Writing Homework Help

For your initial post, choose two of the topics/questions below to address. Gather reliable data and generate informed positions to answer the following questions. Be sure to support your stance on the two topics with an ethical framework (theory, approach, principle).

1. Fairness in the use of genetic information by insurers, employers, courts, schools, adoption agencies, and the military.

2. Privacy and confidentiality of genetic information.

3. Psychological impact and stigmatization due to an individual’s genetic differences.

a. How does personal genetic information affect an individual and society’s perceptions of that individual? How does genomic information affect members of minority communities?

4. Reproductive issues including adequate informed consent for complex and potentially controversial procedures, use of genetic information in reproductive decision making, and reproductive rights.

a. Do health care personnel properly counsel parents about the risks and limitations of genetic technology? Why or why not? How reliable and useful is fetal genetic testing? What are the larger societal issues raised by new reproductive technologies?

5. Clinical issues including the education of doctors and other health service providers, patients, and the general public in genetic capabilities, scientific limitations, and social risks, and implementation of standards and quality-control measures in testing procedures.

a. How will genetic tests be evaluated and regulated for accuracy, reliability, and utility? (Currently, there is little regulation at the federal level.) How do we prepare healthcare professionals for the new genetics? How do we prepare the public to make informed choices? How do we as a society balance current scientific limitations and social risk with long-term benefits?

6.Uncertainties associated with genetic tests for susceptibilities and complex conditions (e.g., heart disease) linked to multiple genes and gene-environment interactions.

7. Conceptual and philosophical implications regarding human responsibility, free will versus genetic determinism, and concepts of health and disease.

a. Do people’s genes make them behave in a particular way? Can people always control their behavior? What is considered acceptable diversity? Where is the line between medical treatment and enhancement?

(Adapted from Butts and Rich, p. 290-291)