Question Assignment description
Selling Medical Ultrasound Technology in
Asia Linda Trevino and Alessandro Gubbini A shocking moral dilemma arose for a younger engineer throughout his first enterprise journey to Asia to work with
prospects of his firm’s ultrasound imaging expertise. On the lengthy airplane experience, Pat was dutifully
studying a journey ebook to study extra about Korean and Chinese language cultures when he was shocked to study
how ultrasound applied sciences have been getting used in these nations. A expertise that he had at all times
thought-about to be a manner to Help individuals by diagnosing illness was being generally used to deliberately
determine and interrupt pregnancies when the fetus was feminine. As an engineer, Pat had been skilled to
be keen about innovation and downside fixing. He was used to enthusiastic about these applied sciences
as progressive high-tech options to critical well being issues. He was additionally dedicated to creating
higher-quality, extra environment friendly, inexpensive gadgets in order that they may very well be used extra extensively. It had by no means
occurred to him that in some Asian cultures, the place overpopulation mixed with a robust patriarchal
tradition led to a choice for sons over daughters, this expertise that he thought-about to be progressive,
useful, and supportive of individuals’s well-being may be used to remove feminine lives. As ultrasound expertise has superior and change into extra obtainable, it has been used extra extensively in
choices to abort feminine fetuses in favor of sons. After some extra analysis, Pat realized that this
apply has change into fairly frequent in China, which controls inhabitants progress by permitting households to
have just one baby. In India, feminine youngsters are extra expensive to households as a result of the tradition requires
the household to bear the bills of their daughters’ weddings and dowries. By comparability, an ultrasound
examination is a small expense even for these poor households. Pat was additional stunned to study that utilizing
ultrasound expertise to determine fetus gender and abort the fetus based mostly upon gender data is
illegal in most of those nations (for instance, in India medical doctors are forbidden from disclosing the intercourse
of fetuses). Nonetheless, the enforcement of such legal guidelines is tough and spotty, particularly in clinics which might be
distant from cities and regulators. The issue is being exacerbated as a result of many ultrasound
machines are being bought on the second-hand market, thus making ultrasound extra obtainable and extra
inexpensive to those clinics. The growing use of the expertise to abort feminine fetuses is starting to
create an enormous societal downside as a result of males are outnumbering females, distorting nature’s cautious
gender steadiness. There are estimates that greater than 150 million girls are ‘‘lacking’’ from the world as
a results of sex-selective abortions and feminine infanticide. That’s equal to lacking each girl in
America! The 2001 Indian census demonstrated an enormous drop in the variety of younger women relative to
boys (927 women for each 1,000 boys in comparison with 945 to 100 a decade earlier), and the issue
continues to worsen as using ultrasound expertise will increase. In keeping with UNICEF, China now has
solely 832 women for each 1,000 boys aged zero–four. Trying to the longer term as these youngsters develop up, some have
predicted growing trafficking of girls for prostitution and violent crime as younger males compete for
the smaller variety of obtainable females. In pondering via what he had realized, Pat discovered himself contemplating the sufferers, the health-care
practitioners, and the health-care business in addition to his firm, different expertise builders, and the
broader cultures concerned. Sufferers profit from entry to life-saving applied sciences that may determine
illnesses at an early stage in order that they are often handled extra efficiently. However sufferers can be harmed
if, resulting from early identification of their baby’s gender, moms really feel compelled into abortions in opposition to their will.
In these cultures, many moms apparently do really feel compelled by cultural or household pressures to abort
feminine fetuses. Medical practitioners profit from the flexibility to do sooner and extra correct diagnoses,
however they too might be pressured to make use of these programs for unethical functions. The business and the
builders (together with Pat’s firm) definitely revenue from the manufacturing and sale of extra of those
merchandise. However the firm and business threat sullying their reputations if they’re discovered accountable for
promoting these programs to unauthorized customers for illegal functions. Think about what the media may make
of that story. In keeping with a prestigious British medical journal, The Lancet (2006), the illegal use of
diagnostic ultrasound applied sciences is contributing to an estimated 1 million abortions of feminine fetuses
yearly. But, these diagnostic applied sciences nonetheless drastically profit society worldwide in saving and
enhancing the lives of many hundreds of thousands of sufferers. How ought to Pat take into consideration this? Do the advantages to society of the expertise outweigh the harms?
Even when they do, does the corporate need to be related to a apply that many individuals discover immoral
and that’s unlawful in many nations? Pat discovered this apply notably distasteful when taking a look at it
from the attitude of the females who wouldn’t be born merely due to their gender. Pat
questioned, is that this apply honest to them? And aren’t all of us facilitating the apply by wanting the opposite
manner? What would occur if such gender discrimination have been globally accepted as regular apply?
May that ever be the precise factor to do?’’ What would worldwide well being organizations such because the
World Federation for Ultrasound in Drugs and Biology (WFUMB), which gives coaching and
schooling to medical doctors worldwide, need to say about such practices? Pat questioned what his spouse would
assume if she knew that his work concerned this sudden end result? Would she anticipate him to do one thing?
What’s his particular person accountability right here? What’s his firm’s accountability? As a result of Pat felt so confused by what he had learn, and he didn’t totally perceive the authorized or cultural
atmosphere, he by no means talked about the topic to his Asian shoppers. Nevertheless it remained in the again of his
thoughts. When he returned dwelling, he saved enthusiastic about it. There was no formal construction for him to
floor the difficulty throughout the firm, so he determined to debate the topic with some trusted
colleagues. He questioned whether or not they have been conscious of the difficulty and what they may give it some thought.
Have been they as bothered as he was? It seems that they have been as unaware of those practices as he had
been. It additionally appeared extra distant to them as a result of that they had not traveled to Asia as he had, and there
was no settlement about what to do. Engineers have a tendency to consider merchandise solely in technical phrases—
the potential for technical flaws and risks that may hurt sufferers. They hardly ever encounter the
final finish customers, they usually’re not skilled to consider cultural implications. As a Westerner, all of this was notably exhausting for Pat to take care of. He was caught fully off guard.
He requested himself: What do I must do, if something? I’m scheduled to return to those nations to
help our shoppers’ use of our expertise, so I gained’t be capable of keep away from the difficulty for lengthy. It appears virtually
ridiculous that I grew to become conscious of this concern via a journey ebook. If it hadn’t been for that ebook, I
most likely by no means would have thought concerning the concern in any respect. My firm had not ready me. It provided
no particular coaching on cultural or moral points for workers they ship to work abroad. It appeared like
the corporate’s values of offering individuals with the chance for earlier diagnoses prevented us from
exploring the potential misuse of our product. The corporate and business concentrate on the way to develop
applied sciences to determine life-threatening situations earlier, higher, and sooner. We like to think about
ourselves and our applied sciences as saving lives, not risking them. The corporate’s said worth is to
present health-care options to sufferers worldwide. However, in this case, our expertise was getting used to
each save and finish lives. Do our values want to alter? I consider our firm as being good and
moral, however we have been clearly unprepared in this case. We had not completed our homework. Even when the
firm needed to do one thing, Pat questioned what they might do. The corporate is an unique
gear producer (OEM), which means that it doesn’t promote on to the tip customers. Subsequently the
accountability for placing these applied sciences into the unsuitable palms is extensively dispersed throughout totally different
producers, distributors and native establishments. Pat additionally questioned whether or not and the way the corporate
may affect these totally different events to take motion even when it determined it was proper to take action. On high of
that, the corporate is in america, and these finish customers are midway the world over. Case Questions Take into account Pat’s considerations as described in this case and put together a memorandum that addresses the
considerations described under.Your memo ought to be accomplished in narrative kind (you might use headings if
you select to take action for organizational functions, however don’t record your responses in bullet kind). Most
web page size: 10 pages (double spaced). Determine the entire potential moral points you see (if any). Describe and analyze the implications of every
concern, together with who or what could also be affected by the corporate’s response. In figuring out points and
addressing their implications, your dialogue ought to be as complete as potential—it’s best to
contemplate any financial, social, or ecological implications, in addition to the potential affect not less than two
cultural variations you’ll be able to determine. Moreover, your Assessment ought to totally determine and focus on not less than two potential programs of
motion that the corporate may take with respect to every concern you’ve got mentioned. Clearly show
your reasoning course of—determine and clarify any moral ideas or arguments you might be counting on; do
not merely state unsupported conclusions. If you happen to select to use any approaches to moral reasoning that you just realized about in this course, clearly
state what they’re and the way you might be making use of them to this case. Of the potential options you
recognized, which might you advocate that the corporate undertake as a decision? Once more, totally clarify
and justify your suggestions. Lastly, clarify how you’d implement every answer you’ve got
beneficial.
