Ethical-Legal Issues in Epidemiological Studies Essay Discussion

Ethical-Legal Issues in Epidemiological Studies Essay Discussion

Ethical-Legal Issues in Epidemiological Studies Essay Discussion

Week 6: Open Forum Discussion

Purpose

The ideas and beliefs underpinning the discussions guide students through engaging dialogues as they achieve the desired learning outcomes/competencies associated with their course in a manner that empowers them to organize, integrate, apply and critically appraise their knowledge to their selected field of practice. The use of discussions provides students with opportunities to contribute level-appropriate knowledge and experience to the topic in a safe, caring, and fluid environment that models professional and social interaction. The ebb and flow of a discussion is based upon the composition of student and faculty interaction in the quest for relevant scholarship. Participation in the discussion generates opportunities for students to actively engage in the written ideas of others by carefully reading, researching, reflecting, and responding to the contributions of their peers and course faculty. Discussions foster the development of members into a community of learners as they share ideas and inquiries, consider perspectives that may be different from their own, and integrate knowledge from other disciplines.
Course Outcomes

CO#5 – Examine current ethical/legal issues in epidemiology.

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 Ethical-Legal Issues in Epidemiological Studies Sample

Epidemiological studies are vital to the health of populations. They help the government and responsible bodies to plan and implement interventions that lead to healthier populations. However, these epidemiological studies’ ethical and legal issues could cripple them and negatively affect the researcher’s career. Ethical issues affect epidemiological studies, could cripple their reliability, and affect the researcher. This essay discusses these ethical -legal issues in epidemiological studies.

The most crucial ethical-legal issue is informed consent (Silman et al., 2018). Participants of epidemiological studies require comprehensive information about the interventions, their purpose, and how the information will be used. In most studies involving experiments, there is always a risk of errors or harm to human life. Informed consent requires individuals to understand the purpose of the study and all interventions to ensure they are well aware of the research and its implications. Most researchers do not disclose all research information. As such, clients enter into research that could affect their lives, and the researcher risks lawsuits.

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Participant selection is another ethical-legal issue facing many issues such as biasness and many legal limitations of the participants (Kumar et al., 2018). Unlike other research studies, epidemiological studies must factor in all populations; hence the methods of participant selection are critical to epidemiological studies. Epidemiological studies should be representative of the population as much as possible. Confidentiality is also an important ethical issue in epidemiological studies. These studies involve sharing information with scholars, responsible bodies, and the public. Confidentiality safeguards participants’ information from the public.

Wolf and Beskow (2018) note that access to participant information can cause stigma and negative profiling and have substantial legal implications for the researchers. Research organizations and firms with confidentiality issues often face issues such as refusal to publish information by publishing institutions and lawsuits from offended participants (Wolf & Beskow, 2018). Information deidentification and confidentiality are vital issues to safeguard the participants’ information. Confidentiality affects acceptance in anticipation and hence the availability of data for epidemiological studies once broken.

Another ethical-legal issue in epidemiological studies is conflicts of interest. These are due to funding or affiliation to the topic or area under investigation. Researchers receiving funding from institutions may suffer from the risk of biasness. For example, a study exploring the effects of a vaccine on the prevalence and incidences of COVID-19 may report conflicts of interest when some or all of the researchers have received donations or funding from the vaccine’s manufacturer. Kumar et al. (2018) note that researchers can fabricate data, manipulate data analysis, and make intentional changes to meet the desires of the funding company. Conflicts of interest can lead to biasness and should thus be regulated and addressed to increase the acceptability of study results. In addition, ethical issues surrounding publishing with journals have monetary involvement. Some journals are not reputable, and researchers can pay a fee and publish their research (Kumar et al., 2018). These journals do not peer review these research studies or analyze the studies for reliability.

Ethical-legal issues are critical to any research study and could cripple its utilization, leading to loss of time and finances. In addition, lawsuits from participants whose rights were infringed could also escalate financial losses. Researchers should thus scrutinize their work to ensure they do not have ethical-legal issues that could cripple their work, career, or the lives of their participants.

References

Kumar, C. R., Shantaji, T., & Gaidhane, A. (2018). Ethical Issues In Epidemiological Studies. International Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Research, 33-35. https://doi.org/10.31878/ijcbr.2018.44.07

Silman, A. J., Macfarlane, G. J., & Macfarlane, T. (2018). Epidemiological studies: a practical guide. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/med/9780198814726.003.0023

Wolf, L. E., & Beskow, L. M. (2018). New and improved? 21st-century cures act revisions to certificates of confidentiality. American Journal Of Law & Medicine, 44(2-3), 343-358. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098858818789431