Relevant Ethical Theories and Moral Principles PHI FPX 3200 Assessment 2 A Right to Experimental Drugs?

The relevant ethical theories to the issue of the use of experimental drugs are teleology and deontology. Teleology states that the value of a situation is determined by its consequences. On the other hand, Deontology considers the intrinsic significance of the act itself as the criterion for the determination of good. The ethics of using an experimental drug would be determined using deontology by considering the motives of the prescriber and not the drug’s outcomes. The relevant moral principles are beneficence and nonmaleficence.  Beneficence would require the prescriber to prescribe a drug that will improve the patient’s outcome and balance the drug’s benefits and potential risks (Munson, 2014). Nonmaleficence would require that the experimental drug cause no harm to the patient and the treatment must offer a reasonable prospect of benefit.                       

How the Principle of Informed Consent Is Relevant To the Issue

Informed consent is based on a patient’s right to decide for themselves. Informed consent involves facilitating the patient’s understanding of the experimental treatment, giving them adequate time to ask questions, and continuing to provide information on the drug (Pietrzykowski & Smilowska, 2021). Before patients give consent to be treated with an experimental drug, they must understand that: The drug may not benefit them; They may be exposed to unknown side effects; They are getting into a treatment that may vary from the standard medical practices.