EngGen403

Engineering and medicine. There were cases where mechanical failure of Bjork Shiley valves caused patients' hearts to fail. This is quite critical because of the location of these valves in such a critical organ.

Some factors: Strut failures due to fracturing of wielded legs, opening angle, size, age, material used, people who wielded the struts.

Markov analysis done for who should get surgery to replace the valves. Has a confidence interval as well as the average success rate. Ethics coming into play. Negligence and salvaging bad products. Class lawsuits against Pfizer (new owner).

Types of ethics that can be invoked:

• Relativism
• Divine
• Utilitarian
• Deontology
• Virtue

Composed and transmitted from my iPod Touch