Oncontrol Power Bone Marrow Biopsy Systems Essay

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Ethical considerations and implication to medical practice for physicians when using the new technology of OnControl power bone marrow biopsy systems

The OnControl power bone marrow biopsy has been found to be significantly less painful than other forms of bone marrow biopsies and also more accurate which raises significant ethical questions regarding the impetus to use the product. The OnControl Bone Marrow (OBM) Biopsy System achieves this result by using a battery-powered drill to penetrate the bone, thus reducing trauma (Reed et al. 2011). Not only is OBM less traumatic; it is also more accurate, given that "the mean length of the marrow biopsy specimens," is significantly longer with the use of ONM and comparatively, side effects are no greater with the use of OBM than that of a conventional control group (Reed et al. 2011). The greater accuracy of OBM also meant that there was less of a need for repeat biopsies.

The emphasis on doing no harm to the patient suggests that the need to use the OnControl method for healthcare providers is clearly manifest from an ethical perspective. Conventional manual rotary technique involves more grinding and stimulation which results in more pain and particularly in patients with more flesh, "the biopsy length is often suboptimal due to limitation of depth that can be reached in the bone by manual pressure" (Reed et al. 2011).
Given the increased weight of many patients overall, this is also a significant point in favor of the use of OBM. Also, enduring the treatment for cancer is itself extremely stressful even outside of biopsies, and minimizing that stress is thus extremely important for patients psychologically as well as physically. This suggests that investing in the technology from the point-of-view of the patient is well worth the investment.

Of course, decisions in the field of healthcare are not made without consideration for costs, no matter what the patient's condition. Compared with conventional methods, the OnControl method is more expensive, causing some healthcare institutions to emphasize the conventional technique instead purely due to a focus on cost-cutting. But the initial costs, including the start-up costs must be weighed against other factors. However, with conventional techniques, the "inferior quality of the marrow specimens, delays in diagnosis and treatment, the necessity of repeating some BMPs, to say nothing of the longer procedure time and the inferior patient acceptance with the SBM" are actually more costly (Reed….....

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