Compulsory licensing and access to medicines in Africa
Olasupo Owoeye in Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines in Africa, 2019
The precautionary principle is a principle of law that allows the adoption of measures in pre-emption of a likely risk of harm to the public. According to Brent Blackwelder: The basic idea of the precautionary principle is that before imposing significant risks on others or society as a whole, we should have a solid grasp of what is being proposed. The principle embodies the wisdom of ancient adages such as “look before you leap” and “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.Thus the precautionary principle mandates that when there is a risk of significant health or environmental damage to others or to future generations, and when there is scientific uncertainty as to the nature of that damage or the likelihood of the risk, then decisions should be made so as to prevent such activities from being conducted unless and until scientific evidence shows that the damage will not occur.26
‘Why take chances?’ Advice on alcohol intake to pregnant and non-pregnant women in four Nordic countries
Kirstie Coxon, Mandie Scamell, Andy Alaszewski in Risk, Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2018
The precautionary principle is a particular mode of action in a context of scientific uncertainty: it allows for relaxation of the requirement for causal evidence and justifies risk-preventive actions in the absence of scientific proof (Osimani, 2013). It originated in environmental law to facilitate environmental protection with new types of genetically modified organisms. It reversed the burden of proof in that environmental protection agencies did not need to demonstrate the harm in order to justify prevention but those promoting the new type of organism had to prove that their activities do not cause any serious harm (Osimani, 2013). However the expansion of the precautionary approach to other areas, ones that do not have the same potential for massive environmental catastrophes, has been criticised. Ewald (2002), for instance, has argued that contemporary culture has become increasingly ‘riskphobic’, and the precautionary principle has become its new regulatory principle.
Ethics for Radiation Protection in Medicine
Jim Malone, Friedo Zölzer, Gaston Meskens, Christina Skourou in Ethics for Radiation Protection in Medicine, 2018
In recent decades, there has been much discussion about the ‘precautionary principle’, especially in the context of environmental issues. For instance, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro 1992, also called the Earth Summit, proposed the following: ‘Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation’. (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development 1992) Another important version is the one drawn up by a group of scientists from different disciplines gathered at the Wingspread Conference 1998: ‘When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically’ (Wingspread Conference 1998).
Anticipatory Governance and Foresight in Regulating for Uncertainty
Published in The American Journal of Bioethics, 2022
The most philosophically substantiated account of the precautionary principle has multiple versions, rules and conditions to trigger proportionally cautious responses in the presence of scientific uncertainty (Steel 2014). While sophisticated, the scope of this account is arguably too broad and impractical. It is also embedded within a definition of scientific uncertainty that, surprisingly, does not account for well-established principles in science philosophy or the complexities of socially important but morally contentious research. According to this account:
The different sources of electromagnetic fields: Dangers are not limited to physical health
Published in Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, 2020
Faced with this, thousands of publications, hundreds of scientists and specialists, show that human health and the environment are in danger because of EMFs. While the precautionary principle should have been established a long time ago, the opposite is being put in place. The sole explanation of conflicts of interest, which have been demonstrated for a long time, does not appear to be sufficient.
Rebutting the Ethical Considerations regarding Consciousness in Human Cerebral Organoids: Challenging the Premature Assumptions
Published in AJOB Neuroscience, 2023
The precautionary principle is a generally accepted framework for decision-making that places an emphasis on prudence when possible hazards are unknown. It states that when there is a risk of harm, action should be taken to avert such harm in the lack of a scientific consensus. It is frequently employed in environmental, public health, and technological contexts.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Biodiversity
- Extinction
- Genetically Modified Organism
- Factor of Safety
- Marine Pollution
- Uncertainty
- Wingspread Conference On The Precautionary Principle
- Risk Management
- Cost–Benefit Analysis
- Public Health