Biobanking is a relatively new concept in Egypt. Building a good relationship with different stakeholders is essential for the social sustainability of biobanks. To establish this relationship, it is necessary to assess the attitude of different groups towards this concept. The objective of this work is to assess the knowledge, attitude, and opinions of Egyptian patients towards biobanking issues. We designed a structured survey to be administered to patients coming to the outpatient clinics in 3 university hospitals in Egypt. The (...) survey included questions estimating the level of knowledge about the term “Biobank”, together with questions about the attitudes and opinions about related issues. Two hundred and fifty-nine patients participated in the survey. Eighty-one percent of participants reported that they never heard about the term before. About 85% expressed that they would be willing to donate their samples for research and about 87% thought that sample donation did not contradict their religious beliefs. Fifty eight percent were willing to participate in a genetic research project, 27.8% supported sharing their sample with pharmaceutical companies, and 32.4% agreed to share their samples with institutions abroad. Although there is limited knowledge about biobanking among Egyptian patients, many had a positive attitude towards sample donation and didn’t show religious concerns against it. However, they showed concerns regarding participation in genetic research and with sharing their samples across borders or with pharmaceutical companies. Public education about biobanking is possible, taking into consideration the specific cultural and legal framework in Egypt. (shrink)

End-of-life organ donation is controversial in Islam. The controversy stems from: scientifically flawed medical criteria of death determination; invasive perimortem procedures for preserving transplantable organs; and incomplete disclosure of information to consenting donors and families. Data from a survey of Muslims residing in Western countries have shown that the interpretation of religious scriptures and advice of faith leaders were major barriers to willingness for organ donation. Transplant advocates have proposed corrective interventions: reinterpreting religious scriptures, reeducating faith leaders, and utilizing media (...) campaigns to overcome religious barriers in Muslim communities. This proposal disregards the intensifying scientific, legal, and ethical controversies in Western societies about the medical criteria of death determination in donors. It would also violate the dignity and inviolability of human life which are pertinent values incorporated in the Islamic moral code. Reinterpreting religious scriptures to serve the utilitarian objectives of a controversial end-of-life practice, perceived to be socially desirable, transgresses the Islamic moral code. It may also have deleterious practical consequences, as donors can suffer harm before death. The negative normative consequences of utilitarian secular moral reasoning reset the Islamic moral code upholding the sanctity and dignity of human life. (shrink)

The ever-increasing technological advances of modern medicine have increased physicians’ capacity to carry out a wide array of clinical interventions near the end-of-life. These new procedures have resulted in new “types” of living where a patient’s cognitive functions are severely diminished although many physiological functions remain active. In this biomedical context, patients, surrogate decision-makers, and clinicians all struggle with decisions about what clinical interventions to pursue and when therapeutic intent should be replaced with palliative goals of care. For some patients (...) and clinicians, religious teachings about the duty to seek medical care and the care of the dying offer ethical guidance when faced with such choices. Accordingly, this paper argues that traditional Sunni Islamic ethico-legal views on the obligation to seek medical care and Islamic theological concepts of human dignity and inviolability provide the ethical grounds for non-intervention at the end-of-life and can help calibrate goals of care discussions for Muslim patients. In closing the paper highlights the pressing need to develop a holistic ethics of healthcare of the dying from an Islamic perspective that brings together multiple genres of the Islamic intellectual tradition so that it can meet the needs of the patients, clinicians and Muslim religious leaders interacting with the healthcare system. (shrink)

Supporting the view that ethics can be taught, this paper will explore the frequent lack of a philosophical foundation in scientific training and its impact on a course on ‘Science and ethics.’ The incidence of cases of misconduct by scientists engaged in basic research led the United States to establish the Office of Research Integrity. Their publication, “Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research” covers the ethical conduct of research and defines misconduct as fabrication, falsification and plagiarism. Concern for breach (...) of public trust with repercussions in scientific funding has led to mandates courses in ethics for students training for scientific research careers. Having concentrated their course work in laboratory-based science, these students have less familiarity with philosophy and consequently struggle with the ethical reasoning aspects of a course in science and ethics. Discovery of a therapeutic drug or device opens a complex web of regulations by Food and Drug Administration for the ethical use of human subjects. Again the ethical system is one of rules and conduct based norms without foundational philosophical support for the ethical principles used in the guidelines. Rules of law reflect corrective action. Engaging students in case studies helps alert them to potential ethical dilemmas and invites them to explore why one action is right, good or better than an alternative. Narrative ethics provides a human presence to competing and compelling claims, the intersection of which is the ethical issue and concept. Dissection narratives help students explore how ethics can be taught and learned in a pluralistic society and remain relevant to the field of expertise they have chosen. The challenge lies in finding the best methods for teaching ethics in a particular discipline. Is there a code of ethics that applies crossculturally and across disciplines? Early and often should be the mantra of teaching ethics throughout the development of the individual and emergent professional. (shrink)