Significant Choice Essay

1692 Words7 Pages
Significant Choice is portrayed in many different contexts and carries many different forms of definitions; in the literate sense, it pertains to an important decision. In regards to the ethics of significant choice, especially in the case of fen-phen, a popular dietary drug highly marketed throughout the course of the 1990’s, it pertains to giving the public enough information to make an informed decision regarding all of the facts and circumstances (Streifel, Beebe, Veil, & Sellnow, 2006). Why is significant choice important in the case of fen-phen? Significant choice in the case of fen-phen is an important concept because of several implications the weight of the discovery carried. Even though the first recorded cases of fen-phen being prescribed as a combination to battle obesity began in the early 1980’s, it wasn’t until 1994 when a group of echocardiography technicians began noticing a link between patients who were both, taking fen-phen and recently diagnosed with valvular heart disease (Johnson, Sellnow, Seeger, Barrett, & Hasbargen, 2004). Ultimately, one echocardiography technician meticulously tracked the strange association between the two factors, over the course of the next two years (Streifel, Beebe, Veil, & Sellnow, 2006). In 1996, MeritCare Health System, the employer of the echocardiography technician, realized how serious the link between fen-phen and valvular heart disease really was. However, MeritCare also realized that without enough information, they posed a risk of violating the ethics of significant choice. Essentially MeritCare knew enough to warn the public, but not enough to accurately inform the public. According to Streifel et al. (2006), the best environment for a good decision is the one from which has many options for the individual to decide upon. Additionally, Lyon & Mirivel (2011), add that an ethical

More about Significant Choice Essay

Open Document