After Equipoise: Continuing Research to Gain FDA Approval

2015 The AMA Journal of Ethic  
Krill LS, Adelson JW, Randall LM, Bristow RE. Clinical commentary: medical ethics and the ramifications of equipoise in clinical research. Is a confirmatory trial using a nonbevacizumab containing arm feasible in patients with recurrent cervical cancer? Gynecol Oncol. 2014;134(3):447-449. "First, do no harm." On the surface, this is the most well-known, easy to understand, and easy to follow mandate given to us as we evolve into doctors. Of course a doctor should do no harm. Quite the
more » ... doctor is meant to care for, heal, and generally do good. Most of us chose this career specifically so that we might have that opportunity each day. In medical ethics classes, we learned the basic principles of ethical health care: respect for autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and justice. As we mature from early medical students to clinical medical students, residents, attending physicians, and perhaps researchers, so does our understanding of these principles and what it means to put them into practice.
doi:10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.9.nlit1-1509 pmid:26390205 fatcat:neyo6i7exfelfagyvuw52iymqq