Recent international developments show that essential medications can be made affordable and accessible to developing countries, and that double standards need not prevail. This is the first book to examine these issues, drawing the bold conclusion that double standards in medical research are ethically unacceptable."--BOOK JACKET.
This book begins the discourse on post-trial access to drugs in developing countries. Underlying ethical issues in global health inequalities and global health research serve as the context of the debate. Due to rampant allegations of violations of rights of research participants, especially in developing countries, it discusses the regulatory infrastructure and ethical oversight of international clinical research, thus emphasizing the priority of safeguarding the rights of research participants and host populations as desiderata in conducting clinical trials in developing countries. This is the first book that analyzes the major obstacles of affordable access to drugs in developing countries – patent and non-patent factors and how they can be overcome through a middle ground approach and a new paradigm to establish global health justice which includes national and global health responsibilities. The book also deals extensively with all complex aspects of the discourse on affordable access to drugs in developing countries, including intellectual property law, international regulations, political and cultural systems, international trade agreements. Furthermore it contains a robust ethical debate and in-depth analysis. The book crafts a paradigm of global health justice involving a sliding scale of national and global responsibilities for the realization of the right to health in general and access to drugs in particular.
There has been a rapid increase in the pace and scope of international collaborative research in developing countries in recent years. This study argues that whilst ethical regulation of biomedical research in Africa and other developing countries has attracted global attention, legal liability issues, such as the application of common law rules and the development of legally enforceable regulations, have been neglected. It examines some of the major research scandals in Africa and suggests a new ethical framework against which clinical trials could be conducted. The development of research guidelines in Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and Nigeria are also examined as well as the role of ethics committees. Providing a detailed analysis of the law of negligence and its application to research ethics committees and their members, common law and constitutional forms of action and potential negligence claims, the book concludes by suggesting new protocols and frameworks, improved regulation and litigation. This book will be a valuable guide for students, researchers, and policy-makers with an interest in medical law and ethics, bioethics, customary law in Africa and regulation in developing countries.
Data sharing can accelerate new discoveries by avoiding duplicative trials, stimulating new ideas for research, and enabling the maximal scientific knowledge and benefits to be gained from the efforts of clinical trial participants and investigators. At the same time, sharing clinical trial data presents risks, burdens, and challenges. These include the need to protect the privacy and honor the consent of clinical trial participants; safeguard the legitimate economic interests of sponsors; and guard against invalid secondary analyses, which could undermine trust in clinical trials or otherwise harm public health. Sharing Clinical Trial Data presents activities and strategies for the responsible sharing of clinical trial data. With the goal of increasing scientific knowledge to lead to better therapies for patients, this book identifies guiding principles and makes recommendations to maximize the benefits and minimize risks. This report offers guidance on the types of clinical trial data available at different points in the process, the points in the process at which each type of data should be shared, methods for sharing data, what groups should have access to data, and future knowledge and infrastructure needs. Responsible sharing of clinical trial data will allow other investigators to replicate published findings and carry out additional analyses, strengthen the evidence base for regulatory and clinical decisions, and increase the scientific knowledge gained from investments by the funders of clinical trials. The recommendations of Sharing Clinical Trial Data will be useful both now and well into the future as improved sharing of data leads to a stronger evidence base for treatment. This book will be of interest to stakeholders across the spectrum of research-from funders, to researchers, to journals, to physicians, and ultimately, to patients.
This open access book provides original, up-to-date case studies of “ethics dumping” that were largely facilitated by loopholes in the ethics governance of low and middle-income countries. It is instructive even to experienced researchers since it provides a voice to vulnerable populations from the fore mentioned countries. Ensuring the ethical conduct of North-South collaborations in research is a process fraught with difficulties. The background conditions under which such collaborations take place include extreme differentials in available income and power, as well as a past history of colonialism, while differences in culture can add a new layer of complications. In this context, up-to-date case studies of unethical conduct are essential for research ethics training.
"In the new 2016 version of the ethical guidelines, CIOMS provides answers to a number of pressing issues in research ethics. The Council does so by stressing the need for research having scientific and social value, by providing special guidelines for health-related research in low-resource settings, by detailing the provisions for involving vulnerable groups in research and for describing under what conditions biological samples and health-related data can be used for research."--Page 4 de la couverture.
Medical research involving human subjects has contributed to considerable advancements in our knowledge, and to medical benefits. At the same time the development of new technologies as well as further globalisation of medical research raises questions that require the attention of researchers from a range of disciplines. This book gathers the contributions of researchers from nine different countries, who analyse recent developments in medical research from ethical, historical, legal and socio-cultural perspectives. In addition to reflections on innovations in science such as genetic databases and the concept of “targeted therapy” the book also includes analyses regarding the ethico-legal regulation of new technologies such as human tissue banking or the handling of genetic information potentially relevant for participants in medical research. Country and culture-specific aspects that are relevant to human medical research from a global perspective also play a part. The value of multi- and interdisciplinary analysis that includes the perspectives of scholars from normative and empirical disciplines is a shared premise of each contribution.
In pursuing a holistic bioethics while dialoguing with different sciences’ appreciation of moral affinities between human and nonhuman entities, Dr. Buyondo argues for a minimum moral status for nonhuman entities. The minimum normative basics of approaches to biomedical ethics are at the very least not distinctive to either human animals or nonhuman animals only. The investigation builds further on the African understanding of life—where no creation is lifeless. In establishing a more inclusive, functional bioethics, the African approach goes further than biocentrism, ecocentrism, and holism to ground an inclusive African “holistic moral egalitarianism,” suggesting that “all forces” and “all created things have life.” We are not emphasizing how every system and creature command equal respect; rather, everything has life, commands respect, and moral concern as a minimum imperative within a Black African holistic approach to bioethics. However, holistic bioethics can neither be Western nor an African invention that people of other cultures only admire from a distance. Moreover, holistic bioethics doesn’t offer the last word on the ethics of nonhuman animals, holistic anamnetic solidarity, the relational Other, and intercultural theological bioethics.
