Goodman Ethical Standards

Mid-Term

Thesis: Ethical standards in medical research should be universal, not based on the economic circumstances of a region.

Agree.

A great deal of Ellen Goodman’s fervor and support for her argument comes from an ethical standpoint, a point that comes in conflict with what is argued as the more pragmatic side of the debate on whether the ethical standard of care is a universal right, or if it is adaptable country to country based on need and funding. Ethics and logic are closely intertwined. Ethics concerns what can be understood as moral conduct, and logic uses reason to determine the soundness of arguments. Both standards assume a truth or soundness to statements and conclusions, but logic provides a method that can provide clarity

Goodman states that “giving a placebo when a known effective treatment exists violates all the canons for research on human subjects,” however many would disagree arguing that the desperation and poverty of many nations calls for health research that is “designed and conducted pragmatically, taking in the account the local health needs and priorities” (Richards 796).

At central point to this debate is the comparison of the AZT studies to that of the Tuskeegee studies on African American men in Alabama. I am not convinced that the analogy between the two studies is necessarily faulty, since both trials deliberately gave no effective treatment despite the existence of a proven treatment - indeed, a significant link.

Imagine now what happens when the placebo children are born, when it is discovered that in the name of science the researches withheld a known treatment. When it becomes known how the government justified this research saying that these few babies were sacrificed today for the good of more babies tomorrow. And that their mothers would never have had any medical care anyway. It is, of course,

The way she colors the debate is that either you believe in a universal standard of ethics, or you believe that low economic status allows for lower ethical standards. However, while placebo-controlled trials are generally understood to be the “gold-standard for testing the efficacy of new treatments”, there are other means to conduct research ethically without withholding appropriate care (Lau 194). Active-controlled trials, which test new medication to the standard of care, is a viable alternative to placebo-controlled trials and ethically