Medical Ethics Advisor – May 1, 2022
May 1, 2022
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Ethical Concerns Persist Over Reporting Bias in Clinical Trials
Several changes could be made, including enforcement of penalties for delays in reporting trial results; journals prioritizing accuracy between published results and the original study protocols; and mitigating the problem of selective registration, publication, and reporting on ClinicalTrials.gov.
Greater Awareness of Reporting Bias on Antidepressants, Yet Problem Persists
An investigator who was part of a landmark study on the efficacy of antidepressants recently revisited reporting transparency in this area of research.
Efforts to Improve Ethics Education for Nurses
Nurses probably have heard of the ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. However, these principles might not be discussed in terms of how they apply to nursing practice and patient care.
IRBs May Need to Seek Outside Expertise; More Data Are Needed
It is impossible for any IRB to claim an exhaustive range of methodological and disciplinary expertise within their membership. Without the right expertise, the quality of IRB review comes into question. But for a variety of reasons, IRBs may not be taking advantage of the option to use outside experts.
Ethical Controversy Persists Over Organ Procurement Method
Ethical debate continues over a controversial method of procuring organs for transplantation: Normothermic regional perfusion with controlled donation after circulatory determination of death.
Use Caution if Machine Learning Models Are Used to Predict Mortality
Machine learning and artificial intelligence will be part of caring for patients in some way or another going forward. Clinicians need to know what it all means and what the potential pitfalls are.
Plastic Surgery Poses Unique Ethical Considerations
Plastic surgery is a unique specialty in that there are so many procedures a surgeon might be asked to perform. This ranges from reconstructive surgery after cancer to cosmetic surgery to congenital abnormalities and also burn reconstruction. With that comes a whole host of ethical issues.
Ethics Training for Community-Engaged Research in Latino Community
Researchers recently provided human research ethics training to community health workers who were studying the effect of an intervention to promote healthy behaviors and expand healthcare access among Latinos.
Investigators Make Ethical Commitment for Neuroscience Research in Humans
There are overarching principles of ethical conduct of human neuroscience research, but the methods and implementations may vary across institutions.
New Guidance to Promote Diverse Populations in Cardiovascular Trials
Individuals who participate in randomized clinical trials should be representative of the patients who will be treated with the drugs under investigation. Unfortunately, studies have consistently shown women and those from racial and ethnic minority groups are consistently underenrolled in cardiovascular clinical trials relative to their disease burden in the population.
Informed Consent Considerations if Surgeon Delegates Portion of Operation
Surgeons should be clear there will be other providers in the OR, and that some elements of the operation — not the critical portion the attending has to manage, but other elements — can be delegated to a qualified member of the surgical team. However, the primary attending surgeon’s personal responsibility for the safety and the welfare of the patient cannot be delegated.