[Some recent ethical dilemmas in randomized controlled clinical trials].
Randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) are the golden standard of contemporary medical research. Just because they are ever more widespread, they stand at the focus of intense ethical debate. The debates have focused on the questions, how much the research participants can benefit from the research, and even if they can benefit from it, can a research ever be called therapeutic? Is not the notion of therapeutic research a misconception? Furthermore it has been debated when it is ethically acceptable to start an RCT, and is it acceptable to randomly assign research participants? When is it acceptable to use a placebo controlled trial? It has been debated, how to interpret the conception of "best... method" in the Declaration of Helsinki 2000. The article makes an attempt to survey some of the lessons of these debates.
Kovács
József
J
Semmelweis Egyetem Magatartástudományi Intézet, Bioetika Részleg, Budapest, Nagyvárad tér 4. 1089. kovjozs@net.sote.hu
D016265:Conflict of Interest; D032984:Ethics, Research; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000635:transmission; D006381:Helsinki Declaration; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000941:ethics; D010919:Placebos; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000941:ethics*; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards; D035703:Therapies, Investigational / Q000941:ethics*
D010919:Placebos