title: [Reflections on the use of a placebo in international research. The example of trials relative to the vertical perinatal transmission of the HIV virus].
abstract: This article offers a reflection on certain arguments (for and against) advanced regarding clinical trials against a placebo sponsored by the North to be conducted in the South. The aim is to show the strength and the ethical implications of these arguments. The example chosen is that of trials relative to the vertical perinatal transmission of the HIV virus. It is particularly interesting. In fact, it has stemmed much controversy and the questions it raises have evolved, though, they are still being developed. Whereas the ethical requirements to be respected in international research promoted by a Northern country to be conducted in the South are becoming more specific. Even if these trials are not the latest conducted concerning this issue, the arguments which have developed in their regard stand true, in my opinion, for other experiments. The examination of the arguments retained shows the close interweaving of the different constitutive ethics of the ethics of trials, as well as the evolution from a deontological perspective to a contractualist perspective. It also brings forward some particularly sensitive points which warrant in-depth reflection.
authors.affiliation: Faculté de droit et Département de philosophie de la Faculté de philosophie et lettres, Facultés universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix, 61, rue de Bruxelles, B-5000 Namur, Belgique.
authors.forename: Marie-Luce
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Delfosse
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001675:Bioethics; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010919:Placebos; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000821:virology*; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D010919:Placebos