Eastern Breaches in Medical Ethics
Today we think of the Nazi Dr. Mengele as being the nadir of medical ethics, someone who would perform torturous experiments on unwilling patients. However, have the modern medical professions really been practicing with a significantly higher standard of ethics than Dr. Mengele? This statement is not intended as hyperbole. Consider the following breaches in modern medical ethics and their costs to humanity:
►
► ► |
Sixty million (60,000,000) Chinese girls are missing from the general mainland Chinese population because of female infanticide, in part because of medical practices.
Fully 20% of all children under 21 in mainland China have been infected with Hepatitis B because of reuse of unsterile hypodermic needles. 1998 study by California researcher Richard Ko, Pharm.D., Ph.D. for the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) of Chinese patent herbal remedies imported into the U.S. offers some disturbing news. The report reveals that of 260 traditional Chinese patent medicines tested: 32% contained unlabeled and potentially harmful ingredients. |
●
● ● ● |
24 of these remedies tested with high levels of lead.
36 contained unacceptable levels of arsenic. 35 were contaminated with the poisonous heavy metal mercury. 17 contained unlisted pharmaceutical drugs. |
Is this ethical manufacturing, labeling, and prescribing?