Making risk-benefit assessments of medical research protocols.
It is commonly assumed that medical experiments are ethical only if they have favorable "risk-benefit ratios". In this paper it is argued that "risk-benefit ratios" often cannot be calculated, even roughly; and that even if they could, ethical experiments don't need to have favorable "risk-benefit ratios". In addition, a new method of assessing an experiment's risk and benefits is proposed-a method grounded in the principles of liberal government.
Claremont McKenna College, USA.
Alex
A
Rajczi
D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000941:ethics*; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D003657:Decision Making / Q000941:ethics; D028744:Ethics Committees, Research / Q000941:ethics*; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D032984:Ethics, Research; D006805:Human Experimentation / Q000941:ethics; D006801:Humans; D035842:Research Subjects / Q000523:psychology; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000941:ethics*