
Correction profession is today one of the most challenging and trickiest fields in the world. Correctional officers regularly deal with ethical dilemmas as the environment they operate in is highly exigent and demanding. For instance, in the attached case study, Homer Simpson, a Warden at the Michigan Correctional Facility is one of the most respected officers because he runs the prison in a firm but fair manner.
Moral-Ethical Issue
After 15 years of research, Dr. Norman Normal is almost finding a solution for hypertension. He has the drug ready for testing on humans as a medical researcher at the local university. However, the treatment has dangerous side effects, including the possibility of death. Nonetheless, Normal is seeking Simpson’s cooperation in soliciting inmates from the prison to participate in this hypertension treatment experiment. However, Simpson is disturbed by the possible side effects of the drug and therefore rejects Normal’s proposal.
Resolving the Dilemma
Utilitarian theory is an ethical system that holds that people should behave in ways that brings as much happiness as possible in the world. In this view, it was unethical for Simpson to reject Normal’s proposal because he denied the larger majority the highest degree of happiness and satisfaction in favor of the smaller population (inmates). For utilitarianism, Simpson should have accepted Normal’s proposal because the happiness the experiment could have brought would have been greater than the harm it would have caused on the inmates. With the time and money spent to conduct research and develop the drug, using inmates for experiments, using the inmates would have increased the sum of happiness in the world. Therefore, Simpson’s decision is considered illegitimate and unethical to utilitarianism.
