AMA Journal of Ethics^®

Research that places subjects and investigators at risk of additional harm must be considered carefully.

Dr Dónal O’Mathúna joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Dr Nawaraj Upadhaya: “Should Children Be Enrolled in Clinical Research in Conflict Zones?”

Financial relationships are common, and ethical questions rightly emerge about how conflicts of interest compromise investigators’ approaches to research.

Clinician-researchers deeply invested in data gathering are still obliged to respect a patient-subject’s right to stop being in research.

In conducting research abroad, clinicians should treat community members with dignity and as research partners.

In conducting research abroad, clinicians should treat community members with dignity and as research partners.

Protecting patients rather than informed consent should be the goal when the complexity of information overwhelms patients’ decision-making capacity.

Clinical equipoise—the idea that the community of medical experts is uncertain about the relative therapeutic merits of the arms of a clinical trial at its outset—mitigates physicians’ responsibility for patients’ poor outcomes when patients are assigned to the control arm or are harmed by an investigational agent.

The AMA Code of Medical Ethics’ opinions on clinical investigation, subject selection for clinical trials, including members from vulnerable groups, and managing conflicts of interest in the conduct of clinical trials.