The Ethics of Experimentation on Human Beings and Animals
Most institutes for medical research have used animals as test subjects to gain knowledge about human illnesses or to test potential treatments for humans since time immemorial. Researchers mostly use rats and mice in such experiments as they have many similar physiological and genetic properties as humans. In instances where animal tests offer no solution to a clinical question, scientists resort to human experimentation. Although both animal and human experimentation have contributed significantly to the advancement of medicine, they have raised serious ethical dilemmas as they have the potential to abuse both the animals and humans involved and flaunt moral principles. This paper will, therefore, discuss the ethics of human and animal experimentation.
Proponents of animal experimentation argue that animals and humans should not be considered as moral equals, as the benefits of experimenting on animals to humans outweigh the suffering of animals. Further, they state that since most animals do not possess cognitive abilities, they do not belong to the human moral community and therefore have inferior rights, making it permissible to use animals for medical research. Such opinions present ethical issues as animals have a moral status that makes it immoral to abuse pests or hurt other animals unnecessarily. To this end, human beings have no right to kill animals, enslave them, or treat them as a means of furthering their own selfish goals.
Scholars have been unable to reach a consensus on animal experimentation. Nevertheless, there exists a middle ground for people who are ambivalent towards animal testing. They advocate that when possible, researchers should use simpler organisms like plants, bacteria, and fruit flies rather than mammals. Moreover, they propose the reduction of animal use by ensuring that experiments do not get needlessly replicated and that animals are only used to get new information that does not already exist in the scientific domain. Supporters of the middle ground also advance that animal pain and suffering should be reduced as much as possible through the use of anesthesia and euthanasia for diseased animals.
The field of human experimentation is also faced with ethical issues. A major ethical issue is the use of human volunteers to test new drugs. Human subjects in drug tests are not sufficiently apprised of the risks before the trial, which is considered acceptable as long as the volunteers give their informed approval. This is an issue as most drugs in development offer no additional benefits to the subjects, exposing them to adverse reactions, although the drugs are a variation of already existing treatments. Another ethical problem is experimentation on children, particularly short children using the human growth hormone. Although the hormone may increase the rate of growth in the short term, the injections are painful, and they have been linked with an increased risk of cancer.
The use of placebos in medical research is another ethical issue. In the research community, control studies that use the double-blind placebo are regarded as the “gold standard.” Nevertheless, the use of placebo in the control group is unethical in instances where an effective treatment exists as it can substitute the placebo. Ethical issues also arise when population groups that are susceptible to abuse are used in human medical studies. Such groups include developing countries, children, individuals with cognitive deficiencies, and underprivileged people who may be exploited as they are unable to protect themselves from manipulation adequately.
To sum up, experimentation on humans and animals has indeed made profound contributions to medicine, helping find cures for diseases and furthering medical research. However, the subject of experimentation remains shrouded in debate as it evokes a host of ethical issues. To this end, policymakers ought to implement policies that ensure animals and vulnerable population groups are protected from exploitation by medical researchers, and that the researchers adhere to the stipulated guidelines.