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Illes J, Lipsman N, McDonald PJ, Hrincu V, Chandler J, Fasano A, Giacobbe P, Hamani C, Ibrahim GM, Kiss Z, Meng Y, Sankar T, Weise L. From vision to action: Canadian leadership in ethics and neurotechnology. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF NEUROBIOLOGY 2021; 159:241-273. [PMID: 34446249 DOI: 10.1016/bs.irn.2021.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
This chapter explores the complex neuroethical aspects of neurosurgery and neuromodulation in the context of Canadian healthcare and innovation, as seen through the lens of the Pan Canadian Neurotechnology Ethics Consortium (PCNEC). Highlighted are key areas of ethical focus, each with its own unique challenges: technical advances, readiness and risk, vulnerable populations, medico-legal issues, training, and research. Through an exploration of Canadian neurotechnological practice from these various clusters, we provide a critical review of progress, describe opportunities to address areas of debate, and seek to foster ethical innovation. Underpinning this comprehensive review are the fundamental principles of solution-oriented, practical neuroethics, with beneficence and justice at the core. In our view, it is a moral imperative that neurotechnological advancements include a delineation of ethical priorities for future guidelines, oversight, and interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judy Illes
- Neuroethics Canada, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
| | - Nir Lipsman
- Harquail Centre for Neuromodulation, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Patrick J McDonald
- Neuroethics Canada, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Viorica Hrincu
- Neuroethics Canada, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Jennifer Chandler
- University of Ottawa, Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Alfonso Fasano
- Edmond J. Safra Program in Parkinson's Disease, Morton and Gloria Shulman Movement Disorders Clinic, Toronto Western Hospital, UHN, Toronto, ON, Canada; Division of Neurology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Krembil Brain Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada; Center for Advancing Neurotechnological Innovation to Application (CRANIA), Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Peter Giacobbe
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Clement Hamani
- Harquail Centre for Neuromodulation, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - George M Ibrahim
- Division of Neurosurgery, Hospital for Sick Children and Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Zelma Kiss
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Departments of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Ying Meng
- Harquail Centre for Neuromodulation, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Tejas Sankar
- Division of Neurosurgery, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Lutz Weise
- Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
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Bittlinger M, Müller S. Opening the debate on deep brain stimulation for Alzheimer disease - a critical evaluation of rationale, shortcomings, and ethical justification. BMC Med Ethics 2018; 19:41. [PMID: 29886845 PMCID: PMC5994654 DOI: 10.1186/s12910-018-0275-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2016] [Accepted: 05/01/2018] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Deep brain stimulation (DBS) as investigational intervention for symptomatic relief from Alzheimer disease (AD) has generated big expectations. Our aim is to discuss the ethical justification of this research agenda by examining the underlying research rationale as well as potential methodological pitfalls. The shortcomings we address are of high ethical importance because only scientifically valid research has the potential to be ethical. METHOD We performed a systematic search on MEDLINE and EMBASE. We included 166 publications about DBS for AD into the analysis of research rationale, risks and ethical aspects. Fifty-eight patients were reported in peer-reviewed journals with very mixed results. A grey literature search revealed hints for 75 yet to be published, potentially enrolled patients. RESULTS The results of our systematic review indicate methodological shortcomings in the literature that are both scientific and ethical in nature. According to our analysis, research with human subjects was performed before decisive preclinical research was published examining the specific research question at stake. We also raise the concern that conclusions on the potential safety and efficacy have been reported in the literature that seem premature given the design of the feasibility studies from which they were drawn. In addition, some publications report that DBS for AD was performed without written informed consent from some patients, but from surrogates only. Furthermore, registered ongoing trials plan to enroll severely demented patients. We provide reasons that this would violate Art. 28 of the Declaration of Helsinki, because DBS for AD involves more than minimal risks and burdens, and because its efficacy and safety are not yet empirically established to be likely. CONCLUSION Based on our empirical analysis, we argue that clinical research on interventions of risk class III (Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency) should not be exploratory but grounded on sound, preclinically tested, and disease-specific a posteriori hypotheses. This also applies to DBS for dementia as long as therapeutic benefits are uncertain, and especially when research subjects with cognitive deficits are involved, who may foreseeably progress to full incapacity to provide informed consent during the required follow-up period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Merlin Bittlinger
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, CCM, Division of Mind and Brain Research, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Sabine Müller
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, CCM, Division of Mind and Brain Research, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
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