Ethics in Modeling

The model did indeed confirm a positive linear relationship between drug concentrations and QTc intervals in patients with the disease being treated. However, upon receiving the report, the sponsor of the study was unhappy with the results. They were either hoping that the magnitude of effect would be less than observed or that no model could be developed, suggesting the drug 

The first definition of ethics relates to conforming to universal norms, which are accepted behaviors that 

The second definition of ethics relates to conduct— modelers should conform to professional standards of conduct. Obviously one code of conduct to which modelers should conform to are the norms related to responsibilities becoming a scientist. All scientists have a duty to ensure their work serves desirable ends (Shrader-Frechette, 1994). Hence, as a scientist one must strive to not harm the public, research subjects, democratic institutions, and the environment. To those ends, the foremost ethical goal in science is to not deceive, inveigle, or obfuscate the results of our research nor should others be allowed to do so. In other words, scientists must not commit fraud and neither should others be allowed to use our research to commit fraud. 

Modelers that use data from clinical studies should also be careful to respect informed consent and the privacy of the patient information they have access to. With the Health Insurance Portability and Accounting Act of 2003, which was designed to ensure privacy of patient information, inappropriate disclosure of patient information can now lead to criminal charges and fines. Modelers who are also pharmacokineticists directly involved in clinical studies have an obligation to use minimally invasive sampling methods, e.g., saliva vs. plasma, with a minimum number of samples collected from each subject. If blood must be collected then a minimum amount of blood should be removed to protect the safety of the subjects (Svensson, 1989). 

One special item of note is conflict of interest. A conflict of interest arises when a certain circumstance 

---