What Does Ethics Mean?

There is a broad spectrum of philosophical study considered in defining “what ethics means?” However, ethics consists of a code of conduct that essentially outlines right from wrong. These moral principles describe what an individual’s behaviour ought to be like and what should be done regarding their rights, responsibilities, equality and welfare. For example, ethical morals implement the need to avoid actions of misconducts such as manslaughter or theft. There are laws that are applied for such offenses except it is important to point out law and ethics differ. An example of lawful but unethical behaviours was the slave codes in 1642 Massachusetts which was only abolished after the American Civil War.
Ethical standards are based on logical
In some circumstances research requiring data from certain environments could raise ethical issues in certain communities or religious places, therefore ethical approval is also necessary. In addition, identifiable or sensitive information that may be used in research would also require valid reasoning and ethical approval.
The purpose of ethical approval demonstrates the researcher has taken into consideration the ethical implications and will adhere to the correct ethical standards during their research. Furthermore, ethical approval provides the research undertaken, adds value in advancing future developments, ensures the risk outweighs the benefits as well as approving the competence of the researcher. Ethical approval also benefits the researcher in gathering participants, since it is recognized as a professional body they are more likely to
In this case, there was retention of hundreds of children’s organs for research directed by Professor Dick van Velzen, a paediatric pathologist at Alder Hey hospital. As a result, Professor van Velzen was charged with ‘’serious professional misconduct’’.
Professor van Velzen was offered a position in foetal and infant pathology to carry out research on sudden cot death, despite concerns of his lack of unpublished papers and and the fact that “supporters thought he was a risky appointment”. Furthermore, his untruth towards a discussion with the unit general manager about the clinical service did not demonstrate ethical characteristics.
In fact, immediately after appointment Professor van Velzen instructed all staff that all human tissue was to be refrained from disposal, and removed organs were stored without record and parental knowledge or consent, violating human rights. However, organ retention protocol may have been misunderstood according to Burton J L and Wells M 2002, as the Human Tissue Act 1961 stated tissue retention from autopsies required ‘’only a lack of objection to retention, not