Neuroethics:

Pathetic Pleasure and

Persistent Pain

• Prof Jayapaul Azariah Ph.D

President, Asian Bioethics Association

New No. 4, 8th Lane, Indiranagar,

Chennai 600 020. India

jazariah@yahoo.com

Addictions are of many sorts

• From mundane activity like drinking ICE COLD WATER during the summer in India

• A mechanical device like – Slot machine

The most innocuous looking of gambling games- freely accessible to school kids

• Chemical – durgs

• Habits

• Technology addiction

Technology addiction

Addiction to PC Mobile Cell phonesBoth can roam

locally and globallyBoth can

damage health and Nervous system

Advance of Techno Sciences

• If Biology belongs to 20th Century thenNeuroethics belongs to the 21st Century

• Science and Technology has advanced so rapidly during the later half of 20th Century

• Addiction has been now varied and new• One can be addicted to drink ice cold

water during the summer in India• Currently it is an addiction of a new kind• Addiction to technology

Technologies converge on Cell

Addiction to Technology

ALL in ONE Technology

• Can cause hearing lose when Listening to MP3 player too loudly or for too long a period

• Can damage Balancing wheel in the ear

Cell phone in Pulic

• Talking to oneself – looks like

• Emotional talk

• In public transports – like buses

• In banks

• The ears are plugged and they can not hear what the outside world tells them

NeurothicsBrain Blood barrier – broken

Internet café – Youth in doors

Case Study - 1

• The patient is a expert in Television Technology – working in Broadcasting Inc.

• All ways at the Cell phones• No rest to his phone calls• Listening to MP3 /IPOD music• He could not stand straight – suddenly he

will loose his balance and fall down• Lost his job• Could not find a cure

Case Study - 2• Mr ‘S’ on his way to Church – Tomorrow is

his interview for a new job – so he thought of prayer

• His voice was shaky – words incoherent

• He said, I am diagnosed – Biopolar disease

• After a long discussion he admitted that he was an addict to unhealthy WEBSITES

• He stopped visiting them four months ago – But the pathetic (pain) effect lingers on and on

Pathological implication• The doctor said – stop all your medicines• Next week I will put you on a new schedule

of drugs – Foreign drugs• Have they been approved by the Drug

Controller of India? – No idea?• These drugs are supplied by “brokers”• No informed consent – Patient is given the

impression that it is part of his treatment• He is not told that he is a part of an

experiment !• Pathetic pleasure but persistent pain!

Case Study - 3

• A computer Technology Professional- in a Call Center

• Feels that he is being ‘haunted’ by ‘spirits’ and ‘fears’

• I suggested to him that he takes proper rest and provide sleep for his mind & soul

• He said “ I have not yet joined the Centre”

• How he keeps himself occupied during day

Case Study 3 – Cont..• He said that he sits before the computer and

visits unwanted web sites• As a Christian he was in a conflict. One side of

him said you are a Christian - these websites are not the ones which he should feed on. The other side - his Psychic said that it is only natural and not you are participating in any unlawful sexual activity.

• Such a conflicting state of mind is a vulnerable part of human personality. During the conversation he agreed that he should not have been visiting some websites

Can a patient be outsourced?

• It can happen in India.• In India the Patient trusts the Doctor 100%• It is more so in the case of a new drug to treat

cancer/biopolar, the patient puts his trust on the doctor entirely

• BBC The drug has not been tested effectively on animals. The foreign (USA) collaborator says it is good enough for USA but it is good for India?

• Need to tighten Protocols of Informed Consent and Ethical procedures

Bioethical Safeguards !

• Need to enforce same standards as in a Western Country – regarding trails on animals.

• Regulations need to be tight

• Public awareness on these issues

• Curriculum Development in these areas

Thank you