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25Safeguarding children in clinical researchNursing Ethics 19 (4): 530-537. 2012.Current UK guidelines regarding clinical research on children permit research that is non-therapeutic from the perspective of that particular child. The guidelines permit research interventions that cause temporary pain, bruises or scars. It is argued here that such research conflicts with the Declaration of Helsinki according to which the interests of the research subject outweigh all other interests. Given this, in the context of clinical research, who is best placed to protect the child from …Read more
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34Ethics review of research: in pursuit of proportionalityJournal of Medical Ethics 34 (7): 568-572. 2008.The ethics review system of research is now well-established, at least in the developed world, although there are many differences in how countries view it and go about managing it. The UK specifically is now seeking to revise its system by speeding up the process of ethics approval but only for some studies. It is proposed that only those studies which pose “no material ethical issues” should be “fast-tracked”. However, it is unclear what this means, who should decide and what should be include…Read more
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21The Art of NursingNursing Ethics 5 (5): 393-400. 1998.This article discusses the question of whether, as is often claimed, nursing is properly described as an art. Following critical remarks on the claims of Carper, Chinn and Watson, and Johnson, the account of art provided by RG Collingwood is described, with particular reference to his influential distinction between art and craft. The question of whether nursing is best described as an art or a craft is then discussed. The conclusion is advanced that nursing cannot properly be described as an ar…Read more
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59The Role, Remit and Function of the Research Ethics Committee — 5. Collective Decision-Making and Research Ethics CommitteesResearch Ethics 7 (1): 19-23. 2011.Part 5, the concluding essay in the series describing and discussing the role, remit and function of research ethics committees, bases an enquiry into the nature of decision-making by research ethics committees on the processes followed by the committees in their deliberations leading to the final outcome
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25Editorial: Do mechanistic studies have more to prove than positive results?Research Ethics 8 (4): 187-190. 2012.
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19Response to Open Peer Commentaries on “Ethics of Clinical Science in a Public Health Emergency: Drug Discovery at the Bedside”American Journal of Bioethics 13 (9). 2013.No abstract
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19Ethics of Clinical Science in a Public Health Emergency: Drug Discovery at the BedsideAmerican Journal of Bioethics 13 (9): 3-14. 2013.Clinical research under the usual regulatory constraints may be difficult or even impossible in a public health emergency. Regulators must seek to strike a good balance in granting as wide therapeutic access to new drugs as possible at the same time as gathering sound evidence of safety and effectiveness. To inform current policy, I reexamine the philosophical rationale for restricting new medicines to clinical trials, at any stage and for any population of patients (which resides in the precaut…Read more
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21Metastatic unknown primary tumour presenting in pregnancy: a rarity posing an ethical dilemmaJournal of Medical Ethics 33 (8): 442-443. 2007.This brief report raises the ethical dilemma encountered by an obstetrician involved in the care of a pregnant woman with life-threatening disease. This is a particularly difficult issue if the maternal well-being is in conflict with the survival of the unborn child
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18Rationing, randomising, and researching in health care provisionJournal of Medical Ethics 28 (1): 20-23. 2002.In this paper the need for valid evidence of the cost-effectiveness of treatments that have not been properly evaluated, yet are already available, albeit in short supply, are examined. Such treatments cannot be withdrawn, pending proper evaluation, nor can they be made more widely available until they have been shown to be cost-effective. As a solution to this impasse the argument put forward recently by Toroyan et al is discussed. They say that randomised controlled trials of such resources co…Read more
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72Can unequal be more fair? A response to Andrew AvinsJournal of Medical Ethics 26 (3): 179-182. 2000.In this paper, we respond to Andrew Avins's recent review of methods whose use he advocates in clinical trials, to make them more ethical. He recommends in particular, “unbalanced randomisation”. However, we argue that, before such a recommendation can be made, it is important to establish why unequal randomisation might offer ethical advantages over equal randomisation, other things being equal. It is important to make a pragmatic distinction between trials of treatments that are already routin…Read more
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48Dismantling the Disability/Handicap DistinctionJournal of Medicine and Philosophy 22 (6): 589-606. 1997.This paper discusses the distinction between disability and handicap as it is proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in their publication International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (WHO, 1993 (first published, 1980)). Following criticism of this an attempt to salvage the distinction by Nordenfelt (1993, 1983) is discussed. It is argued that neither the WHO nor Nordenfelt are successful in their attempts to preserve the distinction between disability and hand…Read more
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29Restricted treatments, inducements, and research participationBioethics 20 (2). 2006.ABSTRACT In this paper, I support the claim that placing certain restrictions on public access to possible new treatments is morally problematic under some exceptional circumstances. Very ill patients may find that all available standard treatments are unacceptable, either because they are ineffective or have serious adverse effects, and these patients may understandably be desperate to try something new even if this means stepping into the unknown. Faced with certain death, it is rational to wa…Read more
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17Protecting privacy interests in brain images : the limits of consentIn Sarah Richmond, Geraint Rees & Sarah J. L. Edwards (eds.), I know what you're thinking: brain imaging and mental privacy, Oxford University Press. 2012.
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27Assessing the Remedy: The Case for Contracts in Clinical TrialsAmerican Journal of Bioethics 11 (4): 3-12. 2011.Current orthodoxy in research ethics assumes that subjects of clinical trials reserve rights to withdraw at any time and without giving any reason. This view sees the right to withdraw as a simple extension of the right to refuse to participate all together. In this paper, however, I suggest that subjects should assume some responsibilities for the internal validity of the trial at consent and that these responsibilities should be captured by contract. This would allow the researcher to impose a…Read more
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25Response to Open Peer Commentaries on “Assessing the Remedy: The Case for Contracts in Clinical Trials”American Journal of Bioethics 11 (4). 2011.No abstract
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4Editorial: Continuous consent to, or discreet control over, sharing digital data?Research Ethics 10 (4): 184-186. 2014.
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ConclusionIn Sarah Richmond, Geraint Rees & Sarah J. L. Edwards (eds.), I know what you're thinking: brain imaging and mental privacy, Oxford University Press. 2012.
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43Research participation and the right to withdrawBioethics 19 (2). 2005.Most ethics committees which review research protocols insist that potential research participants reserve unconditional or absolute ‘right’ of withdrawal at any time and without giving any reason. In this paper, I examine what consent means for research participation and a sense of commitment in relation to this right to withdraw. I suggest that, once consent has been given (and here I am excluding incompetent minors and adults), participants should not necessarily have unconditional or absolut…Read more
Areas of Interest
Applied Ethics |
Philosophy of Social Science |