Ethical basis

No moral or ethical basis exists for the exposure of human subjects to pharmacologically active agents for purposes of demonstrations. The choice of the term demonstration in the basic reference is one of the most telling arguments contained therein. Whereas no legal basis has ever been established for experimentation on humans, nevertheless the officer and civilian physicians of the Chemical Corps feel morally, ethically and professionally Justified (both as physicians, and as professional civil and military servants of the nation) in using human subjects for research in, or under the control of, the Chemical Research and Development Laboratories. Any use of LSD-25 in which we participate will be an experiment, not a demonstration. 

Laughren. T.P. The scientific and ethical basis for placebo-controlled trials in depression and schizophrenia an FDA perspective. Em. Psychiatry 16, 418-423, 2001. 

Alroe, H.F. and Kristensen, E.S. 2002. Towards a systemic research methodology in agriculture Rethinking the role of values in science. Agriculture and Human Values 19 3-23. Alroe, H.F. and Kristensen, E.S. 2003. Toward a systemic ethic in search of an ethical basis for... 

Efficacy non-inferiority trials are often conducted in situations where a placebo-controlled trial would not be ethical, for example, when there exists effective therapy for a serious or life-threatening condition. Despite this, the ethical basis for non-inferiority trial has been called into question. For example, Garattini and Bertele (2007) argue that"... it is unethical to leave to chance whether patients receive a treatment that is anticipated to provide no extra benefit, but could be less safe and less effective than existing treatment options." While their comments were in the context of efficacy non-inferiority trials, the issue could be even greater in the context of a safety non-inferiority trial. The primary objective of a safety non-inferiority trial is to determine whether or not an experimental treatment causes an important harm on this basis alone, there would be little incentive for a prospective patient to participate. Patients must be fully informed of the purpose of such a trial, including the potential benefits and harms, before they can consent to participate. 

OECD/NEA. The Environmental and Ethical Basis for Geological Disposal. A Collective Opinion of the NEA. Radioactive Waste Management Committee (1995). 

Radioactive Waste Management Committee, "The Environmental and Ethical Basis of Geological Disposal of Long-Lived Radioactive Wastes - Collective Opinion", OECD/Nuclear Energy Agency (1995). 

The different views on the subject were express l at an international woiitshop on tihe environmental and ethical aspects of long-lived radioactive waste disposal in 1994 [12]. The extensive discussions held at this workshop show that final conclusions will have to be based on scientific/ technical and especially ethical grounds. The workshop provided an in ortant base for the Collective Opinion of the Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC) of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency on "The Environmental and Ethical Basis of Geological Disposal" [2]. 

Ethical Basis of Rail Safety Decisions - a study by Chris Elliott of Pitchill Consulting and Tony Taig of TTAC... 

When, in the mid-1960s, the ethical basis of professionalism became contested terrain, engineers engaged with these emerging interpretations of moral agency. The catalyst in the ASME was a series of Mechanical... 

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