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Uncertainty and the Ethics of Clinical Trials

Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics volume 27, pages 149–167 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

A probabilistic explication is offered of equipoise and uncertainty in clinical trials. In order to be useful in the justification of clinical trials, equipoise has to be interpreted in terms of overlapping probability distributions of possible treatment outcomes, rather than point estimates representing expectation values. Uncertainty about treatment outcomes is shown to be a necessary but insufficient condition for the ethical defensibility of clinical trials. Additional requirements are proposed for the nature of that uncertainty. The indecisiveness of our criteria for cautious decision-making under uncertainty creates the leeway that makes clinical trials defensible.

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  1. Department of Philosophy and the History of Technology, Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 78, 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden

    Sven Ove Hansson

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  1. Sven Ove Hansson
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Correspondence to Sven Ove Hansson.

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Hansson, S.O. Uncertainty and the Ethics of Clinical Trials. Theor Med Bioeth 27, 149–167 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11017-006-0001-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11017-006-0001-y

Keywords

  • cautiousness
  • clinical decision-making
  • clinical trials
  • equipoise
  • uncertainty