A variety of clinical trials have been initiated at warp speed to establish evidence around treatment of COVID-19, identifying a vaccine candidate, and understanding immunity to the disease. This panel will discuss how research should be conducted ethically and how healthcare professionals, regulators, and the general public should make use of the evidence as it trickles in. Some of the questions we will focus on: Should criteria for trial participation be altered due to the urgency of the pandemic? Should challenge trials, which recruit healthy volunteers and expose them to the virus, be permitted given the lack of treatment options? What are the ethical responsibilities of physicians to patients requesting experimental or unproven treatments for COVID-19?
Panelists include:
Alex John London (Clara L. West Professor of Ethics and Philosophy, Carnegie Mellon University)
Patricia J. Zettler (Assistant Professor of Law at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and a member of Ohio State’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center and Comprehensive Cancer Center)
Dónal O’Mathúna (Associate Professor, College of Nursing Helene Fuld Health Trust National Institute for Evidence-based Practice in Nursing and Healthcare)
