ETHICAL ISSUES
ETHICAL, LEGAL, SOCIAL ISSUES
Since nanomedicine is a fairly new technology, numerous questions arise as to the consmer, health, and environmental safety of regenerative nanomedicine:
> Nanomedicine involves a myriad of nanoparticles - each possessing different characteristics and requiring separate safety tests.
> Nanoparticles function on a molecular level and changes in their microenvironment may significantly impact a non-toxic nanoparticle and increase its toxic level immensely; therefore, nanoparticles may behave differently in a human body than in a cell culture, arising potential health hazards for the patients. In addition, their small size allows them to easily penetrate and enter the skin barriers of the scientists and researchers studying them - thus, arising potential health hazards for the developers of the new technology.
> Although nanomedical treatments must pass rigorous clinical trials in order to arrive to the market, unexpected side effects may evolve after the product passed a trial stage - raising ethical questions as to the safety of the new technology for its potential patients.
Once on the market, nanomedicine is faced with new ethical issues:
Once a new nanomedical technology passed its clinical trials and entered the market, its fathering company temporarily gains the monopoly in the market over the new product - allowing the company to establish the high prices necessary to yeild profits. High prices discriminate against the poor, who may require the new medical treatment yet not be able to afford it. Countries without guaranteed health coverage, particularly, will not be able to provide their citizens with the new nanomedicine application; while countries with guaranteed health coverage will be able to grant their citizens with the necessary treatment, thus discriminating against their counterpart nations.
Sociatal hierarchy may possible also fall under the radar of ethics. Nanomedicine will open doors to physical enchancements, raising ethical pondering upon the pureness of the human body and whether the human body should be synthetically enchanced. Substantially, physical enchancements may produce unfair competition - with the "enchanced" individual acquiring an unfair advantage over the normal, average human. Such enchancement can sprout discrimination against the normal, not enchaned people.
With the high price of nanomedical treatments and enchancements, existing socioeconomical inequalities will develop further as the rich dominate the consumer market of nanomedicine: the rich will get richer.
LEGAL ISSUES
A broad introduction of nanomedicine will lower the demand on less effective drugs and therefore trigger a collapse of certain complimentary goods. Economically speaking, this will help nanomedicine establish a monopoly in the field of pharmaceutics, thus eliminating drug companies and the jobs they provide. Unemployment rate will increase as more and more certified pharmacists will lose their jobs as they are replaced by the innovative nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology and nanomedicine are very expensive and funding will be extracted from taxpayers who may not all benefit from the new technology. This will cause another increase in taxes which the Congress will not be willing to pass and the taxpayers will not be excited to obide.
For example, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) proposed using liposomal nanoparticles to target breast cancer tumors: this new concept suggests delivering drugs to battle breast cancer directly into the
cancerous cells, with nanoparticles acting as the direct
drug delivery vehicles. In 2013, the required budget to support this research estimated to around $5.833 billion dollars - with the majority of the money sponsored by the U.S. taxpayers.
Thus, money issues encapsulate nanomedicine as they encapsulated other experimentations and studies, such as stem cell research or gene therapy.
SOCIAL ISSUES
In addition, the regulation of the new nanotechnology and nanomedicine raises new issues for the young science. Currently, the nanomedicine and its applications and products are regulated by various agencies, depending on the purpose of the product/method. One of the primary concerns, apart from health safety, of nanoparticle application includes the impact of nanoparticles on the environment. With the current framework, FDA is in charge of nanomedicine and its dominion; however, since the FDA is solely mandated with testing the safety of new technologies for their user, the impact of nanomedicine and nanoparticles on the environment is neglected. Contamination of waterways, and the following ecological effects, remain rampant and thus evoke legal issues surrounding environmental safety and prevention of pollution.
With nanomedicine so rapidly gaining popularity in the medical and even common fields, the dilemma of lagging regulation of the new technology often presents health risks for the consumers of the market as its producers begin to value speed over quality in their attempt to be the first to provide the new concept in the economic market.