Question

During the two years he had worked for the Bioplus Foundation, Dennis Quade had been in many labs. Before he could renew the funding of a grant, he was required to make an on-site inspection of the facilities and review the work of the investigators. Now he was sitting in a small, chilly conference room about to watch a videotape of a phase of the work done at Carolyn Sing?s lab. Sing herself was sitting at the table with him, and she leaned forward and pushed the play button. ?The experimental subjects we used are baboons,? she told him. ?We think they possess facial and cranial structures sufficiently similar to humans to make them the best animal models.? Dennis nodded, then watched the monitor in complete silence. He was appalled by what he saw. An adult animal, apparently limp from anesthesia, was strapped to stainless-steel table. Its head was fitted into a viselike device, and several clamps tightened to hold it immobile. The upper-left side of the baboon?s head had been shaved and the area painted with a faintly purple antiseptic solution. A dark circle had been drawn in the center of the painted area. The while-coated arms of an assistant appeared in the tight focus of the picture. The assistant was holding a device that looked like an oversized electric drill. A long, transparent plastic sleeve stuck out from the chuck-end of the device, and through it Dennis could see a round, stainless-steel plate. A calibrated dial was visible on the side of the device, but Dennis couldn?t read the marks. ?That?s an impact hammer,? Dr. Sing said. ?We thought at first we were going to be able to use on off the shelf, but he had to modify one. That?s an item we didn?t anticipate in our initial budget.? The assistant centered the plastic tube over the spot marked on the baboon?s head and pulled the trigger of the impact hammer. The motion of the steel plate was too swift for Dennis to see, but he saw the results. The animal?s body jerked in spasm, and a froth of blood, brain tissue, and bone fragments welled up from the purple spot. Dennis Quade turned away from the monitor, unable to stand the images any longer. ?Through induced head trauma studies, we have been able to learn an enormous amount,? Carolyn Sing said. ?Not only do we know more about what happens to brain tissue during the first few minutes after trauma, but we?ve used that knowledge to develop some new management techniques that may save literally tens of thousands of people of people from permanent brain damage.? Dennis Quade nodded. The Biplus Foundation conducts many experiments. One of their scientists, Dr. Carolyn Sing, is studying the process of head trauma in order to learn how to better manage such cases in order to minimize brain damage. In her experiments she deliberately causes brain injuries to baboons, including fatal injuries. Are such experiments ethically justified? How would someone respond to this situation using the ethical principles of: (Respond using the principles of the ethical traditio Kantian?

Answer 1

In research ,when performed by a scientist to save the lives of people, many animals are subjected to test or procedures like this which is considered to be ethical. The reason is if this is done ,the results and outcomes can be evaluated and appropriate future actions can be conducted.

According to Kantian principles the notion of duty describes that an action can be done and it is morally acceptable if it brings some good outcome .Here by subjecting the animal to test a good consequences (can be applied in people to assess and prevent brain damage) means ethical acceptable .It is the duty of the doctor to do this.