Ethicists Disagree On Experimenting During Crises
Sunday, May 27, 2007
By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
The federal government is undertaking the most ambitious set of
studies ever mounted under a controversial arrangement that allows
researchers to conduct some kinds of medical experiments without
first getting patients' permission.
The $50 million, five-year project, which will involve more than
20,000 patients in 11 sites in the United States and Canada, is
designed to improve treatment after car accidents, shootings,
cardiac arrest and other emergencies.
The three studies, organizers say, offer an unprecedented
opportunity to find better ways to resuscitate people whose hearts
suddenly stop, to stabilize patients who go into shock and to
minimize damage from head injuries. Because such patients are
usually unconscious at a time when every minute counts, it is
often impossible to get consent from them or their families, the
organizers say.
The project has been endorsed by many trauma experts and some
bioethicists. Others question it. The harshest critics say the
research violates fundamental ethical principles.
The organizers said the studies are going forward only after an
exhaustive scientific and ethical review by the National
Institutes of Health, which authorized the funding in 2004, and
the Food and Drug Administration, which approved the first phase
about a year ago and the second phase six months ago.
...
Source: Washington Post
