Bioethics Journal
Year:2017 | Volume:7 | Issue:25 |Papers Count:8

Background and Aim: Professional ethics encompasses standards recognized by members of the profession who are committed to their moral responsibilities. The aim of this study was to determine the degree of observance of professional ethics in librarians of Central Library and Document Center of Tehran University.Materials and methods: This descriptive-analytic study was carried out using a valid researcher-made questionnaire. The viewpoints of 59 librarians who included to the study through census, were gathered using questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS 13. After explaining the goals of the research, the informed consent of the participants was obtained and they were assured about the confidentiality of the information.Findings: The average total score of professional ethics in the subjects was 4.39. Among the components of professional ethics, "respect for different opinions in the profession", with mean of 4.46 and "providing facilities for easy and uniform access to information for all clients" with mean of 3.64 had highest and lowest values, respectively. All of the components of professional ethics had a significant difference with theoretical mean. In the meantime, the most appropriate condition was the observance of impartiality in the profession and the least amount related to the component of the protection of intellectual property rights.Conclusion: The findings showed that librarians are in desirable position in terms of professional ethics. It is recommended that managers with appropriate planning, inform their librarians and informers about latest scientific achievements and help them promote ethical principles by considering special facilities and privileges.

Background and Aim: The interactive relationship between physician and patient implies multifaceted faces. By the way, the manner of interacting between them to some extent might have a socio-psychological influences on thepatients’ outcomes. It has also important impact on the treatment of patients. This study aimed to find the interactive patterns in terms of patient's meaning system among patients who referred to Eghbal health center of Shiraz, Iran.Materials and Methods: In this qualitative research, we used the method of framework analysis. Although the general approach to analyzing the framework is inductive, this form of research encompasses both previous concepts and new concepts.The number of participants were 20 persons who were selected purposively. In depth interview was used to collect data in terms of theoretical saturation rule.Findings: Three kinds of interactive patterns between physicians and their patients were emerged. Those included physician-centered model, patient-centered model and interactive- participatory model so that, interactive model has been dominated.Participants also pointed out four main themes related to how doctors treated patients and satisfied them: how to deal with affection and compassion; trust; hastiness as a feature of the contemporary century; money and specialized knowledge systems.Conclusion: The basic roots of satisfaction and dissatisfaction of patients based on the theories of Giddens about the money, specialized system of knowledge and confidence were interpreted and finally concluded that if they didn’t adopt the physician’s suggestion, they endangered by diseases and threatened by ontological insecurity.

Background and Aim: The relation between ethics and criminal law is discussable from two viewpoints of ethics relation with substantial criminal law and contractual criminal law. This study aimed to analyze the examples of sovereignty of the ethical requirements in the primary investigations process, in the Iran’s Code of Criminal Law.Materials and Methods: In this qualitative research, document analysis method was used. In order to introduce main conceptions, the phrases of the Iran’s Code of Criminal Law was firstly defined and then, the examples were analyzed and discussed.Findings: The examples of governance of the ethical requirements in the primary investigations process, in the Iran’s Code of Criminal Law has been paid attention under two main items: judicial officials tasks and victim actions. The possibility of ignoring the moralities in the primary investigations process by both judicial officials and accused person is more than other phases of investigation. Regarding the breach of ethical requirements in the primary investigations process lacks any legal guarantee, therefore, the consciousness and moralities are just executive guarantees.Conclusion: The findings indicate that according to the Iran’s Code of Criminal Law, the primary investigations of judicial officials is not based on the law text but is based on the ethical requirements and moralities. Moreover, in many cases the lawmaker has assigned some tasks and duties for the judicial officials that their just executive guarantee is ethical requirements.

Background and Aim: Among the existing agreements to protect intellectual property rights, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has set the highest level of enforcement standards. This study tries to clarify and identify differences between the ACTA provisions and innovations with other international regulations and its effects on the universal access to medicines in developing countries.Materials and Methods: In this qualitative research, document analysis method was applied. By using this method and analyzing the characteristics of the ACTA regulations, we will discussed its effects on the universal access to the medicines and public health.Findings: ACTA negotiators have created an agreement that shifts international "hard law" rules and "soft law" encouragements toward making enforcement of intellectual property rights in courts and borders, less costly, and more "deterrent" in the level of penalties through omission of the felexibility of TRIPS Agreement, and required transprancy and participation. So that, it increases the risks and consequences of wrongful searches, seizures, lawsuits and other enforcement actions for those relying on intellectual property limitations and exceptions to access markets. This is likely to make affordable medicines more expencive and rare in many developing countries and threaten the public health.Conclusion: The ACTA must be interperated and performed so that the right of committed countries to health and access to medicines be protected; when access to some medicines requires to breach the intellectual property rights, intrernational inhibition and access to them should be prevented through a common accepted approach.

Background and Aim: By the globalization of organizations in modern Age, doing organizational activities in terms of the code of ethics is necessary for any organization. So that the leadership of an organization impacts on its image, identity and reputation by using competitive strategies in terms of ethical principles.Thus, this study aimed to compare management practices of Chinese philosophers in order to govern and manage the people in the ancient world with ideas and thoughts management scholars in the modern era.Materials and Methods: In this comparative study, the features and components of Western and Eastern management were compared according to two patterns of the thought and religion Trinity. At first, the theoretical foundations was examined. Then, the thoughts of ancient Chinese and and contemporary experts were analyzed and criticized and finally, it was focused on the main points of research: ethics and leadership.Findings: In this research, the principles of leadership and ethics, selection based merit, attracting and maintaining individuals, participatory reward and the participatory management were recognized as key principles of people management in ancient China, which are closely related to the modern world. Also, there was a difference between the West and East management philosophies, but the use of some Eastern philosophies for Western organizations can be useful.Conclusion: These principles should be renewed to preserve organizations, because it is necessary to pay attention to ethical principles as moral obligations for promoting modern management practices by an organization leader.

Background and aim: Theories of biology about evolution of the human and his physical and mental structure had broad influences on the field of ethics. The purpose of this study is the explanation and analysis of Peter Singer's view on the expanding of ethics circle based on biological and rational foundations of universal ethics.Materials and Methods: In this narrative research, Singer's view on the expanding of ethics circle was analyzed and interperated.Findings: Emphasizing on the principles of impartiality and equality, possibility of overcoming reason on demands of biological nature, singer believes that the origin of our moral attitudes is our biological nature, but in decision makeing, one must contemplate on common moral norms. In Singer's viewpoint, limiting impartiality to human species is an arbitrary action without any rational support; the criterion of this impartial consideration is the "ability of suffering and experiencing of pleasure" and accordingly he expands the circle of ethics in so far as it includes "most" of the animals and not all of them. There is some criticisms to him such as lack of attention to the weakness of reason and human tendencies, lack of separation between the epistemological and logical function of reason in the expanding of altruism, disregarding to preferences of all creatures in expanding the circle of ethics.Conclusion: Singer's view is a moderate one; he believes that biology only caused to reflections on moral intuitions, but it cannot determine our moral norms. Accordingly, we can provide a universal and impartial ethics devoid of biological biases.

Background and Aim: Nanotechnology is the point of intersection of the sciences of engineering, physics, biology, medicine and chemistry, and acts to usilize these sciences in order to construct new products.Nanotechnology researches has recently been intensified with the development of Nano researches in medicine, which attempts to provide medicines and therapeutic methods based on the principles governing nanotechnology with the goal of human health and well-being. This study aimed to identify the main ethical issues in Nanotechnology researches.Materials and Methods: In this review study, related articles were retrieved and analyzed porposfully by searching the keywords of "Nanotechnology or Nanomedicine" and "Bioethics or Nonoethics" and "Risk or Safety" in academic databases.Findings: The ethical issues in the area of nanomedicine researchs that should be considered are a subset of the ethical principles wich generally considered in bioethics, but because of the specific properties of nanoparticles including the unknown side effects and their variation highlites the focus of these principles regarding the assumptions related consequences of the nanomedicine. The most important known ethical issues included respect for autonomy, informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, harmfulnessless and control human ability, justice and access in relation to the role of ethics in nanomedicine.Conclusion: Ethical principles in biological researches should be implemented in all three stages of prevention, diagnosis and treatment in order to protect the volunteer human subjects participating in the advancement of knowledge.

Background and Aim: Nanobiotechnology as a developing and fascinating field of research has attracted many researchers, but there are many concerns about ignoring the bioethics and biosafety issues in this field.This study aimed to explore and identify bioethical and biosafety aspects of nanobiotechnology.Materials and Methods: In this review, the related articles was retrieved by porpusful search of mainkey word "Bioethics" OR "Biosafety" AND "Nanobiotechnology" in internal and international scientific data bases.Findings: Results showed that an increasing number of studies have recently focused on bioethical and biosafety issues of nanobiotechnology in Iran, although, these studies are remarkably less than those of international studies. Moreover, development of some organizations, committees, and working groups along with providing instructions, standards, guidances, and standard operating procedure (SOP) for people, directly dealing with nanobiotechnology help to decrease the risks there of. It is worth mentioning that in order to lessen the probable risks of nanobiotechnology, we should be constantly updated and exchange with the international information.Conclusion: The results indicate that there is no appropriate observation and control on the ethical issues of nanobiotechnology. Because of multiple fields of research in nanobiotechnology and intensive development of Iranian researchers in these areas, nanobiotechnology riquires more attention and control in biosafety and bioethical issues. Therefore, different aspects and unknown ethical issues of future researches in this field should be extensively controled.