Case: Medical Research
This activity is designed for participants to practice critical thinking. Participants will identify ethical issues associated with combining care and medical research.
What is a challenge trial?
Trial volunteers receive a vaccine candidate and, once the vaccine takes effect, researchers deliberately expose them to a live virus to see if the vaccine works in preventing illness.
Challenge trials can also:
- Test the efficacy of vaccines as a means of preventing infectiousness
- Measure how vaccines compare to each other and how long each vaccine lasts.
- Determine optimal dosing strategies, including spacing and timing.
- Learn about correlates of vaccine protection as a way of informing treatment.
- Test vaccines and boosters against new variants
- Test therapeutics.
Example of a current trial for Whooping Cough vaccines:
The Southampton NIHR Clinical Research Facility is looking for healthy volunteers to take part in a new trial to develop a new method of protecting people from Whooping cough…. If you are aged 18-55, in good health and not taking antibiotics, you may be eligible to participate. Participants are compensated up to £1000 for their time and travel during the study. Participation on the trial will last around 4-18 weeks with volunteers attending 7-10 visits. Volunteers must avoid crowds and at-risk individuals such as babies and the immunocompromised for the duration of the outpatient trial.
Thought Experiment: Jim was a participant in a challenge trial for a vaccine that would prevent a common infection. Either exposure to the infection or the vaccine seemingly caused Jim to become permanently disabled. Jim waived his right to sue the researchers who created the trial. What do the researchers owe Jim at this point? If Jim signed an NDA, should Jim be prohibited from publicizing his experiences?