Ethics of Human Growth Hormone Term Paper

Total Length: 2126 words ( 7 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 6

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On the other hand, there are also many in the medical arena who are of the opinion that this view is too radical and essentially unhelpful. Many doctors consider that a strict ethical view of growth hormone treatment would be unreasonable and unfair to the individuals who must bear the burdens of discrimination... It is not easy to dismiss the profound and understandable distress some children experience because they are short. Such children undeniably are disadvantaged by their condition" (Considerations Related to the Use of Recombinant Human Growth Hormone in Children, 1997)

This important ethical debate is also discussed in various other studies. For example, in a study entitled Moral assessment of growth hormone therapy for children with idiopathic short stature (1997) by Verweij and Kortmann, the authors state that one of the greatest ethical dilemmas facing medicine is the prescription of growth hormone treatment for those children who do not have a deficiency of the growth hormone. They ask the question; "Is it morally appropriate to enhance the growth, by means of medical treatment, of a child wish idiopathic short stature? The medical, moral, and philosophical questions in this area are many" (p. 305). This article in fact favors the view that growth hormone treatment is ethically validated when it serves to prevent of psychological and social problems due to short stature.


3. Conclusion

In conclusion and in summary, the effectiveness of growth hormone theory has been seen in the many applications that have emerged for the hormone in the last few decades. These include increasing growth in individuals who lack this particular hormone or who have suffered a depletion of the hormone due to illness. However, there are many other instances in which the hormone is used that lead to various ethical and moral issues.

On the one hand, studies note that the exact outcome and effects of this type of hormone treatment are not adequately known and that this fact in itself becomes and an ethical dilemma. However, the most complex ethical area is the use of this hormone treatment in cases where ether is no innate or medical necessity for its usage.

In these cases, the question is raised as to whether the use of this treatment is not in fact exacerbating and tacitly supporting social prejudice that privileges taller people in society. Many studies however conclude that it is medically ethical to make use of this hormone treatment in cases where lack of stature can lead to psychological and social problems for the individual......

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"Ethics Of Human Growth Hormone", 12 April 2008, Accessed.11 May. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/ethics-human-growth-hormone-30786