Ethics Committee Week 2: Subject 13 Part 1

Reading Questions Due BEFORE Class

Read Part 1 only of Subject 13 then submit (below) your answers to the following 3 questions before Friday’s class.

  1. Describe the ethical aspect of the case as though you were explaining it to someone unfamiliar with the case.
  2. Explain which of the 4 bioethical principles are relevant to the case. Explain your appraisal.
  3. Which of the principles do you think should take precedence and why?

Discussion Questions For In Class

(To be submitted as a group post in the discussion board)

  1. As an ethics committee you must reach a consensus. Discuss each others’ answers for (2) and (3) from the pre-discussion questions then write the answer you agree on. If someone strongly disagrees after discussion, they may submit a dissenting opinion.
  2. Is the trial a therapeutic or non-therapeutic trial?
  3. What are the main ethical concerns/conflicts in the above kind of trial? (What must a trial do in order to be justified).
  4. What 3 minimum conditions have to be satisfied to achieve ethical permissibility for the above kind of trial?
  5. How is equipoise relevant to reconciling beneficence with the goals of randomized clinical trials?
  6. Explain how clinical equipoise is relevant to evaluating the ethics of the case.
  7. Review the list of relevant information researchers are expected to give subjects (p. 246-247). Which apply to the case and how?
  8. What 4 criteria must be met for informed voluntary consent? Which do you think might not have been met in this case?