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Ethical Dilemma: Continue to use or discontinue using.
Doctors ethical…
Ethical Dilemma: Continue to use or discontinue using.
Doctors ethical responsibility is to treat and save as many lives as possible with the Therac 25. But, it is unethical to continue to use the Therac 25 if it injures or causes the death of even one patient.
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Discontinue Using
Pros
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AECL would have to immediately test and review the entire machine to figure out the bugs and why it was causing overdoses,
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Cons
Could deprive other patients of life saving treatment in cases where the machine functioned properly.
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Relevant Facts
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AECL removed the hardware safeguards that were included on earlier machines and relied solely on the software for error checking on the Therac 25
Programming Errors resulted in administered radiation that was over the prescribed dosage resulting in 6 confirmed deaths
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Decision is to Discontinue Using because it is not worth the risk of serious injury or death to even one patient. Older methods could still be used to safely treat patients until the problems with the Therac 25 are resolved.