Clinical Trials and Ethics - Essay Example

The paper 'Clinical Trials and Ethics' is a perfect example of clinical research. 
Clinical trials serve to advance medical knowledge, which promotes the ability of medical practitioners to serve the public in a better way. Conducting these trials unethically can lead to immense human suffering, which contradicts the role of a medical practitioner, which is to preserve life. However, the introduction of ethical standards in this field plays important role in clinical trials as discussed below.

Importance to a Wider Society

Conducting clinical trials in an ethical manner ensures that the wider society benefits from the clinical trials. Trials that improve the treatment of patients suffering from a particular condition are ethical as they protect patients from potential harm. However, trials that do not intend to be beneficial to society can be termed unethical. This follows the harm, which may be caused to the participants without adding value to the treatment of patients. Consequently, conducting clinical trials in an ethical way ensures that despite participants’ exposure to harm, they end up with benefits, through advanced medical knowledge (Vollmer & Howard, 2010).

Protection of Humanity

Various clinical trials use human beings to research on possible effects of certain diseases. However, some of these trials pose danger to the volunteers as some even die during the trials. Consequently, formulating ethical standards that define the conduct of the trials plays a central role in safeguarding the people involved. This follows the values engraved in the ethics that require the practitioners to conduct experiments that do not cause unnecessary harm to the individuals. The researchers are also bound to provide the volunteers with all the details relating to the trial, to make them aware of what the experiment involves. This ensures informed consent into participation in a clinical trial, unlike when the individuals participate in an experiment unknowingly, like in the Tuskegee syphilis study (Emanuel, Abdoler, & Stunkel, n.d).  

Greater Involvement

Unethical clinical trials deter people from participating in experiments because of fear of breach of their rights. Given such fears, formulating ethical standards that guide the conduct of clinical trials promotes the rates of involvement in such experiments. This follows an increase in the number of participants in clinical trials, which advances the development of new medicines, as well as treatments. Consequently, the human race benefits from these advances, thus boosting the lifestyle of the entire population (Emanuel, Abdoler, & Stunkel, n.d).

Minimization of Corruption

Ethical standards ensure that clinical researchers assume individual responsibility for their actions. This compels them to undertake clinical trials in a manner that ensures greater accountability to the participants and the public. Consequently, the trials reduce the prevalence of ethical misconduct as the practitioners bear severe consequences for any unethical behavior individually, instead of the organization they work for (Feldman, Gauthier, & Schuler, 2013).

Conclusion

Ethical clinical trials promote experiments that contribute to scientific knowledge. They ensure respect for the participants by gaining their consent, and treating them in a manner that promotes their well-being, more this, ethics also instill accountability in the practitioners, thus promoting the conduct of clinical trials.