Robot-Assisted Surgery

Robot-Assisted Surgery

Post1

Utilitarianism refers to an ethical theory that often determines right from a good via concentrating on the outcomes (Mill, 2016). It claims that the greatest ethical choice remains the one that shall create the greatest good, mainly for the greatest number. This moral framework may be used primarily to justify military war. Also, it is the most common theory used in business due to how it accounts for benefits as well as costs (Ebenstein, 2018). Nevertheless, because the human being cannot forecast the future, it remains difficult to know with surety whether the consequences of human actions shall be bad or good. This remains the limitations of this approach.

Within a Utilitarianism theory, individuals would deem the procedure to be immoral since it remains not safe or helpful. The people believe that although good may come out of it, the bad results outweigh the good results linked to the use of Robot-assisted surgery (Lubis, 2018). These people understand the stance that when a negative result contributes to a positive or neutral outcome, then it remains ethical. In this case, the result would be death in case the machine had a mishap. If the individual was guaranteed to live after the event, then it would be considered safe and ethical. Also, the use of Robotic-assisted surgery only benefits an individual, so the outcome of the result shall not generate benefits for the greatest number of people.

Solution: It is true that this theory mainly gives higher priority to people who are poor as compared to the rich. It should be made to give equal priority to all people. Also, the judgment should not be made based on the outcome of the events; all factors should be considered when making the judgment.

Social contract theory means that view the moral of an individual or/and political obligations remain reliant on a contract among them to create the society in which they reside in (Win, 2019). social contract theory remains rightly linked to political theory and modern morals.

Within social contract theory, the all process would be deemed moral since the individual agrees, and he/she understand the dangers of the procedure (Jahn & Brühl, 2018). So long as there is a contract between the health department and patient or the client, the procedure shall be considered moral because the patients had signed the contract allowing the procedure to continue. Regardless of the outcome of this event, the procedure shall be considered ethical if there is an agreement between the two parties.

Solution: Since this theory, the use of a contract between the two parties, for the agreement to best attain its aim, it is essential that everyone be a party to the agreement. The agents should clearly explain to the patient both the negative and positive effects of the process (Robot-assisted surgery).

Character-based ethics remains the determination of what makes an individual good instead of what makes an action good (Alzola, 2017). Virtue ethics claims that a good person regularly performs good actions. Character-based ethics indeed seek the greatest benefits from decisions and actions (Arthur, Earl, Thompson & Ward, 2019).

In this case, Character-based ethics would consider it to be moral-ethical since the action may benefit for the most good. The problem remains that it is the procedure that may result in a bad outcome. In this situation, it is quite difficult to tell the actual outcome of the procedure. The idea of virtue ethic is that good work should be seen as something quality is driven as well as ethical. The procedure shall be considered moral because the ethical situation created by this technology remains experienced by the client and the agent. The patient or client receives good care, and the agent remains made a virtuous individual through the process.

Solution: ethics ought not to be understood mainly as something external. It should be considered as an internal matter because the marriage of moral as well as professional excellence remains an internal matter. The only solution that can solve this problem is to design technology systems that inhibit this process.

Deontology remains an ethical theory that mainly uses rules to differentiate right from wrong. It is normally linked to Immanuel Kant. Immanuel claimed that ethical actions use the moral laws of the world. Deontology just necessitates that individuals follow the rules as well as do their work.

In this case, Deontology would argue that the procedure is moral since the intentions are good, and the institution allows for the use of Robot-assisted surgery (Hennig & Hütter, 2020). Therefore, the procedure would be considered moral if both the two parts followed the set rules and regulation in conducting the event. This theory focuses more on the intent of the action instead of the consequence of the action (Sacco, Brown, Lustgraaf & Hugenberg, 2017). The limitation of Deontology is that it may produce results that may individually find unacceptable. Like in this case, Deontology shall consider the procedure moral, but it may cause the patient to die.

Solution: The institutions should not only follow the set rules in performing Robot-assisted surgery. They should also consider the outcome of the process.

Post 2

Ethical dilemmas remain taken to be circumstances in which there remain conflicting moral obligations, and undertaking one right thing can cause harm in another way (Bjelica, Gardašević, Vasiljević & Popović, 2016). For example, in this case, the use of Robot-assisted surgery to treat the patient. In this case, the agent (medical expert) and the patient should observe the ACS code of ethics when undertaking the procedure, as this shall help them save a life. It is necessary to find a balance between ethics and the law since ethical decision making remains grounded in morality.

According to the code of competence, professionals should not misrepresent their skills or knowledge. Therefore, surgeons should acquire proper training in the use of new technology. The negative challenges that may occur during the use of Robot-assisted surgery solutions may be prevented by the use of this code of conduct. Using the core value of ACS, ‘The Enhancement of Quality of Life,’ the professional must clearly understand as well as respect the perception of all people who may be affected by the work. In this case study, the practice is unethical because it causes injury to the patient. The surgeons should have considered the quality of life of the patient before proceeding with the procedure.

According to the ACS code of conduct, surgeons must keep themselves informed regarding new standards, technologies, as well as practices that are associated with the work. It remains important for surgeons in the spread of awareness regarding the issues that may affect the surgeons. In this case study, the surgeon must discuss with the client the whole matter to show their ethical behavior.

According to the core value of honesty, it remains unethical to breach of the patient in the profession. The surgeon should consult with the patient regarding the issues that may affect the patient’s trust in the institution. In this case study, indeed, the damage caused to the patients as a result of the use of this technology shall affect the trust of the patient on the institution.

The ACS code of conduct provides preference mainly to public interest over personal, private, and sectional interest. The role of the client in the medical application of new techniques and devices remains paramount, as well as their interests and welfare must be protected. Most of the patients have limited information on the use of new technologies. So, before undertaking the process, the surgeons should discuss with the clients the potential risks as well as benefits of the procedure. Though discussing with patients, these risks and benefits may be challenging, conducting this discussion well remains an area of great ethical, scientific, as well as public interest. Surgeons should provide accurate information to the patients before conducting the procedure. ACS code of conduct may be helpful in providing inform consent to the medical experts.  This can serve not only to safeguard the clients, but also to safeguard surgeons as well as their organizations by transferring some of this process to the leadership.

References

Alzola, M. (2017). Character-based business ethics. In The Oxford handbook of virtue.

Arthur, J., Earl, S. R., Thompson, A. P., & Ward, J. W. (2019). The Value of Character-Based Judgement in the Professional Domain. Journal of Business Ethics, 1-16.

Bjelica, D., Gardašević, J., Vasiljević, I., & Popović, S. (2016). Ethical dilemmas of sport advertising. Sport Mont, 14(3), 41-43.

Ebenstein, L. O. (2018). Routledge Revivals: The Greatest Happiness Principle (1986): An Examination of Utilitarianism. Routledge.

Hennig, M., & Hütter, M. (2020). Revisiting the divide between Deontology and utilitarianism in moral dilemma judgment: A multinomial modeling approach. Journal of personality and social psychology, 118(1), 22.

Jahn, J., & Brühl, R. (2018). How Friedman’s view on individual freedom relates to stakeholder theory and social contract theory. Journal of Business Ethics, 153(1), 41-52.

Lubis, M. Y. (2018). Land conversion to the poor people in the perspective of utilitarianism theory by bentham. In E3S Web of Conferences (Vol. 52, p. 00053). EDP Sciences.

Mill, J. S. (2016). Utilitarianism. In Seven masterpieces of philosophy (pp. 337-383). Routledge.

Sacco, D. F., Brown, M., Lustgraaf, C. J., & Hugenberg, K. (2017). The adaptive utility of Deontology: Deontological moral decision-making fosters perceptions of trust and likeability. Evolutionary Psychological Science, 3(2), 125-132.

Win, M. M. (2019). Myth Busting: Rethinking Social Contract Theory and Reorienting Sovereignty from John Locke to Georges Bataille.