Bioterrorism and the Responsible Conduct of Biomedical Research

Abstract

This article discusses the ethical responsibilities of biomedical researchers to prevent bioterrorism, including duties related to research, publication, editorial review, public education, expert opinion, advocacy, and reporting suspicious activity. Since actions taken to avert bioterrorism may also undermine important scientific norms, such as openness, freedom, and collegiality, and individual rights, such as privacy, biomedical scientists may encounter ethical dilemmas and problems when they consider taking steps against terrorism. This article proposes some policies and recommendations that attempt to strike a fair and reasonable balance between protecting scientific norms and individual rights and promoting national and international security. This article articulates policies and recommendations that will help ensure that the norms that govern biomedical research and individual rights are not casualties in the struggle against terrorism. Drug Dev Res 63: 121-133, 2005.

Should Research Ethics Encourage the Production of Cost-Effective Interventions?

“…For instance, Franklin Miller and Steven Joffe's proposed code of ethics for researchers, which regards "promoting socially valuable knowledge about health, disease, and treatment" (emphasis added) as the central aim of human-subject research (Joffe and Miller 2008), justifies researchers' attention to cost-effectiveness to the extent that interventions that are not cost-effective are not socially valuable. Likewise, some scientific codes of ethics emphasize that scientific research must "enhance the public interest or well-being" or otherwise serve the public interest (Resnik and Shamoo 2005).…”

Speak No Evil: Scientists, Responsibility, and the Public Understanding of Science

“…Recent discussions regarding the ethics of science typically concentrate on a number of topics: the misuse of technology, the regulation of the results of research, and the ethical conduct of research (see e.g., [10,12,13]). In addition to these issues, there is another part of the chain of events from the genesis of an idea in science to its realisation in modern technologies, and that is the communication of research to the public.…”

Can Scientists Regulate the Publication of Dual Use Research?

“…The growing threat of the misuse of science and technology for terrorist or criminal purposes has led scientists, institutions, professional organizations, funding agencies, journals, and governments to consider how best to control research dual use research (Atlas 2002, Atlas and Dando 2006, National Research Council 2006, Resnik and Shamoo 2005). The three principal mechanisms for controlling dual use research are self-regulation by the scientific community, external regulation by the government, or some combination of the two (Miller and Selgelid 2007, Selgelid 2009).…”

“…Scientists must be committed to the ethical conduct of research and have a keen awareness of the potential beneficial and harmful effects of their work (Resnik and Shamoo 2005). They must view it as an ethical responsibility to take steps to prevent research from being misused, such as not publishing some results or refraining from some types of research, if necessary.…”