Inspired by a paper that I’m working on with a few of my colleagues from the STREAM research group on the subject of the accrual of subjects in human research, I’ve been reading through a number of articles related to the question, When is it legitimate to stop a clinical trial that is already in progress?… Continue reading When is it legitimate to stop a clinical trial early?
Tag: value
Hypothesis Generator
Is good medical research directed at testing hypotheses? Or is there a competing model of good medical research that sees hypothesis generating research as a valuable end? In an intriguing essay appearing in the August 21, 2009 issue of Cell, Maureen O’Malley and co-authors show how current funding mechanisms at agencies like NIH and NSF… Continue reading Hypothesis Generator
Help Wanted, Part 2
So, what are some of the intriguing ethical questions of Kolata’s August 2d article? Here is one: when researchers conduct studies and ethics committees review protocols, resource allocation is an important consideration. If, as Kolata alleges, mediocre trials siphon eligible patients away from good trials, then there is a case to be made that IRBs… Continue reading Help Wanted, Part 2
Help Wanted- For the War on Cancer
Earlier this week (Aug 2), Gina Kolata of the NYTimes ran a fascinating story about challenges recruiting patients to cancer clinical trials. The story contains interesting facts, credible claims, analysis, and unfortunately, some misleading conjectures. The problem of patient recruitment also invites some hard headed ethical analysis. First the facts. According to the article, one… Continue reading Help Wanted- For the War on Cancer
The Octopus of Reference Standards
When gene transfer researchers perform an experiment, how do they measure the dose of their vectors? For that matter, when investigators perform a study using any novel biologic, how have they characterized their agents? Few would think the questions are ethically significant. But consider the fact that research teams often use different techniques to determine… Continue reading The Octopus of Reference Standards